The Miller press. [volume] (Miller, S.D.) 190?-current, 1907-01-24
OUR "INSTITUSHUN"
is HARPOONEDI
The Washington Enterprise Let's
Go a Broadside Against it

A newspaper neighbor at Wessing-
ton, where they irrigate with or
without license, has taken long
shot at 'our institution" Some one
has been "stringing" the neghbor,
because:
The bill is not a Miller production.
1t was written and drawn up by for
mer state senator John M. King, of
st. Lawrence, who requested Sena-
tor McCullen to present it to the
legislature. A bill for public in
stitu ton between the two towns was
more or less talked about the past
year in st. Lawrence and Miller, but
created very little interest. This one
is the especial enterprise of Mr. King
who carefully guarded its secret,
merely stating to the public that it
was educational in it's nature.
There is no fever" in Miller or st.
Lawrence about the matter. Here
is the Enterprise article, which con-
tains some points of interest. And
Senator King is amply qualified to
defend his creation:
Senator j. T. McCullen, of Hand
county. has introduced a bill which
calls for the establishment, location
and endowment of School of Irri-
cation and an experiment station, to
be located on section II of Miller
township, Hand county.
We have known for years that Mil
Ter has wanted something, but after
setting out to get the state capitol a
few years ago and losing that after
a strenuous fight, we suppose it took
time for the people to settle down
and study out the next move. But
the fever has broken out at last and
they want State School of Irriga-
ton. Not the kind of irrigation
schools that pay license into the city
treasury (they have two of them al
ready but what they want is one
that pulls money out of the state
treasury.
Hand county people would like to
see Miller get a public institution,
but a school to teach practical irri-
cation is not just what the people
want at this time. 1t would suit
some of the democratic "constito'-
ents" of the genial senator vastly bet
ter, were he to obtain for Miller a
school which would teach the farm
ers how to drain some of their lands,
as that proposition is of much more
interest to them just now, than an
scheme.
Hand county's growth was retard-
ed once because of the report that
went out over the country to the eff
feet that her fertile prairies were
arid, that no crops could be success
fully grown and that the country
was fit only for the grazing Of steers
and the raising of politicians. 1t took
years for the county to recover from
the set back given by these reports
and just as things are commencing
to look brighter, just as land values
have commenced to advance, a move
is made to establish School of Irri-
cation at the county seat; again ad-
vertising to the world that the coun-
ty is desert and needs practical ir-
rigation to insure the profitable
growth of crops.
Of course the bill will not pass,
but the harm has beer done, the ad-
vertisement has gone forth. The
state needs no schools of irrigation,
in fact needs no more state institu-
tions of any description. The U. S.
government is pushing irrigation
works in the only part of the state
that will ever need it, and that is the
extreme western portion and the
government is amply able to handle
thework without any assistance from
the state.
Hand county land may stop ad-
vancing; outside money. seeking in
vestment may be scared away; Miller
may lose another public institution,
but the rich black loan soil that COW
ers the county will continue, with
proper tillage, to produce just as
good wheat, just as good oats and
just as good corn or other crops as