The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1908-12-01
RETURNING 70 THE LAND.

RETURNING 70 THE LAND.
Time was when all men titled tn
soil. Cities were unknown.
As families multiplied, and tn
tribes amalgamated into nations, an
the nations each pursued separat
courses, men c~ongregated at give
points, to conduct and direct their al
fairs, and the city was the outgrowtl
of these assemblies.
To the city there gravitated wealth
for the eason that it became the trad
ing point, and by reason of the fac
that there were more people within
q certain area, social life took on {
different form and obligation.
Military e%xigencies magnitied the
Importance Of the towns, and to then
the rural class looked for protection
from the invaders.
With the coming Of the railroad
commerce grew, and prices began te
increase, as did travel. Cities were
improved, first because of the criti
cism of the. traveller, and next
through the effort Of the new conner.
Then came the telegraph, which
made the whole world neighborly. The
result is that we are better posted to.
day, in Billings, on events that take
place 10000 miles away, than was New
York on the affairs of Brooklyn, on
the day of occurrence a century ago.
Intelligence with reference to diff
ferent places, through the medium of
2 world, wide press, assisted by the
telegraph, and simpli1ed BY the rail
roads, brought about a great immigra-
ton movement, with the result that
North and South America, Australia,
New Zealand andaAfrica were rapidly
settled.
Great towns sprang up, in new
lands, and the drift of the immigrants,
who at first titled the. soil, was to-
ward the cities.
Competition to make one town more
attractive than another brought about
municipal improvements and adorn-
ments-and then, man discovered that
he was living too fast.
The city is a nice place, but a great
metropolis must needs have a popu-
lous farming community to support it.
The demand Of the world, brought
about by the congested centers, has
caused prices OF farm products to
climb upward, and now the trend is
backward, toward the country.
This does not mean that the cities
will decrease in population, for they
are actually growing, but it does mean
that the country will gain in popula-
ton.
Thus it is that trains are freighted !
with people seeking new homes. The
land OF the east has all been appro-
prfated. Acreage that was neglected
decade ago is farmed today.
So the home hunters are coming in
to the west. Every train brings men,
women and children, anxious to find
a location. .sg. ss.
The national government has taken
notice of the. fact, so great has this
movement become, to inquire into the
condition of country life, in an en-
deavor to make the, movement popu-
lar.
Twenty years ago the mar on the
farm vas isolated.
Today he has "a telephone, running
water in his. house, furnace, steam or
hot water heat, good roads and per-
haps electric cars, that carry his pro-
duce to market cheaper and more
quickly than he could do with horse
and wagon.
This is the condition that obtains
In the east and in southern California,
and the demand for similar condi-
lions in this section of the world will
bring about an identical situation
here.
The settlers are coming.
In times gone by c%onquering armies
invaded a country and laid 1t waste.
In these days conquering armies,
ar greater in number than any that
'ramped I'VE Asia, Africa, or Europe,
ire pouring into the west. They
come, like hosts Of old,
conquest bent, but they come to up
'uild, not to destroy, to joint with us,
md be of us. They come to gain
,reater wealth from the soil which is
'urs, n may be theirs, which we
i've them freely and gladly, to the
nd that the greatest good to the
'reaattsest good to the greatest number
nay be possible, for the army that is
in upon us Is composed of set !
lers, who r seeking homes in our /,
midst and Montana welcomes them
nth open arms. s
CARNEGIE AND THE TARIFF. /
Carnegie still insists that the steel /,
.en a stand a reduction in tariff. I
steel men saw that Andy Fdnncl /