Charlevoix county herald. (East Jordan, Mich.) 189?-1953, 1909-09-18
WASTED REGRETS
Loss Of Forests viii Be Western
Mlchlgan's Greatest Blessing.
HoMEsEEKERs COMING TO REAL
izE GREAT OPPORTUNITIES
TO BE FOUND HERE.

A great deal of false sentiment has
been expressed In regard to the strip
ping OF the forests from the lower
peninsula of Michigan.
The Idea Is current that valuable
lands have been rendered worthless
by the process Of converting trees
into lumber.
This is all nonsense, and one of the
duties of the Western Michigan De-
velopment Bureau, organized to de-
velop the agriculture and manufac.
lures Of thirteen west shore counties,
is to dispel this false notion.
The land yields but one crop CO
timber. 1t could never be put to any
other use until the timber had been
removed. Once fitted for agriculture
and the land contributes more from
its first crop to the general prosper
ity Of Western Michigan that did all
OF the timber that stood on it,
The timber paid low wages to a
comparatively small force of men en-.
gagged in converting it into lumber.
This lumber sold in other states and
the money received for it, except the
small proportion paid here for wages,
was banked in Chicago. When drawn
out of bank it was used to buy tim
Der land in the far west. 1t was lost
to Michigan.
When the land is cultivated it fur
nishes living for the man who
works it. 1t furnishes business for
the local stores, the implement deal
ers, and the produce shippers, and 1t
creates traffic for railroads and
steamer lines.
1t is not too much to say that every
year it creates as much wealth, acre
by acre, for the home locality, as did
the lamented crop of trees which the
lumbermen skinned off.
Let us have an end then Of foolish
sentimentality over the loss of the
forest. A farm is worth as much
more to the community as a good
milch COW is worth more than q red
deer
The thing to do now Is to inform
the world of the fact that Western
Michigan has cheap land for settlers.
The tide of immigration, Influenced
and land agent and hopes Of easy
swept westward.
Land Is Becoming Scarce.
For a number of years 1t has been
apparent that time was approach
ing when there would be no more
cheap land for demonstrating or pre-
emption. That time is now at hand.
Land seekers have overflowed onto
the prairies Of Manitoba, Assiniboia,
and Saskatchewan, reaching north.
ward toward the Arctic circle.
In the mountain districts irriga.
ton projects involving hundreds OF
millions of dollars have been under
taken.
Is any better proof OF the coming
land famine needed that these at
tempts to irrigate desert valleys
Do they not mean the end of cheap
land, for irrigated land Is never
cheap, you know?
The pine stump has been too long
a terror to intending settlers. Now
the pine stump has a cash value that
will steadily increase. It's value for
turpentine, wood pulp and other pro.
ducts makes 1t an asset.
We have seen this stump land of
Western Michigan rise In four years
from value of few cents an acre
to an average value of $40. That Is
only start. Five years more will
more than double It's present price,
which will mean the creation of a
greater value than the timber ever
possessed.
The first settlers on the prairies
were claim jumpers who remained
long enough to prove up their titles
and then sold out to move on to new
districts. The men who followed
them brought capital, industry. and
determination to create lasting
homes. 1t took q number Of years
for the enduring type of citizenship
to get rooted.
Good Settlers Coming.
Western Michigan will not have to
pass through this tedious operation
The men who buy land for farming
now are men who want to locate per-
manently.
We are just starting in Western
Michigan to found great Industrial
commonwealth that will be certain
to thrive and be prosperous because
1t has as a basis a wonderful lake
shore climate and a wonderfully pro
ductive soil closely coupled with the
greatest market in the world.
Chicago, the industrial center OF
our continent lies but few hours
distant from Western Michigan farms.
ready to take all that is produced
Lines of transportation already exist,
both by rail and by steamship.
An Ideal Land.
The settler coming among US now
| A. A. l. l.
no alien. distant land. He finds here
an intelligent, well established cit.
izenship with every facility for a
happy, prosperous living. He finds
good roads, plenty of schools, thriv.
ing towns and cities, and the finest
climate between the Rockies and the
Alleghenies.
Ours is a pleasant land through
which flow beautiful streams. V
have no tornadoes, no floods, prac =