Semi-weekly herald., 1909-02-04
SIMPLE
QUESTION
Mr.. Irving Wants to
Know What is the
MatterWn WnhDurango

To the Editor of the Durango Herald
William Allen White of Emporia
kans., is credited with once asking
What's the matter with Kansas?' ant
then answering it thusly: Kansa.
tried to raise h and got an over
production Of crop"
What's the matter with Durango
It's hypnotized. This means that il
is in an hypnosis. The word sleeT
Is good synonym for hypnosis. What
has hypnotized Durango? Several in
fluences. am inclined to believe. One
of the hypnotic influences is its popu
lation. (Thats no attempted pun
Durango is the largest place in its
section. Success, past success, has
hypnotlzed an army of persons and
not u few towns. Success and size
hypnotized St. Paul, Mimi Today
Minneapolis is so far ahead of it that
the probability of again catching ur
Is decidedly slim for ST Paul. Sc
with st, Louis and Chicago, with st
Joseph and Kansas City. with Wichita
and Oklahoma City with Golden and
Denver, and many other cities. l an
neither prophet nor the son of a
prophet. but | predict, however, that
should the present hypnosis of Du
range continue much longer it viii
awaken from It's Rip Van Winkle ex
perience some day, not far distant, to
find competitor for prestige of pop
ulation in the field. Observe the word
field" Please put this prediction
away some place where you can find
1t ten years hence.
About four years ago l met bright
young surveyor who had consulted Mr
Newell of the United States reclama
tion service regarding an investment
The two towns under consideration
were Grand Junction and Durango
VMr. Newell urged Durango as his
choice. But what is the status today
A prominent citizen of your common
wealth (state) has been considering
recently whether he should let go his
real estate holdings in Durango for
taxes! That is most lamentable
condition, when the degree of thl
prosperity of town is such that a
question of this import should be ask,
ed even.
Durango went into its hypnosis
pleased with its achievements up tc
date, and well 1t might be. But be
al1nusipo to ho b,rrp ntf
1t should have informed itself of GER.
tain conditions obtaining today. One
OF these is that railroads are construct
ed with a view TO minimum schedule
direct route. Somewhere near Du
range will be a railroad center The
131 900 100000 tons of coal In this
section (recent statement by secretary
railroads and not Durango. This rail
road center will be nights ride OF
little better from Ell Paso, Denver
Salt Lake City and Los Angeles
to fall look out for good town. and
so quickly will it appear that munic
ipal competition will be ineffective
Another important factor in that bust
tion. Small towns are in decay. Two
large towns in proximity are the ex
ception and not the rule nowadays
Can two large towns exist or will they
in this section?
What tremendous resources in prox
unity to Durangol To the north one
of the greatest of mineralized dis
tricts. To the south beyond GalluI
to Mexico, also great mineral dis
trict. Billions OF feet of timber anC
billions Of tons of coal More running
water In San Juan county, New Mexi
CO. than in all the remainder of tina
state. Mesas of millions of acres 70
fruit. A climate hardly excelled {
once asked leading business men o
resource and he replied: "Our eli
mate") Rich agricultural resources
A center for several sugar beet fac
tories. Unexcelled sheep ranges. PEI
maps large OH deposits. And SO tn
list could be elaborated by consit
Grafton of the industrials from sue
wonderful raw materials.
Durango has two municipalities
One consists OF its scheduled or cap
talized assets, at the head of whic
is your mayor and city council. The
work is to conserve your present a
sets. But the functions OF their O
flee do not admit engaging in the ma
keting of Durango's uncapitalizs1 a
sets. Durango has certain remarkab
i valuable unscheduled assets to Sc
/, but when 1t comes to trying to Sc
tu oh