Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1910-03-04
Looker-On In Iona

LCCkGY-OH IN lOWQ
Schaller March Ats a curious
spectacle 70 notice al almost every rail-
road station in southern Iowa the num-
Der of immigrants getting ready TO
leave the best agricultural state III the
union. and these men are farmers
leaving Iowa by the hundreds al
time of the highest average prices for
farm products for fifty years. For in
stance twenty-four cars have been or
dered of the railroad agent here for
some twelve families that are leaving
here TO go 20 the Dakotas. AT State
Center there is a small exodus 10 go
TO Canada AT McCalisburg twenty
carloads of farm machinery, live stock
and household goods have been billed
TO North Dakota points. And its big
job this moving of a farmer from Iowa
10 Canada or elsewhere. everything
has 10 be loaded into wagons on the
farm in Iowa. unloaded into car at
the railroad station here. Loaded into
a wagon on arrival. in Canada, hauled
many miles 10 the new place. and
everything handled again when finally
the cheap land" is reached. It's
astonishing the old worthless truck OF
every description that is shipped. Prob
ably because the car is so much any
way. il is filed with stuff not worth
the freight in many cases. And its
poor man that does not take his dog
along. Canada and the Dakotas by the
10th of March will have added to their
dog population at a low estimate of
!. 900 ours of high and low degree on
Z fncn
in taxes this year. sad. isn't it?
! And a change is going on in the
back TO the farm" conditions. Nearly
every town reports a case in which
business man is going 10 farming
again In nearly all of these cases this
business man once farn1ed in Iowa, IL
linois or Ohio He came TO Iowa and
went into business. Store keeping
generally. frequently the grain business
or bookkeeping He was going to
make money easier AS rule he has
not made any money in business. In
many cases has gone broke" Now he
/ is going 10 get some cheap land and
star. in life once more. These punched
up ernigrants, going to some one place
/ in Canada or Dakota is the result gen
orally the result Of one man who struck
out for those points three TO five years
/ ago He has been writing back home
probably, because misery loves COM
pany," or for more unselisn reason.
| because he wants his old neighbors TO
share his good fortune. Letter after
letter. telling how cheap 32o-acre
tract half a mile from his place can
be had. II has been intimated that
some real estate man pays the postage
on such letters once in while. There
/ is at least one case on record where
| a farmer had a commission deal with
real estate dealer in case certain
quarter section were sold at certain
prices.
| At any rate they are going by hum
dreds if not thousands, and with no
state or private agency making any
particular effort to induce anybody TO
come TO Iowa, the census of 1910 Will
show larger falling off in population
than in 1900 Not only are we losing
a large number of young men OF
Drawn and muscle but the children,
the future need of the state are going
| in hundreds. And VINO is to take their
| placeso, OF course the writer does not
/ notice everything. but so far this year
! has not seen a single emigrant from
other states, unloading in Iowa. We
! have, of course, on almost every train.
the individual foreigner, coming to MS
relatives who have sent for MIN, but
| if there has been any ten cars OF emil
grants goods unloaded at any station
! in Iowa this from a point outside OF the
state, somebody should publish it.
So
<o5J 10
understand why we have so many
empty store buildings and in some
cases so many empty houses in many
small towns in Iowa These towns
once had the experience the new towns
in the Dakotas and Canada are now
! having. But now there are less men
to buy plug Of tobacco, and Tess
number of women who want spool
of thread. Right In the face Of all this
our farm lands are held at higher
prices than ever before. Much of this
| land held at 800 to $125 an acre is
rented for $3.50 to "a an acre. And
this year with thousands of bushels OF
corn under the snow" on March 1,
there are hundreds Of farm owners,
who rent their land on shares. who
have not received per cent interest On
farms held at 800 an acre. Still they
hung onto the land" And renters are
going on every train to where they buy
an acre Of dirt at nearly the price OF
Trent for an acre Of our highest priced
farms 1t is evident q radical change
lef farming conditions L: :zs=::sSr "a is
in Iowa will occur in the near future.
| ap HA>7-~~