The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1910-07-21
SUPPORT HOME
INDUSTRIES
is THE PLEA OF HENRY NELL
BEFORE
CONGRESS
MAKES STRONG ARGUMENT FOR
SOUTH DAKOTA PRODUCTS.

The following address was delivered
by Henry Neill of Madison, grand re-
cOrder of the A. O. u. w. and one
of the prominent millers Of the state,
before the recent conservation con-
gress at Pierre. 1t was handed to us
by George p. SeXauer, who says that
it is something good and we think
our readers will agree with him. We
publish it in part:
The possibilities Of this young state
are vast, its material resources so
great and varied, that one is at a
loss to know where to begin to ac-
complish the greatest good. Oppor-
~tunities to new enterprise on every
hand invite us at once glance, while
at another reckless waste of what
we have attempted caution us to be
conservative. In the maelstorm of de-
sires between using well what we have
begun, or throwing 1t all aside to
undertake something new that has
the glamour of great reward we are
ofttimes in a sea of doubt. We are
q good deal like the apostle of old
with the devil: when he would do
good, evil was present with him. For
the good that he would he did not,
but the evil which he would not, that
he did.
To me, there seems to be but one
logical way to achieve great results
for our state. and that is: To con.
serve and develop what we have,
rather than to attempt too many new
things that we know not OF. Like
the child, we must creep before we
can walk, walk before we run, and
run before we leap into great achieve
ments.
Natures Lavishness.
We accepted natures most lavish
invitations first. We have come in
here and preempted her mines, her
waters and her virgin soil. From
these we have drawn s%ustenance and
cNcH WEALTH.. II 10 True tudI lIOIH ueT
waters we have not received much
more thar enough to quench u thirst
though in many instances We are let
ting a magnificent artesian supply run
to waste. The waste should be stop
ped. But in our rivers there is a
large theme for the exploitation of
this congress. From our hills we have
developed a mining industry Of fabu-
lous wealth, on our p~rairies we have
built up an agricultural and dairying
industry that commands the attention
Of the world in computing the food
supply Of mankind.
Factories Needed
To supplement these we need only
the establishment of manufacturing in
dustries, to give us the well rounded
means to draw from these natural
storehOuses the uncounted wealth they
contain, utilize it at home and fill our
territory with a densely populated,
we'll provided and Independent people.
" is cuJlIcly WllHlI OuT COllLlO
whether we will retain this natural
wealth to make prosperous and hap
by u%nnumbered millions Of people
within this state or whether We will
allow it to be drained from us to en-
rich other Industrial states not as
highly favored as we are.
The latter is our present policy. 1t
may be sufficient for us, a thinly set
tied population taking the selfish view,
to draw from nature a modicum Of her
wealth to enrich ourselves at a great
err rate than the people of any other
state in the union. by shipping the
raw material to others and permitting
them TO transform them into the nee,
essary ~sustenance of mankind, but
in the broader, economical sense that
will enrich our W state, add con-
tented homes and happy millions to
our population. and build up a self
sustaining people, VIZ need to adopt
a manufacturing or industrial policy
and foster it to the best Of Jul ability.
We are not statesmanlike in this
regard. We are Indifferent, to the
opportunities at our hand, we are even
negligent toward those we have m
braced. We do not foster and protect
them.
We dig in our hills, we delve in
our prairies, we dam our waters and
clerk in our banks, all to- send our
products to other states when We
might as well keep them here and en-
rich our own state. Simply because
we are laying up a greater per capita
wealth every year than any other state
in the union, we think we are pursu-
-. - >>la= aaa uxa paook