Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1910-03-22
WISCONSIN VALLEY
INFORMATION BUREAU.
An Important Meeting OF Land Owners
Held in Wausau on Tuesday Evening.

Held in Wausau on Tuesday Evening.
Last Tuesday evening an important
meeting was held in this city at the
Wausau club house. The parlor of
the club was well filled with men who
have large land holdings in the valley.
And there were quite a number of
prominent men from other cities
present. Among them were A. d.
Campbell, commissioner of immigra-
ton of Wisconsin: B. F. Mcmillan,
Mcmillan; John p. Hume, MarShfield;
E. P. Arpin, Grand Rapids and E. A.
Benson, Milwaukee.
There has never been an organized
effort in the valley to bring settlers
here to settle on the fertile, cut-over
forest lands, which are being added
to every year by our lumbermen as
they cut off the merchantable timber.
Each land owner has been selling on
his own hook. Finally, it has daWned
upon them that the land owners
in the south and west and up in
Canada, who haven't one-half as good
proposition to offer the man who
wants farm as they have in the
Wisconsin valley, were really taking
settlers away from here, doing most
OF it through advertising; misrepre-
sentation of the most fragrant nature
being used to accomplish their ends.
So, for some time a coterie of men,
interested in the development of the
valley, have met and discussed the
question of whas is best to be done in
the matter. The consensus of opinion
was that there must be thorough
organization and an association of
some kind formed whereby all could
work under one head and concentrate
their efforts along the very best and
most approved lines; to cooperate
with the state officials and railroad
companies. 1t was finally decided to
call the meeting of Tuesday evening.
HI. G. Flieth was chosen chairman
of the meeting and G. n. Heinemann,
secretary.
G.. d. Jones was called upon to state
the object of the meeting and did so,
interesting everyone present from the
very outset by his earnestness and
| full knowledge of the situation. He
told of the large areas of cut over
land in northern Wisconsin, which
were very fertile and only awaited
the farmers manipulation to make
them bring forth abundant
crops. He said in effect that the
great question was how to turn the
tide of immigration from the south,
west and Canada into the Wisconsin
valley and induce homeseekers to set
tie on these lands; that was the prin-
cipal object of the gathering. He
| thought it best for all concerned in
| the valley to act in unison: to
organize, whether as stock company
or in some other form. That rail
roads had promised TO give such at
tention, with the cooperation of
interested parties, as they have
given other states. Such as giving
the benefit of any equipment they
have for obtaining homeseekers.
| That the object of the meeting was
mainly to impress these facts upon
owners of lands and 3eyising some
| plan to obtain the best results possible
from elaborate advertising and rail
| road cooperation.
Mr.. Campbell, state commissioner
OF immigration, was called upon and
said many good things concerning the
lands in the Wisconsin valley. He
was emphatically of the opinion that
man was immeasureably better off
to take lands in Wisconsin valley for
farm rather than in the south, west
or up i'm Canada. He assured those
present that the state would heartily
cooperate in the work of bringing in
settlers. He said much which was of
interest.
G. n. Heinemann had been giving
much attention to working up an
interest in the settling of valley lands
and had felt for long time that there
was way to bring the interests of all
concerned together for their welfare
and the valley in general, and he
has labored earnestly to find the right
way and perhaps has come the nearest
to solving it than any other man. He
was called upon to outline his ideas
| which he did in most comprehensive
way He had travelled considerable to
get better acquainted with conditions;
had gone into the main offices in Chi
cago of the railroad companies that
operate in the valley and learned that
an enormous amount of advertising
could be worked for the valley if there
was unity of interests. In Marathon
and Lincoln counties alone, he said,
there were upwards of $4,000 acres of
land stripped of timber each year and
added to the list of cut over lands.
His opinion was that organization and
cooperation, and hard and quick work
along the most approved, advanced
lines would be necessary to meet and
counterfeit the work of western,
southern and Canadian land men.
John P. Hume of Marshfield, who is
doing great work in bringing settlers
into Clark county and western part
of Marathon, gave one of the most in
| teresting talks ever listened to in this
city. His theme was how to turn the
cut over lands into productive farms,
and how to take inexperienced men
and make farmers of them. Mr..
| Hume has worked out plan of his
own which is very successful. 1t
would require too much space in the
Pilot to give even very meager out
| line of his plan. 1t will no doubt be-
come, in time, popular way of bring
ing in settlers and improving our un-
occupied lands. 1t was generally con-
coded that there was only one John
| Hume in the land business.
Others who talked, giving splendid
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