The Ward County independent. [volume] (Minot, Ward County, N.D.) 1902-1965, 1913-11-13
500 REAL ESTATE
DEPARTMENT
CONTINUED from page ~

which am writing from philanthrop
ic motives-it is in it primarily to in
crease it's business; but it is mutua
proposition, and it expects the cooper
alton Of every business organization
every banker, every business man an,
every farmer-in short every Ian,
owner in the territory served by it
lines.
Now, while all parts of the middl,
west in the past experienced practical
| ly the same conditions we are now fac
ing, and while the natural conditions
there are no better than they are here
those regions have long passed tn,
homestead period, and the demand fo
land in most Of these sections is sucl
that it is today selling at prices from
500 to $500 per acre, and it takes {
comparatively wealthy man to buy {
farm of any size.
North Dakota, in contradistinctior
to the states west of US, and Canada
on our northern border, has never ad
vertised-never inaugurated or put
into effect any systematic or sustained
effort in placing before the country
our great resources and possibilities
After the homestead period, the rail.
roads did little advertising, and to.
day, the other great roads traversine
North Dakota are exploiting territory
to the west and ignoring this region
The result is that the people of the
middle west, where our most desirable
| immigration should come from, has
little actual knowledge of our re-
sources; and the only immigration we
q %1x,o
those who come of their own volition
and those brought here by the real
estate agents.
The object of the real estate agent
and l am not inveighing against
him-is the largest commission posi-
BILE, and this commission is usually be-
tween $500 and $4,000 on quarter sec
tion-occasionally more. This means
that, while the purchaser may have
obtained bargain from his original
standpoint, yet when he ascertains the
true facts, he is invariably "sore' to
think he paid so large a commission;
and human nature is such that the av-
erage man is not unselfish enough to
induce his old friends and neighbors to
come also-even though he could To-
cate them on just as good land as he
got at 20 per cent to 25 per cent less
than he paid-because they would see
how he got beat when he purchased.
Then the real estate man gets land
where ne can get it cheapest, and sells
where ne can get most for it. This
means, as the reader we'll knows, that
he frequently buys land from man
who is farming it fairly we'll, and sells
it to an eastern SPECTATOR, who has
no intention of farming it himself.
This again means that the land will be
lndlfferently farmed for year or two,
to keep the speculator in good hum
or, after which it is likely to "go
back" All this hurts the community
and every interest in it.
The ordinary real estate agent has
no interest in settler after he has
closed deal and collected his commits
slon-and that is where the interest
OF the railway in the settler begins.
The real estate man wants the big
gest commission possible-the railway
wants no commission whatever-on
the contrary, we want the settler to
purchase the land at its legitimate
value, SO that he will be satisfied from
the beginning and have more money
to improve his farm.
The remedy is readily apparent:
Get, those east of US who want good
land-and there are tens Of thousands
who would come if they knew the true
conditions, and could buy the land on
reasonable terms at it's real value.
This object the 500 railway is going to
undertake to achieve in it's territory in
North Dakota. Not as real estate
agent-it will not enter that field; it
has other work to do, besides such ac-
ton might be ultra wires.
Briefly, the plan decided upon and
to be put in effect by the Land, Indus
trial and Immigration Department of
the 500 Railway is this: We purpose
to obtain an actual settler to purchase
every quarter or half section tributary
to the 500 line, that is not farmed by
the owner. This, we realize, cannot
be done in a day. We purpose to get
the consent Of the owner of as MANY
vacant farms as possible to let US
bring them purchasers for their lands.
In doing this we expect the hearty CO.
operation Of every community in 500
territory. We expect to get the names
direct; we expect to get the names of
idle lands from many and different
sources as well as from the public rec
ords; and we hope and expect that
farmers and business men will send to
us the description Of all vacant lands
:, Of which they know, with the names
and addresses Of the owners, when
known. When the names are obtained,
we will write the owners letter and
explain our plan fully. Some of the
owners will want small amount Of
cash and reasonable rate of interest
on deferred payments; some will sell
at a low figure for cash. We hope to
have large enough lists to supply the
demands Of any kind Of a customer.
The work Of obtaining customers
will seem difficult one to the man liy-
ling here and we realize that it will
take lot Of work, advertising and
other expense. At the present time.
the 500 line has lot Of land which Il
owns in Wisconsin. Engaged in sell:
ing this land, it has hundreds Of
agents at various points in the east
who are looking for purchasers. Those
agents, and hundreds Of others, will
be enlisted in this propaganda for
i ~ y -