The Ward County independent. [volume] (Minot, Ward County, N.D.) 1902-1965, 1913-11-13
MAJOR MURPHY, GENERAL I'M.
MIGRATION AGENT, EXPLAINS
AN IMPORTANT PLAN JUST
ADOPTED BY ENTERPRISING
RAILWAY COMPANY.


ADOPTED BY ENTERPRlSING
RAILWAY COMPANY.
To the Editor:
No argument is needed to convince
the thinking man that the prime need
in practically all North Dakota is ac-
tual tillers of the soil. 1t is obvious
that an agricultural region cannot
possibly attain the highest measure
of its development while the great
bulk of it's tillable land lies idle and
unimproved within it's borders. 90
per cent Of all our land is plowable-
and ready for the plow-our soil is
the best, the meteorological and climat-
lc conditions are good, transportation
facilities are adequate and rates
cheap. With the same workmanship,
this land will produce as many dollars
per acre, year after year, as the $3.50
an acre land of Iowa. Our school sys-
tenn is as good as the best-with a
splendid, accumulating endowment
fund that will, in time, amount to fifty
million dollars.
Notwithstanding these and tens of
other advantages not possessed by
other states, there are literally mil
hons OF acres In all the western two
thirds of North Dakota that can be
bought at prices ranging from $40 to
$40 per acre. Undeniably the chief
reason for this is that title to practi-
cally all of this land could be acquir-
ed IN one way only, viz: through
homesteading. Now, a benifcent Gov
ernment gave almost every person a
fright" to enter land, and the result
was that people Of every occupation
and no occupation, Of every profession
and no profession-many Of them with
no knowledge whatever of either pio-
neering or farming-took up land.
We are just now beginning to real
ize that farming is business, in
which to be successful one must have
specific knowledge, industry and ad-
observation-disclosures not posses
|sed by the average homesteader-and
the result is that fifteen years after
the homestead is taken, not more than
IL per cent of the original homestead
ers remain on the land. In this con-
nection might also state that the
history of homesteading, from and in
cluding Iowa west, also shows that
those of the original settlers who re-
main on the land eventually and al
ways are well to do
Briefly, without going into the eco
nomic effects of this condition, which
is apparent to every business man in
the state, the result is that nearly half
Of the tillable land has gone into the
hands of spectators and non resi-
dents, and for the most part, it is eth
er badly farmed or idle and unimprov-
led. For instance there were thirty
four thousand less acres of land in
|crop in Ward county in 1918 that there
was in 1910. There were $4,000 acres
less in Renville, l4,00O less in Burke,
and $1,000 less in Bottineau in 1918
than there were in 1910.
In a region where practically the
only industry is farming, the popula-
ton should live largely on farms, and
more lands should be cultivated each
year than was cultivated the year be-
fore, but such is not the case. In
Ward county, where conditions are
probably more accentuated, because
Minot, the third largest City in the
State is here located, Sc per cent of
the people live in the cities and viii
lagos.
1t would be foolish to close our eyes
to the fact that there are less actual
farmers in all the region under dis
cussion than there was four years ago.
1t might, Of course, be argued with q
degree of truth that the short crop
years, which means depletion Of mois-
ture, abnormal weed growth and ad-
verse conditions generally-were the
factors mainly responsible for bring
ing about the conditions we are now
called upon to face. The thinking
man, however, knows that history is
simply repeating itself in what was
originally a small grain country-the
slip-shod fellow, the typical home-
steader, and the man who insists on
growing small grains indefinitely to
the exclusion of real farming-corn,
hogs, cattle, dairying of which
the real farmer who is prospering is
proving the country is splendidly ad-
apted to-is being frozen out. In
other words, the typical original set
tiers, many of whom could not make
a living in the Garden of Eden, filled
a want for brief space, and helped
bring productiveness out Of desolation
and wealth out of waste; but some of
them could not change their method of
farming, and Mother Nature, as well
as the ultimate and economic destiny
of the country, demanded their elimi-
nation-and that is what the short
crap years have done.
Mr.. Pennington, head of the 500
Railway, and who is recognized as one
Of the great Empire Builders of the
West, fully realizes the proposition
we are now up against. Having had
full confidence in the potential possi-
bilities of this State, and the ability
to inspire financiers with that conf
dence, and having built lines-lines
com eact and contiguous running
through or touching thirty Of the for
ty-eight counties Of the state, and
serving the people of more than 100
cities, villages and stations, he has
now authorized the Inauguration Of a
systematic and well thought out plan
Continued on page 14)