Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1914-05-25
THE TRUTH ABOUT MISSION:
FARMERS SPEAK PLALNLY
Criticisms of The Rio Gyszude Valley In North Texas,
Kansas And Nebraska Result In AmsrCers By
Farmers of The Mission Section.

Lower Rio Grande Valley j. indicascd
sDs mass of letters. many of them ac
compancd by affidayits. gcccivcd by the
Mission Chamber of Conmerce. from
farmers in that section. The sh,tstrs
were turned over To James w. Holt of
Brownsville one Of the pioneer land pro
moters of this section. aud one of the
founders Of Mission. aud they are pub
lished herewith for the purpose. aS Mr..
Holt states il. -of telling the truth about
the Mission section. with facts 10 accom-.
pany it,"
In connection with these reports. Mr..
Holt said today:
II have noticed and had called to my
attention for several weeks past news
paper articles criticising the Lower Rio
Grande Valley. complaining of the al
legged high prices ai which land Is being
sold in this section; the inefficiency of
the irrigation systems: the high cost of
water; and the melhols employed by the
land companies in getting homescckerS
"a look at their lands.
II have been n resident of the Lower
Rio Grande Valley for seven or eight
years. | take great pride in this section,
aud have great faith concerning lis fu-
ture During the years 1901. 1905 aud
lMs, | was connected with the Mission
proposition and personally sold II mum
Der Of farmers land in that vicinity.
For the sake ~ establishing the truth
based on the experiences of men IT, whom
j sold land five years ago went 10 Mis-
sion and secured the assistance of Scott
Cawthon. cashier of the First STATE
hank, and Secretary ;. \. Pipes Of The
!. Chamber Of Commepr. We interviewed
as many as possible of the men to whom
/ sold land five yeats ago. asking them
Ia give us short letter covering the
facts ON the following points:
First. when did you come to Mission
and where fron'
Second. what did sou pay for your
land?
Third, what has been YOUR experience
and returns from the land You hoHght.
Fourth. what do YOU consider = con
seryaiivc value of your land al prT cni?
"Thc men WHO wrote these letters were
not picked from u sclcticd buncs hut
were taken at random from among 'hoSe
residing nearest Mission. M a"swer
has been rejected, but each | give here
with nj iis face value. Plenty Of ~ werS
A. .laan Issfl.
mite denial of the false reports tn have
been circulated. The letters wcrc ''t.i.
mittcd by mail Ia me here t"'lay - NJ
Pines. secretary. If the Mission Ct inter
of Commerce q
Most of the farmers y ho have ygitten
these letters nave made - good living on
their land sia'e they parciia>e. W., ana
have paid for their land out Of va they
have produced They have accurl llat"l
considerable property and money n al
dition Som of them lave rcn"3 iand
and have maslc good on hi> rcnlt" land
Several of them came so Miss 'f with
out capital and boUghi land cn,il, ,ly on
credit. and have since paid for q All
of them are now Enthusiastic - aiiev"r>
in the present sahc of the land .,rd The
bright future that@it holds for -
The follayjng letters tell d." own
stories: su-
Mission. Texas. May IL 1911
J. W. Holt.
Brownsville. Texas.
Dear Sir-This j. to advise IA that
ON account Of meeting here i.-i night
and the fact that all of my Size was
taken up in the afternoon mati < every
prcparation for the meeting lisi ! did
not get affilnvits Ia all Of the i.s erS nj.
dressed to this organization n parties
i'm this immediate vicinity r.. tive 10
their experience and what tn have
done i'm agricultural matters str"e their
domi,,ilc here. However. aftl'f ITS to
all of those letters can. and bc >e
cured the early part of this VS.. I'M
personallv acquainted with aii of th,
parties. man, of them iniima''i, so and
know that there statements arr rnr ano
correct. The integrity and sin Gritty oi
purpose az gentlemen Ike Mrs~F>. John
Rixlcr. Charles Nolz Thomas l"'aehcrty
i +. Tanner. Frank Johnson. oscar ;
Perkins George Brooks. -. 4 f'o"d. T.
g. Alsm,,r. Dr. &. H. Mupi { VI. Il
Vile, and others from whoif we have
secured letters. or rather star 'tcmS r'
,arlinr ihis section and what Acy have
done has never hcn questions
Again assuring Non that ! 4 attend
10 the securing Of affda,ils f'm these
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