The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1914-06-08
WHAT AILS IOWA?

i wv l1A j al
To tho EDITOR az Tho Gate City:
Quite number OF newspapers In
Iowa have been discussing the failure
|of Iowa 10 Increase its population In
Ago the Des Moines Register and
Leader had a column editorial COM
menting on what an eastern journal
has said editorially on Iowa. which
paper stated tAnd Il Ia fact) that
from 1900 to 1910 Iowa had decreased
in population about 5000. and fallen
from the tenth position 1t occupied in
POPULATION to the fifteenth position.
That even from 1910 to 1913 1t had
lost about 500 based on estimated
figures. So for thirteen years Iowa
has been on the ''toboggan." We all
know some Of the cities have In
creased wonderfully in population.
So the great loss must be in the vii
lagos and small Gowns and the coun-
try. For we can name score OF
towns which have increased in popu-
lation to remarkable degree, and the
small town and rural district have
Iperhars lost 10000 In population.
The Chicago Record Herald, the
burlington Post and other papers
have all asked the question What
ais Iowa. ' Land has advanced In
prices until no one can purchase +.
and make two per cent on the invest
ment. So long as purchasers are to
be found at the high prices, SO long
viii the same maintain. Iowa has
churches and schools, fertile fields,
clear lakes and fine water. and the
Iowa lie has been pictured ideal;
but immigration has ceased. The for
signers do not come. they pass up
Iowa. They settle In Minnesota, nli-
nois, Nebraska. and Missouri, but
give Iowa the ..go-by-'' Can't you
imagine why they have not come In
fifteen years. The only foreigners
coming to Iowa so to the cities
where there is some semblance OF
liberty not found in the country and
small towns Manning, Carroll coun-
ty, has Increased In population. Is 1t
because the second largest saloon In
the world with eighteen barkeerers Is
located there? There is only one
saloon there paying $500 per year
for license. But Manning is one OF
the finest. lives, cleanest small towns
in Iowa, and surrounded by rich,
wealthy farmers. mostly all foreigners.
II trunk railroads make q state,
Iowa surely has plenty of trunk lines,
but some OF the deadest dried. up
towns are to be found on these trunk
lines. Many OF the branch lines,
consisting in The aggregate of hun
dreds of miles. are badly mismanaged.
giving practically no train service to
speak Of. Iowa is noted In Chicago
and St Louis for patronfzfng catalol
and mail order houses (and voting
the dry ticket. All to the detriment
of the small towns.
Iowa is full of moss back citizens,
bankers, and capitalists and farmers
running around with department store
lists. seeing where they can save three
cents on purchase. They are work
ing overtime fighting trusts and then
patronizing the Rockefeller, Morgan,
Standard Oil and steel trust depart
ment stores and mail order houses,
for the same interests control both.
The farmers delight in Iowa is dry
town. and a .gear and doebuck" cat
alog. That is why the small town
merchant has little and in some cases
no business from the farmer.
Can anybody tell us why the youth
and maiden as soon as he and she is
able to make a living, hike to Chi
cago or the larger cities. instead OF
remaining in dear old Iowa? There
is and must be reason.
The Clinton Herald said some
thing when It printed this editorial
recopied in The Gate City:
Iowa's Population.
The Clinton Herald hits the nail
on .he head in the following:
"a whole lot of buncomBe is
being handed out about measuring
Iowa's prosperity by the increas-
ing value OF land. Prosperity
should be measured by the pro-
ductfvity of the land. not by its
selling value, and where the sell
ing value Increases more rapidly
than productivity, prosperity dim
inisl1es; i. does not Increase.
The same applies to Keokuk. What
value have those $4,000 lots on the
blum lit seems like a blui) when no
one will purchase? The owner keeps
them. there are no buyers. The in
terest on $4,000 at six per cent rs