Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1922-04-01
WYOMING IS BACK !.
ON ITS FEET NOW
BY EDWARD G. LOWRY

DENVER, Colo, March 2S.-Even
if Wyoming was flat on its back
it would not tell it's trouble to the
first casual stranger who came
along and asked to look at it's tor
que and take its temperature.
This is a high, wide and hand
some state, Inhabited by free
handed, hospitable and generous
people. They are amply competent
to take care Of themselves. They do
not pull long faces when times are
bad. They go out and rustic for
what they need, and usually get it.
Here are produced cattle and sheep,
oil and bituminous coal.
Essentially Wyoming is a live
stock state. Cattle and sheep rails
ing engage the attention and pro-
vide occupation for the greater num-
Der of people. The live stock men
have had the same troubles here as
in other cattle states, but they have
shown sharper recovery than some
Of their neighbours; Colorado, for ex-
ample. They took hold Of their sit
uation promptly. On a day last Oc-
tober they discovered they could get
money from the war finance corpo-
ration if they would form cattle
loan company and comply with GER
nd q
They organized company that
same day, and a week later 1t was
functioning. 1t has a capital OF |
million dollars, and the state, chief
Nv through it, has borrowed $780,
600 from the war finance corpora
ton.
Banks Cooperate 81
The banks of the state have CO.
operated and participated in this
borrowing. All the live stock men
will tell you that this prompt &C
ton through this agency virtually
saved the whole state from ire
mendous smash. It gave them con-
ffdence and with the return OF con-
ffdence, opportunity came, and h1gh-
er prices for sheep and cattle.
a AS elsewhere, the sheep men are
better off than the cattle men, be-
cause the advance in mutton ana
wool has been greater than the ad-
vance in the price of beef.
n However,, neither of them is COM
planning now. They still owe a lot
of money, and herds on the ranges
and the ranches are depleted some |
say 25 per cent, some 40 ner cent. |
4 t any rate, they are below normal |
and must be replenished. Most Oh |
the stockraisers say they intend to |
.replenish by breeding and not by |
s. chase, and that they will be able
to pay themselves out of debt within
two years unless they meet with |
some unexpected reverse. The trou-
bras in this state began in the spring
&c 1920. In April of that year there
was a tremendous snowfall. The
ranges were full of cattle, all bought |
or produced at the very peak C: the
then prevailing high prices,
Thousands of sheep and beef cattle |
we're lost in this snow. On top of |
this disaster came the period of fall
ing prices. Stockraisers tell of buy
ing Leef steers at $50 to 500 each,
sending them to Arizona to fatten
through the winter, then bringing
them to Chicago last year and sell
ing them to the packers for an aver |
age of $42.50 to $45 apiece. Lambs
got as low as cents a pound, which |
was just about half the cost of rails
ing them. The whole state last au
tumn seemed just about ready to go |
broke.
Summer Resort
It is from this deep hole the Wy |
oming men have pulled themselves
and they have got as far alo- the |
upgrade as they now are because
they did not lose faith or courage |
and acted with decision and unitedly |
when the opportunity came to grasp |
the rope that was thrown to them. |
In the face of the uniformity of the |
general conditions and the general |
likeness of all the people of this Sec
ton of the country there are still |
sharp distinctions that make them
selves visible and apparent-differ-
ences in the people one encounters, |
their attitude Of mind and approach |
to the common problems and diff |
culties that all Of them faced last |
winter. Here in Wyoming this diff |
ference is peculiarly distinctive. |
These ranchers and plainsmen area |
are SO genuine, so competent, so |
straightforward, so steadfast, 81
open-handed and kindly. They are
the real, right sort.
! Wyoming could be made one of
The greatest summer Fairgrounds in
the world. One hopes that it never
will be infested with tourists to the
degree that it's present charm is de-
stroyed. But we of the east ought
to know it better. Here is a state
one feels that will always pay out
and meet its obligations. It is riding
up, the hill now and eau see the top
in plain view, though it may not be
reached for another eighteen months
or two years. A they tell you, all
they ask is an even break.
4 Copyright, 1929, by the Public
Ledger Company