Defending Northern Dakota

To the Editor of The Register: Sir:- In your issue of Feb. 2, 1 noticed a letter froma gentleman from Salem, Mich., in which he givesome so-c&Ued facts about Dakota, which are very misleading. He eays: "This fall's wheat sold for 44 cents, and was docked from 3 to 6 pounds for cleaning." Mr. Sadler evidently didnot travel in this part of Dakota. Her e, at Steele, in Kidder Co., the average price paid for wheat was from 60 to 56 cents per bushei, and, moreover, 98 per cent. of the wheat raised in Kidder county was graded as No. 1 hard, the highest grade. He also says that water is scarce, and that cattle cannot drink it because it contains alkali. In tliis county water is plenty, of a superior quality and the stock drink it as readily as they would that of the Huron. Moreover, the winters are not long as Mr. Sadler says. The farmers plow uutil the middle of November, and commence seeding April 1. On one of our large farms, which, by the way, is owned by Detroit capitalista, corn was raised in 188" which yielded over cighty bushels to ihe acre, and the corn was of a superior quality. The climate is no different from that of Wiscon sin, Minnesota, Iowa, Kansas or Nebraska, and yet, strange to relate, people manage to exist in the siates which I have mentioned. Mr. Sndler says that when he left Dakota in January, the snow was from three to ten feet deep on a level. He evidently did not come from this part of Dakota. The hiils are nearly bare, cattle have been out grazing all winter, and the snow in the ravlnes, if it were distributed over the prairie, would not make oyer 22 or 3 feet of snow on the level. Your correspondent also says that when he leít it was 6u below zero. That alone proves that he did not mean this part of North Dakota. At Bismarck,45 miles westof here, the coldest wave ever recorded at the government station was on Jan. 2, 1687, when the spirit registered 43 below zero. And now 1 would like to ask my frieud from Salem one question. Did the early settlers of Michigan find the same comforts, schools, churches, and other privileges too numerous t mention, which they had been accustomed to in their uative ttates? I think not. How, then, does Mr. Sadler expect the pioneers of Dakota to have' every luxury to which they have been accustomed in their eastern homes? The socalled hardships which the pioneers of Dakota are now undergoing are far different fiom the hardships which the settlers of Michigan bore during the early part of the century. And one thing thould be impressed upon the mlnd of every person intending to come to Dakota : That cla&s of persons who come to 1 )ako'a expecting to get rich immediately, without working, are not the people who succeed, or who are desired as cilizens in Dakota. Yours Kep'y, KD. J. TaYI.OR. Steele, Dak.. Feb. 13, I88S. To thè Editor of The Registeu : Sir : A recent letter in your columns, from Mr. Badler, a Universlty gradúate of 1800, in regard to Dakota, demands a few words in reply. He says that he has traveled 6000 miles of the territory, has seen a gTeat deal of t, has eaten many meals cooked by meaos of a hay fire; that water costs 25 cents a barrel ; that the snow is sometimes 6 to ever-so many feet high, and that people buy ice by the load in lieu of water, which can'tbehad; that wheat is 44 cents a bushei; that a certain proportion of the farms of Dakota is mortgaged; that Eastern loaning companies are withdrawing their money from here, and that land is cot worth as much in certain places as it was some years ago. I quote from mernory; but think I glve the points substantially as he does. In reply I would say that there is some truth in what the gentleman wntts, and he, no doubt, beHeves what he writes. It is fair to relate a fact and leave the reader to make his own infeneuce ; but it is unfair to relate a fact in such connection hat the reader will be led to make a wrong inference. Water was scarce here before wells wee dug. and then water was dear; but wells are very numerous now and water is free. Cisterns are few, henee a scarcity of Foft water, but snow 6 feet deep filis the sloos," and gives soft water free almost to the middle of summer. To farmers, however, water is ahvays free, as it Is also to every man who has his own meaus of hauling. I have my cho'ce of three wells. Hay makes a very good fuel if you have enough of it. I know a latmly who fed a cow and kept themselves warm all of the winter of 1886-7 with hay. They had no money to buy wood and no means of hauling it. They came here with only Ï30 and now own 3?0 acres of land, and control 160 mare and have stock etc. They burn coal tliis winter. They have had to suffer privatiuns, but are now independent. This is the case of the generality of poor seltlers. The fact that hay is sometimes used for fuel does not ncgative its nutritive qualities for fodder, nor does it negative the fact tnat a very good native fuel, a young coal, known as lignite, existe in Dakota in esliaustiblequautities. It is laid down here at S6 a ton, and as soon as we have control of the business of the territory, it will be laid down here cheaper. The freight constttutes nearly the entire cost of it. 1 have used sume of it, and it is very far from being worthless. It is superior to wood and, at the price stated, is cheaper Ihan wood at 84 a cord. Wheat has not within the memory of the oldest inhabitant here been as low as 44 cents a bushel. It is 59 here now and has not been lower than 54 since the beginning of last harvest. 20 bushels to the acre is less than the average yield. Most of the farms here are mortgaged. That is true. It is true of Michigan and other states, and will be true to the end of time. But the proportion the mortgage bears to the land here is less than in Michigan. Eastern loaning cotnpauies are withdrawing their money from Dakota. They do so every year, but most of it comes back again. More thaú $3000 went batk to Ann Arbor last December, and more than S300O will eo back there next December. AU this money that the loaniug companies withdraw from here is earned here. Jt wouldn't be a bad thing if all the borrowed money could be sent back. Land is not worth as much in some places here as it was some years ago. But land in gtneral is worth more. Land unaffected by townsite booms is worth far more now ihan itwas some years ago ■ but land that was held for fabulous prices in anticipation of a large city squatting down on it ia not worth as much now as it was some years ago. I know of cases where 810,000 were ofïered for 160 acres that afterwards sold for about one tenth of that figure ; and I know of land that was, commerciaHy speaklnur, worth nothing a few years ago, that is worth over 81000 now. In the majority of cases land has increased greatly in value. This is because the country is Bettling up fast and the demand is increasing. With these few explanations of Mr. Sadler's letter, I remain, Yours Respectfully, M. H. Brennan. Devils I.ake, Dak., Feb. 16, 1888. [Since the above were put in type, we have re ceived a long and able communicatiou from C. M. Coe, ot Aberdeen, Dakota, also defending Dakota from Mr. t-adler's attacks; but we eaunot aftbrd any more space to this discussion. Ed. RegistekJ