I 4
'Che Conservative.
Ex-governor Boies , of Iowa , declares
that the ratio of 1(5 ( to 1 is unphilosoph-
ical , uiiruasonablo and inipracticablo.
Ho thinks that the ratio .should ho some
where between 20 and ! 50 to J.
If A owes B 100 ounces of uncoined
gold , will B accept 1(500 ( ounces of
silver bullion therefor ? Not at all.
But he will demand more than .5,000
ounces of silver in lieu of the 100 ounces
of gold duo him.
Is there any fanner in Nebraska or
elsewhere who , having contracted his
corn at 25 cents a bushel , in bullion ,
would accept in lieu of gold bullion , at
the market price , silver bullion at the
ratio of 1(5 ( to 1 ?
The county of Otoo is carrying a less
amount in farm mortgages , in proportion
tion to its real estate values , than any
county in the state of Nebraska. Money
to loan at (5 ( per cent on real estate se
curities is in abundance.
The Weare packing house plant ought
to be enlarged so as to slaughter cattle
and sheep , and it is hoped that an en
terprising company will at an early day
enter into possession of this property
and enlarge it for the purpose indi
cated.
Twenty-five years ago money was
loaned readily in all southeastern Ne
braska on farms at 12 percent per an
num with semi-annual payments of
that interest. The reduction to 6 per
cent does not indicate that the so-called
"Money Power" is running things in
this particular propinquity.
The beaxitiful table of land upon
which Nebraska City stands , bounded
by South Table creek on one side and
North Table creek on the other , was
first brought to public notice when
Xewis and Clark published their account
of their exploration of the Missouri
river , in 1800. Those pioneer explorers
were so impressed with the beauty of
this spot that they gave "it particular
mention in their volume.
There are between 400,000 and 500,000
acres of land in the County of Otoo in
the state of Nebraska. The hog product
for this county ought therefore to bo ,
under good management , at least one
and one-half fat hogs to the aero turned
out each year. If the farmers of Otoo
county would attend to their swine herds
properly , this would bo the minimum
animal output of swine , and it would
furnish each of the two packing houses
at Nebraska City 1,000 hogs a daywith
out bringing in any from other sections
of the state.
The superior clays found in largo de
posits in the vicinity of Nobroslai City
have boon thoroughly tested and found
to bo most excellent for the manufac
ture of terra cotta and drain and sewer
tiles. For the latter wo have a yellow
clay of voiy superior texture and ten
acity. It is not equalled anywhere in
the United States. Well managed cap
ital and skilled labor combined can
make the clay industry of Nebraska
City and Otoo county very profitable and
satisfactory. When shall the tile works
and pottery plant become an energi/ed
reality ?
developed
Now-a-days there's no one who would
call the rich lands of Nebraska a barren
waste ; but back in 1827 Malto-Bruns did
this very thing. His Universal Geogra
phy says :
"These deserts , though scarcely habit
able themselves , are not such formidable
barriers to commercial intercourse be
tween people situated upon their oppo
site sides , as those of Africa and Asia.
After we pass the meridian of 96 ° , eg-
etation becomes less abundant and vig
orous , and sterility increases. "
Hon. John James Ingalls once said re
garding this "sterile" region :
"Tho modern history of the Missouri
valley dawned in 1541 , when Vasques do
Coronado , a Spanish soldier , led a small
army from Mexico across the plains
northeastward till he entered the Mis
souri and Mississippi valleys. He got
some hint of the fertility of these re
gions , for on his return to Mexico he
reported , 'The earth is the best possible
for all kinds of productions of Spain. I
found prunes some of which were black ,
also excellent grapes and mulberries. I
crossed mighty plains and sandy heaths ,
smooth and wearisome and bare of woods ,
and as full of crooked backed oxen as
the mountain Serena in Spain is of
shoop.
The long prevalent belief that this
country was unfit for agriculture , is re
ferred to further by Mr. Ingalls' as
follows :
"This mysterious region , so
far so fascinating , the object of j
so much interest and desire , inaccessible - J
accessible except by long voy
ages on mighty rivers whoso
sources were unknown , or by
weary journeys in slow cara
vans disappearing beyond the
frontier , had for some unknown
reason long boon marked on the
maps of explorers , and described -
scribed in the text of geograph
ers as 'Tho Great American
Desert. ' "
As late as 1855 , Sergeant Downg , a
famous soldier in pioneer days , long sta-
T77
tioned at Old Fort Kearney ( now Ne
braska City ) declared that all the land
west of Salt Creek "wouldn't raise a
bushel of white beans. "
Of late years this illusion has been dis
pelled. Nebraska is now one of the
richest and most promising states of the
entire forty-five , and the Great Ameri
can Desert" has proven itself to be in
reality an oasis unrivaled in its fertility.
In the state of Nebraska , located wholly
within this "desert uninhabitable by a
people depending upon agriculture , "
are today twelve hundred thousand people
ple who produced in 1891 , as shown by
the report of the U. S. department of
agriculture :
11U8HK1.S CHOP ' 02 V1KM ) AVKIUOK
1801. IN 1IU8IIKT.S. VKH AC'HE. IN U. 8.
141,89:1,000 : Corn 82.8 Bu. 24.1
18,080,000 Wlu-nt 11.1 12.
itV.liW.OOO Ont.s 29.1 2(1.0 (
and great crops of rye , barley , buck
wheat , potatoes , hay.
Cattle , 2,091,271 head.
Sheep , 272,502 head.
Hogs , 2,198,10 ! ) head.
Nebraska is 420 miles long by 210
miles wide. It has more square miles
than the New England states , and about