Illinois. and the great Middle West generallyall these citizens of the Republic have their eyes upon the West. and it is in their interest rather than in the interest of those who have already. under great difficulties. tried to settle up the arid States. It is for the overpopulated Eastern and Middle Western States and for the benefit of those who long for homes of their own. and the independence that goes with homes. that we beg you to believe us when we tell you that the changes of the rigors of the homestead law are in the interest of the whole country and not of any one section. Another thing. the immigration to Canada. where it is so easy. under their homestead laws. to acquire lands. has lately been profiting every year in greater and greater proportion at the expense of the arid West. and this. not because our lands are less fertile. but because the rigorous application of the old homestead law to the different conditions in the arid West have bitterly discouraged these pioneers that have penetrated our borders. and you must be warned. in your disposition to be conservative and adhere to the old forms and prevent fancied speculation in public lands. not to let such considerations as these make you divert the great tide of immigration that is longing to overflow the arid West. of which New Mexico is the center and a typical State. and divert that tide to a foreign country. Is it not a shame that citizens who desire homes under their own flag must go to British Dominions In Canada to find what our own laws deny them? You ought also to be assured that while once in a while a man tries to take up a homestead with other intention than to make his own home on it. yet such a case is the exception.
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immigration