USA > Minnesota > Faribault County > The history of Faribault County, Minnesota : from its first settlement to the close of the year 1879 : the story of the pioneers > Part 28
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About this time petitions were again in circulation through the county praying the legislature, then in session, to pass Mr. Wake- field's bill in relation to taxation of homesteads, and this time they were of some avail.
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FARIBAULT COUNTY, MINNESOTA.
THE PARLIAMENT.
The legislature assembled January 5th, and adjourned March 5th. The only acts passed at this session of the legislature in which this county had any special interest were the following:
"An act to amend an act to authorize the towns of Fillmore, Mower, Free- born, Faribault, Martin and Jackson counties to issue bonds to aid in the con- struction of any railroads running into or through said counties."
"An act to compel county auditors of the several counties of the State to strike from their several tax duplicates, certain taxes therein named."
This was Mr. Wakefield's homestead tax bill of the previous year which had then failed.
It was now passed and disposed of-the question of homestead taxation; the views of the homestead settlers had triumphed.
Alexander Ramsey was at this session re-elected his own suc- cessor as United States senator.
James B. Wakefield, as intimated above, in the Senate, and James W. Hunter, of Jackson County, in the House, were our members of the legislature for this year.
HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION.
The adoption of an important amendment to the homestead ex- emption law of the State, during the session of the legislature of this year, may warrant a few remarks here in relation to this im- portant subject.
The homestead exemption law to which reference is here made, has no relation to the question of homestead taxation in regard to which much has been said heretofore in this history. This is a different subject.
The wisdom of the policy of exempting by law, a portion of land, together with the dwelling house thereon and appurtenances, either according to the quantity of land, or the value of the prem- ises, from forced sale in payment of all ordinary debts or liabilities of the owner and his family, and the extension of such exemption to the widow and children of a deceased person, is coming to be recognized by most civilized nations.
We need not hesitate in saying at once, that such exemption is a most benificent act, both for the individual and the State. And the courts of justice, in modern times, taking this view of the sub- ject, are extremely liberal in their construction of the law, in favor of the beneficiary, and in protection of the right.
In estimating the extent and value of this exemption, it must be remembered that it is granted, not only for the benefit of the indi- vidual owner-a favor personal to him alone-who, often, indeed, may not, as a matter of justice, be entitled, because of his dishon-
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esty, to such protection, but it is designed for the protection, also, of the wife and children of the owner-a right of theirs as well-who might otherwise be deprived of a home, for no fault of theirs. To the procuring of such homestead, their care and labor may, and gen- erally does, largely contribute.
'The ownership of the home secures the family from many ills, however poor the family may be, in other respects, and saves the public charities from many a burden they would otherwise have to bear.
The stale suggestion, heard sometimes, where the credit system prevails, that everything a man has should be holden for his debts, is sufficiently answered by the statement, that as the law exists, and is well-known to everyone, credit need not be granted to the owner of only a homestead, any more than it need be to one who has nothing.
The fault in such case, if any fault there be, is largely with the creditor, in his not exercising proper discretion. The suggestion is one prompted by that selfishness and averice, which reduces everything to a sordid "business basis," gain, profit, per cent., and is without any conception of a correct public policy, or the higher, wider and more humane views of the subject.
The fact is that the home of a man, and his family, is somewhat different in a number of respects, from ordinary property, and is en- titled to special protection.
By this law there is granted to every man and his family, one spot of earth with its sheltering tenements, which they may call their own. A man's dwelling here is "his castle," which no one may enter without his leave, except when he is armed with the strongest writs of the law. And this spot of earth he and his family may make as comfortable and as beautiful as they can afford-a spot which, whatever misfortunes, or mischances of life or business, may befall the owner, cannot be wrenched from him, and they be turned out homeless upon the world, except indeed, as the result of their own deliberate act of mortgaging the premises. Even in this sol- emn act of mortgaging the homestead, the law manifests a strong leaning towards its protection, and contains the wise provision that where the mortgagor is a married man, any mortgage given, except to secure the payment of the purchase money, shall be void, unless signed by the wife of the mortgagor. Thus are the strong, shelter- ing arms of the law thrown about this right.
And no mortgage should ever be placed on the homestead, ex- cept, possible, for the purchase money. If stress of circumstances compel the mortgaging of property, certainly prudence says, with a loud voice, let the homestead be the last thing to be thus encum- bered.
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It is unquestionable that having such homestead exemption for himself and family, the owner has not only the advantage of a secure basis from which to work, to repair his fallen fortunes, if such be the fact, or on which to build up prosperity and success, but he retains that manly courage, that hopefulness, and has that encour- agement, all so necessary to success in the affairs and business of life. Secure here he goes forth bravely and manfully to fight the battles of life, to earn a subsistence and place in the world. This fact becomes evident when we consider the effects of a reverse con- dition. Divest a man and his family of their all; turn them out empty-handed, upon the charities of the world, poor and homeless, and it is not hopefulness and renewed effort that are likely to result, but despair, even recklessness and utter destruction are more likely to follow, conditions upon which, in many instances, degredation and crime follow fast. It is such conditions that, all over the world, are breeding communism and anarchism.
It may confidently be asserted that the possession of such ex- empt homestead has the tendency to make an independent, manly and interested citizen; independent, because he may live within him- self, in a great measure, and is not dependent for his very shelter from the weather upon some master; manly, because independent, at least to this extent, and interested in the welfare and prosperity of the land, because he owns a part of it, instead of being a mere sojourner, a mere tenant. There is a pardonable pride, a satisfac- tion, a spring of hopefulness in the heart of every man who owns his home. How much stronger, in any view, is a land of well pro- tected homesteads, than one of great land owners, and poor depen- dent tenants? There are principles involved here, that reach even to the liberties of a people.
What is the "fatherland" or any other land worth to a man in which he can have no personal interest, no certain foothold, no po- litical rights worth fighting for? The Hebrew lawgiver realized the good policy of giving and securing to every head of a family a piece of ground with certain ownership thereof.
The same policy was recognized among the people of that wisest of the ancient nations, the Egyptians. To broaden a little more what has already been said, it may be added that ownership in the soil, especially if it is a protected homestead, is not only a question of public safety, but of good citizenship. Men who own property must support the laws and maintain good order, that their property may be protected and the enjoyment thereof made safe and agree- able, and this leads to interest in public affairs and promotes self- respect and patriotism.
A man who has never known the hard struggle of the many for comfortable subsistence, and to provide for and protect a loved
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family, dependent alone upon his health and the labors of his hands, can appreciate the value of a protected homestead. and is incompe- tent to sit in judgment on the subject.
While property exempt from sale on execution for debt, should, of course, be always limited to a reasonable amount, the people should see to it that there is such exemption and that it is well guarded.
ANOTHER CONSIDERATION PERTINENT.
One of the greatest evils which oppress the nations of Europe to-day, arises from the fact that the ownership of the lands has passed into a few hands. Great landlords hold vast tracts of the country, while the people have no interests in the soil, and are sim- nly tenants. This same evil existed in many of the ancient nations and was one of the principal causes of their downfall. This condi- tion of affairs was especially intrenched in Europe through the operation of the old Feudal laws, but after their influence and oper- ation began to wane, other causes arose to continue or produce the same conditions. The privileged, or aristocratic and titled classes, who had the wealth and opportunities which they made for them- selves, began to acquire the lands, and continually added to their domains, until but few of the people-the masses of the citizens. who really constitute the nation, who are its strength, do its busi- ness, create its real wealth and fill its armies, have any interest in the soil they stand upon.
The tendency is now in the same direction in this country. Men of great wealth and rich corporations have begun buying up vast tracts of the best farming lands and holding them for speculative purposes, or by some, for the purpose of creating great estates.
Already more than one half of the farmers of the eastern and middle states are but tenants, and pay rent in money or share of crops for the use of the land they till. Many of them once owned the land.
And what adds to this menace to our institutions is the fact that foreigners, aliens, individually, and in the form of great com - panies, are becoming the owners of millions of acres of American soil. And it is possible that this absorption of our lands may go on until alien owners may control the destiny of a state or states, where they have secured such a foothold. And judging from the fact of the great quantities of wild lands still existing here, and the silent and insidious approach of this evil, it will go on, largely un- noticed, for years hence.
But a day will come, and it cannot be far distant, when the people of this country, state legislatures and congress will become aroused to the fact, that our vast domain of valuable public lands. has about passed away, and that some limit must be placed on cor-
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porate, and especially on alien, ownership of lands in this country . The lands of this nation should be held only by American citizens, who are actual settlers upon them, or directly interested in their cultivation and improvement.
America for Americans, native born or naturalized, must be our watchwords. Shall we allow it to be the fact that an American citizen cannot enter upon, or use, or buy, except at extortionate prices, any part of certain vast tracts of American soil, because that soil is owned by an alien and non-resident?
This country has no use for European landed estates, nor for any European landlord and tenantry systems. Why cannot the in- telligent people of this nation-a people's nation-protect them- selves from the well-known evils of which this is one, which have wrought the ruin of all the nations, whose wrecks blacken the high- ways of time through thirty centuries, or is there a predestined course, which all nations must run, from birth to final destruction ?
THE HOME.
Intimately connected with the subject of homestead exemption, is that of the home itself, in reference to which the expression of a few thoughts here seem appropriate:
"Better than gold is a peaceful home, Where all the fireside charities come, The shrine of love and the heaven of life, Hallowed by mother, or sister or wife. However humble the home may be, Or tried with sorrow, by heaven's decree, The blessings that never were bought or sold, And center there, are better than gold."
-Whittier.
It is said that the three sweetest words in the English language are "Mother, Home and Heaven."
It is a true and beautiful thought. They are, indeed, a noble trinity, and they are intimately related, for with almost every home there is the mother, the most important and most loved one of the homefold, and we all hope that when done with time, heaven may be our final home. And it should not be forgotten how near we can make the home to heaven. It can, indeed, be made the doorway, at least, to that eternal home.
The poet and the orator have ever vied with each other in describ- ing the home, its memories, associations and influences, and volumes have been filled with the subject. It may be stated here as a pass- ing remark, that our own-the saxon race-as a general rule, have the best homes, and realize what real home life is to a greater extent than any other race of people on earth.
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A man's home, the home of his childhood, or the home of his mature years, constitutes for him the center of the world from which all lines radiate-the point where all lines converge. Home to all is the basic point-the point from which all start on the voyage of life and the chief object of interest in the return from all wanderings. Here are our dearest treasures and nearest and truest friends, and with it are entwined our purest hopes, most unselfish labors and tenderest affections. It is our place of refuge and rest. And it is true that by far the greater sum of human happiness on earth is to be found in the quiet, contented aud unambitious life of home.
Such being the importance of home with every human creature, the corresponding importance of making the home what it should be. ought to be recognized by everyone. And how great and generous the law is in protecting and making the home secure, we have seen above and it should be an incentive to all in their labors to secure comfortable and happy homes.
Every man in beginning life, if settled permanently, and, espec- ially if married or if expecting to marry, should secure a homestead -a home of his own. Such a determination would, to begin with, be a method by which many a young man could save his earnings.
A man may have little influence or power in the great world around him, but here at least, in now his little empire, where he may exhibit his heart, his taste and his intelligence and be appreciated according to his real worth.
Homes are of many grades, from those of ease, culture and beauty, to those of ragged poverty, squalor, ignorance and vice, but in every land there are more real homes among those who are classed as the poor, or people in ordinary circumstances, than among those whom the world calls rich. Fortunately riches are not neces- sary to make a home, but good sense, kindly hearts and generous sympathies are, and these may be among the possessions of the poor as well as of the rich.
Safe and comfortable protection from the weather, healthful- ness and as much convenience of arrangement as can be afforded. are a primary consideration in every home, and when all cannot be reached at once, all know how much can be done even by the poor- est, in doing little by little, year by year, to reach the desired end.
Shade trees, neatly kept walks, quiet little arbors, evergreens and trailing vines, flowers, shrubbery and a green lawn, even if small, and neatness and cleanliness in all the surroundings are things which all enjoy and which all can have with little labor or cost, however poor, while the more wealthy can have these things and others on a larger scale and in greater abundance, in propor- tion to their means.
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Then besides the articles of household use and comfort, those of the adornment of the home must not be forgotten. Pictures and other articles of taste and beauty should be, and happily can be, had in every home, however humble, and these things are a perpetual pleasure, and are of utility as educators of the mind and tastes and heart.
When man fell from his high estate of purity, and the angels who once had companionship with him went back to heaven, they forgot to take back with them a few things, among which music was one, and in every home on earth there should some sort of music be known and often heard. Let it be vocal, if nothing more can be had, but both vocal and instrumental, of some kind, if possible; yes, let music be cultivated in every home-it purifies the soul, rests the weary heart, elevates the thoughts, awakens our purest emotions and smooths the furrowed brow of care and toil.
Here, too, should be good books, the best the world affords, for in this day the best are as cheap as the poorest, and at the head of all should stand the old family bible. By them we are brought into intimate relations with the greatest and best of our race. And we should have pure newspapers for instruction, and to give us the news of the great outside world; and here the companionship of parent and child must not be forgotten, for it is the purest source of pleas- ure, the strongest bond of influence over the heart and life of both. The club for the mar of family to join, is not the club on the street, or the one that meets in some secluded room, but is the home circle, the home club. Let the home be beautitied and made attractive, if for no other reason, at least, for the good one of making the children happy, and when they go forth from it in after years to fight the battles of life, they may ever bear with them the hallowed influences and pleasant memories of childhood's years. The home and its in- fluences will thus hold them in its grasp, however far they may stray away. It will not be long in any case when they must go forth from the home, when the storms of life, its cares, responsibilities and disappointments, will sweep around them. Life's duties of labor, good citizenship, of high and honorable purposes, will rest upon them. Oh! fathers and mothers, make your children, while yet in the home, strong in integrity, patriotism, industry, honor, intelli- gence; strong in true manhood and true womanhood. Certain erro- neons views seem to be entertained by some people as to the home. It is not a place to go to only to eat and sleep and get shelter from the inclemency of the weather, but it is the abiding place. The home and not the public school is the primary place of education. The home and not the Sunday school, nor even the church, should be the primary school of religious instruction. The home and not the great world, or society, should be the primary school of man-
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ners and of social life. The home and not the caucus, or the con- vention, or the public meeting, or the polling place, is, the proper primary school in which to learn the duties of good citizen - ship and the lessons of patriotism. Some one has wisely said that "the real strength of a nation is in the homes of its people." And surely that is the most prosperous country which has the greatest number of happy homes. Home teaching, more than ministers and schools, or politics, is deciding to-day what the men and women of the future, and the destinies of our country will be. And now it may be remarked that no home, however large the tenement, however beautiful the surroundings and tasteful its adornments may be. can ever be a true and happy home, unless constant courtesy, good man- ners, mutual aid and sympathy, ready forbearance with each other's faults and foibles, respect for and obedience to parents and purity of life are found in it.
But there is still a step higher in the grade of the home and the life there lived.
Every home should be a Christian home, where Christian love and peace and cheerfulness shall reign. There is no development of civilized life so high, and so happy, as that of an intelligent, Christian home. Here the family altar is erected, and the living and known God is recognized in daily praise and prayer, and those many graces abound which spring up in the hearts and live in the lives of the true followers of Christ.
The influence of daily home worship, sensibly. not censorionsly and exactingly conducted, is ever beneficent. "It makes men to be of one mind in a house." Though silent, it is irresistible and last- ing. It tends much toward allaying selfishness, quieting jealousies and irritability. It subdues the passions, it softens the heart, ele- vates the sentiments and produces union, harmony and kindly con- sideration. Where the home is ruled by God's word. angels might tarry there a day, or a night, and not be out of their element. In such homes they have been seen and known in the long ago. May they not visit such homes now, though unseen by mortal eyes? But this is not all that may be said. The children who are brought up around the family altar, seldom, ever wholly, forget or lose the bene- fit of their teachings there. Among the social forces, none is stronger than the Christian teachings of the home of childhood.
A word moro and these observations may be closed. The great- est special enemies of the home and the happiness which should be enjoyed there, are the rum seller, the infidel and the scandal mon - ger, all representatives of satan, and active about his business, and of all the works of satan, the desecration of the home is the vilest and furthest reaching.
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FARIBAULT COUNTY, MINNESOTA.
And now it may be stated that all these remarks are but pre- liminary to the statement of the fact, which the writer is proud to record here as an item of this history, that our county has hundreds of real homes within its borders, happy homes, homes of comfort, taste, culture and refinement, and as the years roll on they increase in number, ever thus attesting to the advancement and elevation of our people.
THE SPRING.
The snows of the winter were carried off, early in April, with considerable rain, causing very high waters. The spring was quite unfavorable, and seeding was delayed until the middle of April and later in some localities.
It was encouraging to the people of the county, under the gen- eral conditions of the weather and the money market, that immi- gration commenced in April, to a considerable extent, which is much earlier then usual. The immigration continued during the spring and summer, but going mainly into the counties west of this, and the tide which was then setting strongly to those new counties, was great indeed. Money about this time was scarce, and the times grew pretty "hard," for all of which there was abundant reason.
THE UNITED STATES LAND OFFICE.
In the month of April. James B. Wakefield, of this county, was appointed receiver, and E. P. Freeman, of Blue Earth county, regis- ter of the United States land office, at Winnebago City, in this county. On the twenty-first day of August, the office was removed from Winnebago City to Jackson, in Jackson county. A very earnest effort was made at the time, to secure the office at Blue Earth City, and it was thought, confidently, for a short time, that the effort would be successful. Some persons were so sanguine that Blue Earth City would succeed, that they had already selected the location of the office building. But Blue Earth City was again, as years before, disappointed in its efforts. The public interests, it was said, required the location of the office further west, and westward with "the course of empire," the office took its way.
THE PACIFIC RAILROAD.
Owing to the rapid progress of settlement and improvement on the Pacific coast, and the requirements of a large part of the world's commerce, the necessity of a great trans-continental line, or lines, of railway, from the east to the west, was long apparent, and much discussed. But little, beyond enthusiastic talk, was done, however, until 1859, when congress authorized the great scheme. It was a pro- ject of great national importance, and worthy of, and of necessity had to be, taken under national patronage. Of the details of the
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act we cannot here treat, further than to say, the act comprised the building of three lines of roads, the Northern, the Southern and the Central. The Central or middle line was the first to be completed. The construction of this, the greatest railroad in the world, in many respects, spanning the continent from the furtherest east to the Golden Gate, was the most stupendous work ever undertaken by man, in any age or country.
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