Madison (SD) Daily Leader: Editorial: Imagine what the pioneers would think about Laurent
07/21/2005
By JON M. HUNTER , Publisher
Imagine what those pioneers would think about some of the resistance facing people who want to build a new town in South Dakota in 2005.
The new community, catering primarily to those with hearing difficulties, has been proposed for McCook county three miles south of Salem. Supporters and opponents debate the proposal in homes, coffee shops and before the county commission. It wouldn’t surprise us to see the issue come before a court someday.
Putting the proposal in the perspective of the state’s history, the opposition seems ridiculous. Dozens of towns were established every year in the late 1800s, and they didn’t need approval of their neighbors, as some have suggested with the establishment of Laurent. County commissioners have suggested they would put the issue up for a public referendum.
Even more shocking to pioneers would be the circumstances of this development: More than $100 million will be invested in rural South Dakota and dozens — maybe hundreds — of families will move to the area, spurring economic growth. The developers aren’t criminals and they aren’t proposing to damage the environment.
There weren’t these kinds of benefits when the pioneers moved here. Most came with little or no money, and some were in trouble with the law elsewhere. South Dakota was considered a land of opportunity, where hard work would pay off in a better life.
The deaf people working to establish Laurent deserve the same opportunity, to build better lives for themselves here in South Dakota.