, 1860-05-04
The Present Condition Of Minnesota.
Correspondence u the Press and Tnbune,l

The Present Condition Of Minnesota.
Correspondence u the Press and Tnbune,J
ST. PAr1, MINI. April s0ih. 1860
Judging ff6m Eastern newspapers and cores
pondence Witch HaFe recently come to hand. it
you'd uppcarto be ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS opinion
kthat Minnesota is,a nsed.up community; so far
xgone on Tho road to ruin that there Is no possl-
,ble salvation for hsrtln fact, that she has sunk
s1nto the depths. of;ob1ivion never to be seen or
heard Of :more.~~1t is supposed that no person
is coming here, and that everybody who can
raise enough money to pay his travelling cxpen-
ses has left, and all the others arc preparing to
follow Us speedily Us may be-ln short, that if
not u God.forsaken, she is, or soon viii be, q
people forsaken country.
- Mel, to a-saPafficial1 1obserrer- such might
appear to be the case; aud to certaia aud
very limited extent such opinions are q reasona-
bly correct person Visiting st. Paul, ST.
Anthony, Minneapolis. aud few other towns,
will doubtless find many vacant stores and
dwellings, aad comparatively few improvements
going on yet il be will but penetrate the coun-
: -tEF IN any direction, he will soon be persuaded
that if people have left the towns they, or 9th.
ers, are fast settling up and improving the
country, 50 that il there is . loss on the one
side there is n far greater gain on the other. In
fact, any person who has seen the numerous
aud substantial improvements in the shape of
1oads. bridges, fences, barns, aad houses that
hare been progressing, during the last two yenrs
will be fully satisfied that Minnesota was never
in 80 thriving 4 condition as she is at present:
: Il ii very true that in the ADORE mentioned
places, aud some others, such as Winona, st..
Peters, Anoka, &c, business is yery. dull, real
estate far below par, ndrents exceedingly low.
1t is also true that men who three years since
were supposed to be worth their fifty md their
hundred thousand doliars;- ure at ihe present
Their wealth, being based upon city lots;
has taken to itself wings ard flown away. Most
ofthese persons, hoR ever. were very poor when
they emfgrated to Minnesota ;.maay knew not
whit 1t Was to hare a:secoad coat to their backs,
and on the: supposition that they were rapidly
Incoming rich.-you kno~ the old story auout
putting beggars' on horseback, and where they
rode to-these people went into all sorts Of ex.
travugances. Into what q hopeless abyss these
people would have plunged, had not the hard
times come when they did; it were difficult to
predict; aud there is not the slightest doubt in
my mind that such check was the must iucky
thing that could possibly: hare happened to
Minnesota. So many men aud: women were
trying to live in af1neuce without labor, and
tanced their golden dteams would last tcr ever,
that had such o. state OF things continued much
longer, ne would have had acommnnity Of reck-
4ess men, .uReless women, aud tuzy nor. produ.
GERS, such as tho world has seldom seen. =, :.
; The consequence Was that though the women
grumbled d great DEAL yet as general thing,
the men went to work. Those who had, claims,
commenced raising potatoes and corn and those
who had none, found their way to the back set.
Elements, aad made Claims; 80 that within the
iasttxo years far more land has been fenced
and cultivated than within the six or eight pre-
rious years. Az Il consequence, instead Of i'm
porting, Minnesota is largely exporting all kinds
Of grain, potatoes, DC. Butter, which three
years ngo sold for 30 to 20 cents per lb, can now
be bad at from 10 to Is cents, aud flour, corn
meal potatoes, 6c., arc likewise cheap and
abundant. g
alonsy, of course. is very scarce. for two rea.
SONS at least; one Of which is that tile or none
is now broug ght into the State for the purposes
Of speculation; and another, because there has
been continual drain tupay off Eastern cred.
itors. Yet there is nothing like want among
the people. If the women cannot buy so many
SIX dresses, or bedeck themselves with 50 much
tawdry |eweiry, or young men indulge in $50
q: $40 French broadc!osh coats, yet nobody is
starving there is plenty Of food and red fan.
mel shirts and serviceable calicoes are cheap.
But the change that came SO suddenly hhge
tried men, gouls, and proved of what stuff they
were made; and any one who has been a. quiet
observer Of men and things here has seen many
sights worth portraying with both pen and pen
be both interesting and instructive. Space nor:
time will permit me now to 70 into such mat
teFs, aud will merely refer to single instance
of one nan whom I saw not long since in the
street saving wood. and who three years. uso
lived in ST. yle'at the Fuller House, and thought
~ mere bnga,elle to girc champagne snppers
to tho tune Of two hundred dollars per night
This man has wife and family to support, aud
finding nothing else that he could do, has gone
into the above business with great credit, /
think, if not profit, to himself.
q Minnesota is fine country iq very many re-
spects; it las q remarkably 'hea1shy and pleas.
ant climate. rich soil, abundance Of pure wa.
ter, plenty Of wood, aud IN short everything
that reasonable man can desire. It is bound
TO BE- Que Of the most thickty settled portions Of
the Northwest; across its fertile pzairies is get
to be the highway to the Pacific; md nothing
can put stop to its inertable prosperity aud
future eminence. Real estate will gradually
come up; slowly, it, may be, but surely; and
that Is lar the best way after all. Never was
there a time so favorable to invest as the pres
cut--1 .cran BY the actual settlcs-as property
is nov NO low thut it cannot get any lower, mud
therefore must rise, The: man. Of moderate
means can nowhere lind a better xchance to buy
an improved farm at very low d CURE, than lie
can now in Minnesota; while to those who are
willing to brave the self denials Of q frontier
life, where can so good chances be found for a
home as in this New England Of the N'este' "A
million acres Of excellent land lie ready to be
claimed by those who will settle upon them;
and it Yankees wont, depend upon It Germans
will. Now is the time to secure L. homestead,
and the first who comes will have the best &C.
lection. Where 80 much is good, it were per.
haps lnTidous TO particulsrize yet il the settler
mend the Sauk Valley, as combining the great: !
est amount Of advantages to The. new conner.
E. ".
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Western Railroads and the Chfcaro