The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1868-12-31
NAVIGATION 10 ST. CLOUD.
AN ENTHUSIAyTIC MEETING M
THR COURT HOUSE.
The People Of 1t. Cloud Awake ia
their Interests.

In response to tho call pubished in las
weeks JOURNAL, a large meeting Of tn,
citizens and substantial business men O
this city Was held At the Court House or
Saturday evening, for the. purpose Of ohoos
ing delegates to attend. tho Convention te
b. held at Minneapolis on the 9Th Of Janu.
ary, 1860, to take into confederation meas.
ures for putting line Of steamboats, On the
Mi''issippi net season, to run between
st. Cloud Ind that place. z. H. Morse
WAS called to the chair, and W. B. Mitch
oil elected Secretary.
Hon. H. c. Wait said the navigation Of
tho mississippi to 81. Cloud WAS no new
project. Al early Is 1854 and IS steam
beats made regular trips to this place.
The continued drought about 1860, and the
projected railroad line, caused their with
drawal. Navigation above and below the
Falls will be connected by short railroad,
to be built by Minneapolis. Steamboat
men from the East who have examined the
river are perfectly satisfied of its FEAST
bility and are ready to invest their means.
This Convention is for the purpose Of sys-
tematizing the movement, and it is desired
that the different towns, and especially st.
Cloud, have strong representation. This
project Is not for the purpose of in
terfering with or orippling any other cor
poration. But We are people of produo-
ers and consumers, and the present rates
Of freight are very onorous. Many thou
sands Of dollars could be saved by having
competing lines.
Leander Gorton suggested that the first
move must be to discover how much steam
boat stock would BE- subscribed in this
town; for tho purpose Of the boats would
DO not to make money but to benefit tho
town IN the way Of cheap freights. Peou-
niaril5 it would be losing operation to
the stockholders. The railroad would cut
down its rates below the boats, let that be
what it might, and would carry the freight.
T. G. Mcclure moved that fifteen dele
gates be elected to attend the Convention
on the 9Th, when tho following gentlemen
were chosen, and given the power Of SUBJ
stitution:
Hon. G. +: Davis, =. G. Mcclure, hon.
L. A. Evans, Hon. H. G. Wait, z. II.
Morse, Hon. L. Robbers, c. Bridgman, ].
Edeibrock, J. G. Smith, ]. W. Tenvoorde,
Hon. H. L. Gordon, J. A. Stanton, J. E.
Hayward, D. N. G. Murphy and A. Rich
ardson.
Hon. H. L. Gordon said he believed that
steamboats, could successfully compete
with railroads. They do on the lower Mis-
sissippi, and they cost less than railroads.
The west bank Of the Mississippi is tho
producing portion, and has most Of tho
larger towns. Boats can carry freight for
less than the cars can, and it is for the in
forest Of business men to sustain them
st. Cloud will eventually be large lumber
manufacturing city, and We must find
cheap transportation. The wheat and
wood trade are also very important items.
The speaker also referred to the railroad
system Of Minneapolis, and showed that it
was necessary that st. Cloud should be
more directly connected with it.
L. Gorton disclaimed that he spoke au-
thoritatively for the Railroad. But that
Company, by its land grant, was rich, and
that the boats must be run without regard
to what their profits might be.
On motion the meeting adjourned.
This Is movement Of great importance
to st. Cloud, and our citizens should see
that it is carried forward to successful
issue.