Bozeman avant courier. [volume] (Bozeman, Mont.) 1872-1882, 1875-04-02
UTAH..


scented themselves to me ! confess. thai
before leaving Montana, l was very much
opposed to granting subsidy to build q
railroad. but on coming here, could NOT
help seeing what great benefit railroads
have teen to Territory SO closely resem
bling Montana in all lis natural tea ures.
Why is II Utah is SO prosperous to-day!
She most assuredly owes it To her mining
interests, and most IF her mines would be
lying dormant to day if she had no lail
road They are working mines which are
no richer than hundreds in Montana which
are now lying idle because it win not pay
to work them. Narrow suage railroads
are being built to every mining camp Of
ID the Territory, and where II
cost ten dollars per ton to ship ore before
they had them, il does not cost over one
now. Another great saving of expense is
in getting machinery into the Territory.
Mill and furnace men get their machinery
laid down where they expect to build a.
from three to four dollars less on the hun
bred than those of Montana. Fut all
these items together and it enables. Utah
miners to work ore of a. low grade as fif
teen to twenty do lars per ton. where your
miners cannot make it pay on ore which
runs from thirty to forty dollars. The
consequence is that q great majority of
your lodes are lying idle, and miners leav.
ing the Territory and going where they
can do better. II is not your farmers who
are leaving, but your miners-your con
sumers. While the farmers are producing
40 much as ever, the consumers, who are
foot-loose, are leaving, thus causing large
surplus Of grain, flour, etc., to remain on
hand with NO demand.
A few Years ago before gold was dis
covered in Montans) the farmers of Utah
were IN more Encouraging situation than
those of Montana are to day. for Their
mines 1t that time were undiscovered, and
they had no market at al, bat now great
many Of them are in easy, prosperous cir.
cumstances. If they are not all 60, it il
either because the priesthood have kept
them down by making them pay tithine
and other church dues. or because they
we're too lazy and shiftless to exer, them.
selves While the grain product has been
on the increase, if anything. the prices re
main about the same one year with another,
aud everything 1t fair living rates. Flour
is from three to four dollars per hundred
oats and barley from 81 Is to % 50; hay
from $16 to $2OO per ton beef cattle from
4 to 5 cents; hogs from IA to 16 csnts !;
bacpn from 16 to g cents. These prices,
- I said before, vary very little. Another
great advantage of railroads has been to
cheaper everything farmer has to buy.
What II you do have to assist rs,lroad
to the amount Of one-fourth your income /?
The increased value Of what } on ptoduce
and the decreased value of MI you buy will
over balance 1t; and this state of things
will not be for one or two years only, bat
for years to come-so long a. your mines
hold out. Thus, by assisting . railrad.
you assist yourselves in much greatlr pro
portion.
have heard men in Montana cay. if .
railroad was built from here, It. would
place the producers Of Montana In COM
petition with those of Utah. to their dis
How can it9 rhe farmers 81
Utah have no surplus to send to Montan. !,
and II they had, Nevada 10 much better
market for them than Montana vroulA ha