The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1875-01-15

roctly concerned IN these roads Il checked.
II would be an irrelevant undelta king to en-
q % the je1i
this dispute. That question II now taxing
the ingenuity of lqwyers and the
wisdom Of The court With no hope e It,
immediate solution. 10 these proceedings
the State Is not : party. and believing, g /
do, that it has tho right at this moment 60
lands and Is ! the ! franchises Of tie
company which has fliled to build the /
road, aud that it has, q the result Of this
title, plenaxy power TO ooerce the settlement
of these questions, and thereby, or By other
: means, such coercion failing, u ensure the
completion Of the grand system OF railroads
lnaugurated with 80 much. wisdom 90 many
years ago, i; earnestly urge that you take
such legislative, action q will bring shout
these resAts:g II - -
l~ The company now IN default has been lib
orally treated By the State. Il has had sev-
era1 extensions Of the time within which it
was to construct the road. The last opera
tive extension was madesby. the act OF March
II, 1873. say Operative extension" be-
cause the act OF March &, 1874, BY which IN
extension was offered, never became efec-
tual, for the reason that the company has
not accepted the terms and conditions there
Of, y it was required by the express Lam
gllage Of the statute to do within four months
granted by the act ot 1873 expired January
The importance Of these roads oannut be-
over stated. The line from Watab to Brain
erd will afford direct connection: for the
Northern Pacific road with portions Of this
State, and with railroads leading to the sea-
board, with which its present connections
are circuitous and expensive. The extern
sion from st. Cloud to st. Vincent will trav-
erse region second to nom in the State for
its varied resources-a region TO which inn
migration has been arrested by the repeated
disappointments which have been expert
enced concerning the construction OF this,
road, by the withdrawal of the railroad
lands and by doubling the price of the gov.
eminent lands within the limits of the grant
Other considerations ofgreat moment press
for the solution OF this question. The Can
adian Government has taken direct action
road to the Pacific Ocean. Its believed that
were the railroad opened to st. Vincent it
would be speedily extended to Fort Garry by
that government and that the construction
of . railroad thence westward would
be commenced Immediately. This will not
be possible until Fort Garry has the railroad
connection. The fertility and resources OF
that imperial domain which stretches from
Lake Winnipeg to the base OF the Rocky
the de !elopment Of the commerce OF our
own State.
In your legislation upon this subject you
should consider the claims of the foreign
bsndholders whose money has brought
these works to their present stage, In the
| spirit of fair dealing, which is nowhere 80
becoming as in great State dealing with pri-
| vate interests.
But if The representatives Of these inter-
ests cannot or will not give substantial as
understanding more tangible than
mere promises, upon which We have already
relied too often,- THAT they will do this
| work without further delay and comply
with the legislation by which this State last
winter endeavored to protect its own citi-
zens, whose unrecompensed labor and capital
are now locked up in this inchoate enter
prise, then it will be your duty to assert all
the rights Of the State to the lands and
which will give the like assurances, and
which will accept the provisions OF the act of
! Congress approved June ~, 1874, which, as
| / am informed, have not as yet been accept
ed by the company now in default.
| CHEAP TRANSPORTATION.
| The agitation of the question of cheap
| transportation has caused many Of the best
minds to turn for relief to the system of
water communication, for which this coun-
try presents such extraordinary natural ad-
vantages. Many schemes for such improve
ments have been pressed upon the attention
Of Congress, and will doubtless soon he
dealt with in practical manner. The feas-
Utility of connecting by canal the Mississippi
or some of its tributaries with Lake Superior
has been the subject Of considerable Discus
| sion. 1t il not surprising, in the absence of
exact scientific information, that the most
diverse views should lie entertained ~ to
it's practicability. The advocates Of this ina.
provement assert with entire confidence that
It is feasible. The importance Of such a
connection connot lie over-estimated.
t. It is Of the e greatest in.
terest to this State that the
question whether this connection is prolib.
tied by any illsurmountable obstacles should
he definitely settled. recommend there
fore that a survey he made for this purpose
| | am informed by engineers that it need not
he elaborate or expensive. lift is demon
strated thereby that such q canal can be con-
| Structed at a moderate expense, we shall
then lie able to give urgent advocacy to its
| adoption in any general undertaking into
which the Unite d States may enter in this
| rspect
DULUTH.
Among the many natural advantages with
| which nature has endowed our State is the
remarkable conveyance of the shores OF
Lake Sup rior at its western eud, forming a
harbor Of great extent and perfect safety.
These advantages are shared by the State OF
Wisconsin and it is greatly to be desired
that each State shall enjoy them with the
most perfect amity. The efforts of our peo-
pie to utilize their harbor facilities-eforts
which the terminus of two railroads in this
State at that point and the existence of the
most important city on that lake have rell-.
dered imperative-were impeded in their in
cepti0n by some embarrassments which were
fairly and legally surmounted.
A brief statement of facts is necessary TO-,
an understanding of the present condition Of
this important interest. In 1870 the city of
Duluth began to excavate ship canal
across Minnesota point near its base.
The .'~ United States commenoed
suit in the Federal courts to restrain the
rosecution OF the improvement on the
ground, among others, that such q canal
when opened would tend to defect the cur
rent Of the st. Louis river from its outlet
and thereby injure the natural harbor. A
temporary Injunction was obtained, and the
matter then became the subject Of neeot,a-
ton between the promoters Of the improve.
ment snd the proper authorities of the Unit
ed States These negotiations resulted in
an agreement whereby the city was per.
'nitted to 80 on and construct the canal upon
giving bond in the penal sum of $lOO, 600,
conditional that the city should build dyke
below the canal from Rice's Point to Ninne-
sofa Point. This bond was given. The
dyke was built and the canal completed. It
is two hundred and fifty feet wide and
deep enough to float any vessel On the lakes.
1t is and has been since its construction the
entrepot OF nearly &ll the commerce, trans-
acted at the western extremity of Lake Su-
perior. 1t gives safe ingress to the Bay of
Superior, which is dangerous of access
thrnnoh its natural and fnr1n0na nu%lef