The Grange advance. [volume] (Red Wing, Minn.) 1873-1877, 1876-08-02

wires are up, and the boats are there
and running.
Although it is about 400 mics by
rail and about the same by river and
rail from St. Paul to the Lake Michi-
gan transportation system at N1ilwau-
kee and Chicago, still no combination
of these outlets can be made to force
high rates Of freight on. us, for we
have short northeastern arm of only
$50 miles to Lake Superior at Duluth,
So the Chicago and Milwaukee lines
must bring their rates down to COM
pete. One can thus see that this city
is the focal point of the two lake svs-
TENS, besides commanding the Mississ-
ippi river from here to St. Louis, and
the gulf. This is why St. Paul is to-
day. the cheapest eastern shipping
and receiving point north of Chicago
and Milwaukee, and her IL railroads
and the river make it the finest dis
tributing point north or west of those
cities. These facts, together with an
estimated amount of 100000 bush
els of last years wheat in this State,
still in first handsome can under
stand why all our wholesale merchants
(whose sales, last year, were over
twenty millions of dollars,) report
sales for the spring months, of this
year, as largely over those of the same
months, last year and why our city
manufacturers (whose products, last
year, were Sd, 500,0OO) also make a
similar report, and. further, why it is
still good place for merchants and
manufacturers to come with their
capital, experience and machinery.
Our lumber products equal, if not sur
pas, our agricultural, while it takes
from thirteen to fifteen millions BUSH
els of wheat to keep our present mill
ing capacity in motion. Then we
have the full lines Of minerals, from
iron to silver. in large deposits in the
l5G miles of undeveloped territory in
our State, skirting the north shore of
Lake superior.
But l will not weary you with more
detail. a few practical words and I
will close. We have passed the age of
sunset and Hiawatha romance, and are
closely nearing the mature manhood of
a vigorous and fully developed state,
though as yet not five per cent. of our
tillable area is under cultivation. The
bOrder-land Of romance still exists,
but it has moved hundreds of miles to
the west and northwest from St. Paul.
All the refnements of cultivated. set.
tied life, Minnesota now possesses.
No State, think, has, to-day, a larger
permanently invested school fund,
while the area of the as yet unsoid
State school-lands is greater than the
entire acreage of several Eastern
States. The healthfulness is simply
wonderful, as thousands Of living wit
nesses can testify. She still invites
within her borders, with all her prac-
teal, golden opportunities, the poor.
man, the tradesman, the manufacturer,
the mechanic and the capitalist, to her
virgin acres Of forest and prairie, at
government free gifts, and low priced,
longtime railroad lands, opportunities
of trade, manufacturing, Investments
and loans. am frank to say that, in
writing these words, l do so in the
hope they may may prove words of
cheer, show new avenues of hope to
many in New England, and that in old
Massachusetts, my native state, and
for over 20 years my home lin Wor-
cester and Berkshire counties), some
in after years may be glad they read
this letter from
THOMAS DOWsE.