Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1879-12-16
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE..
Funding the City Debt at u Low Rate Of
Interest-COndensed Review Of the City's

Interest-Condensed Review Of the City's
Prosperity. .'..,.- ....s.s - .
At the meeting of the chamber Of commerce
yesterday morning the following letter was
read: ....
December 10, 1870.
Hon. William Dawson, Chairman of Special
Committee Of the Chamber of Commerce of
the City of Saint Paul on City Finances:
DEAR SIR-Ihere ara no city bonds matur-
ing until May /, 1881, 500, 600. The bonded
debt can be refunded into five per cents. rs it
natures, as tho city government has shown by
the last sale of $45, 900 five per cents. twenty
years at par. Legislation is necessary for un-
mstured bonds, as they contain no clause en-
towering the city to call them in before due.
The city government, for each year during
the past four years, endeavored to obtain the
requisite legislation, but was unsuccessful in
consequence of some unknown influence against
| such legislation. 1t may be we'll for your
honorable committee of the chamber of COM
MERGE to stand guard during the uext session
of the Legislature, as it is the firm purpose of
the city government to make another attempt,
thereby saving thirty thousand dollars per an
mum in taxation. If successful. You are aware
that the city government has made strenuous
efforts and succeeded in advancing the value
of city bonds from seven per cent, at eighty
five cents on the dollar, in the year 1873, to
five per cent, at one hundred cents (par) In
| the year 1879. Eternal vigilance is the price
of liberty" Yours very respectfully,
JOHN W. ROCHE, City Comptroller.
ADVANCEMENT OF ST. PAUL. +
The committee On statistics submitted
copy of proposed circular for use until the
annual report is issued, which was adopted.
The document is as follows: Il .~~
The year just closing has been Of such great
| advancement and prosperity both in st. Paul
and the entire State of Minnesota that it
deserves more than passing notice. 1t is too
early to make an exact record Of the
| business Of the year, but pending
| ~ delayed until after the first of January,
your committee presents in q general way the
| results of the investigation. ....-, -.
st. Paul is the direct terminus of fifteen
| lines of railroad, five more lines reaching us
| by such direct Running and connecting ar.
| rangements with roads entering the city, that
we can properly lay claim to twenty termini.
There is, perhaps, no better index to our adj
| vancement than the showing made by these
| roads,. Their official reports have not been
made beyond the 30th Of June, while since
| that period, the best Informed railroad mon
state to your committee that the business has
more than doubled over that transacted during
! u similar period of their existence. There have
| been 1886 miles Of road constructed in 1879 and
| for the coming year still larger amount is
contemplated. Over three thousand miles of
railroad directly center in St. Paul. giving
US direct business connection with over two
million people, while the territory travelled by
the roads ia capable of sustaining ten million
souls When in addition to filling up the ter
| ritory already occupied the continued advance
| ment of railroads is considered, when addition
al and improved lake outlets are secured, when
the river is improved to the capacity which
commerce now demands (and all of this the
next five years will see accomplished) the St.
Paul OF to-day will appear to the recollection
as mere struggling village by comparison.
In the wholesale trade of the city we find an
estimated increase for 1879, which will bring
| the record at the close of the year to at least
$4,000 600. 30
Our banks show an average daily deposit of
| over five million dollars and over forty.6ve
| million dollars of exchange sold, being an in
crease Of over twenty-five per cent. in these
items as against the record of 1875 The aver
age daily discounts have been about S4, 75O, 900,
| which is less than ten per cent. increase, show
ing that while we are doing largely increased
| business, we are prepared to handle it without
largely increasing our individual Indebtedness
The postoffice shows increase of %. SO per
cent. FOR 1879 and but two cities in the entire
| country, Kansas City and Atlanta, shows
greater increase OF postotfice business.
The railroad Improvements local to st. Paul
have been immense during 1879, but there are
already plans for further development which
will cause an expenditurc.of over two millions
| in st. Paul in 1880 for additional railroad i'm
provements, and before the year closes that sum
will probably be largely increased.
Lot the stranger take the map Of this conn
| try and carefully examine railroad and water
lines, and he will find that there are but ten
overshadowing commercial points in the entire
United States. and these are New York, Phila-
delphia, Boston, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Chicago
st. Louis, San Francisco. New Orleans and St.
| Paul. Man and nature have combined in favor
OF these local points, and all the efforts of all
the rest of the country, cannot overthrow the
! manifest destiny" which makes ten command
| ing cities the controllers of the commerce of
North America.