River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1881-12-29
Railroads and the Farmers.

In his admirable address before the
Minnesota State Fair, Col. William F.
Villas spoke Of the immense benefit
which the western farmers have deriv-
ed from the railroads. He said
Before railroads were devised there
was no extensive freight communica-
ton but by water. And that was val
ueless unless conveniently accessible.
From this, the agriculture of past ages
gathered around the seas and axes, or
lined the rivers margin 1t grit the
Mediterranean and made famous the
valley of the Nile. The unwatered
" rid OF the interior was left to the
wandering nomad or the forest barba-
rian. 1t was the unknown region full
of mysterious terrors. The great Her
cynian wood was the home of beasts,
brute and human the latter ever the
impending peril, and finally the de-
stroyer of the civilization of the world.
The reserve corps of barbarism lay
back on the plains of Russia
and Tartary, which nourished the
fierce savages who could live on
equine flesh and carouse on the milk
of mares. So, too, water communica-
ton vas slow and tedious, even when
accessible. That is true, especially of
inland navigation. 1t is weeks by wa
ter from St. Paul to New York, though
the aid of steam is invokedF and in
Northern climes that avenue is avail
bic for but half the year. Your mag
niicent wheat fields would mostly
lie unbroken, farmers of Minnesota,
had not the invention and enterprise
of other men. stimulated by your de-
mands, laid the double-lined highway
to carry the freight-car laden with your
precious berry to the sea; the Indian
would still be master of the territories
of the west. Your lands derive their
value, your industry, its reward; your
homes the luxuries and the comforts
they exhibit, from the railroads of the
continent.
In the beautiful language of that
noble lover of human liberty, once the
pride and ornament of Wiseonsin's
supreme bench, the lamented Byron
Paine, Railroads are the great public
highways of the world, along which
its gigantic currents of trade and
travel continually pour - high
ways compared with which the
most magnificent highways of
antiquity dwindle into insignifcance
They are the most marvellous invention
of modern times. They have done more
to develop the wealth and resources, to
stimulate the industry, reward the labor
and promote the general comfort and
prosperity of the country, than any
other and perhaps than all other mere
physical causes combined. There is
probably not man woman or child
whose interest or comfort has not
been in some degree subserved by them.
They bring to orr doors the productions
of the earth. They enable us to antici-
pate and protract the seasons. They en-
able the inhabitants in each cline to
enjoy the pleasures and luxuries of all.
They scatter the productions of the press
and literature broadcast through the
country with amazing rapidity. There
is scarcely a want, wish or aspiration Of
the human heart which they do not in
some measure help to crafty. They pro-
mote the pleasures of social life and of
friendship; they bring the skilled physi-
clans swiftly from a distance to attend
the sick and the wounded, and enable
his absent friend to be present at the
bedside of the dying They have more
than realized the fabulous conception of
the eastern imagination, which pictured
the genli as transporting inhabited pal
aces through the air. They take train
o. Inhabited palaces from the Atlantic
coast, and, with marvellous swiftness,
deposit it on the shores that are washed
by the Pacific seas In war they trans
port the armies and supplies of the
Gritty, and carry forward, as it were on
the wings of the wind, relief and COM
fort to those who are stretched bleed
ing and wounded On the field of
battle"
But, while we do them justice, let us
not forget there are doubtless many
faults to be corrected, and abuses to be
reformed in the administration of these
highways. Corporate powers and cor
porate values have advanced with a
more rapid step than the invention of
our statemen and lawmakers. The
agency of the corporation is compare
lively modern, and like the agency of
steam, is mighty power. Unless sub
dued by proper appliances of law suf-
ficient to control it, we are liable to dis
asters injurious to our welfare, as the
accidents which sometimes befall the
train are destructive of life.
But must not protract this weary
hour to discuss this problem foreign to
my subject. Important as it is, we
need not fear it. The railroad, rightly
used, is the friend of the farmer and
the whole people. tits the paramount
interest of its owners that it should so
remain. They dare not make it an
enemy, and when we reflect that
single invention-the steel rail-has re-
duced the freight tariff forty per cent,
we may trust somewhat to time and
genius to relieve the inconvenience,
and continue to enjoy its blessings with
composure.