Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1882-02-03
the university, and should be given the
opportunity for improvement which that
institution affords.
A RAID ON THE CANADA PACIFIC.

A RAID ON THE CANADA PACIFIC.
The Chicago Tribune is evidently seek
ing to rival the Cincinnati Commercials
malicious raid upon the Northern Pacific
about ten years ago. The Tribune is
turning its attention to the Canadian
Pacific road. To sustain its raid, the
Tribune quotes note written to Sir
Frederic Rogers by Sir G. Cartier and w.
Macdougall, which is as follows:
LONDON, Feb. s, -(Confidential.) Ut
would be tedious to quote The numerous and
positive averments by members and governors
of the Hudson's Bay Company in the course
of official inquiries during the last fifty years
that their territories Tin which they included
the Red River and Saskatchewan districts) are
totally unfit for colonization.
A second letter from the same parties
is also given, which notes the destruction
Of the crops in that region in 1869 by
grasshoppers and the prospective suffer
ing in consequence among the settlers.
The weakness of the Tribune raid can
not be better shown than by the fact that
1t is obliged to quote letters thirteen
years old to sustain its position. Thirteen
years, in this western country, counts
about the same in development, as half a
century did in the early days of other
portions of the United States. Consider
ably less than thirteen years ago the
Tribune could have proven by
the Cincinnati Commercial, Gen
Hazen, and other authorities that
| the now famous and fertile Red River
valley was barren waste, a worthless
''Amerlcan desert" 1t was depicted as
habitable for neither man nor beast. Sci
ence was invoked to demonstrate that the
rainfall was so inadequate that it must
forever remain a desert, and that the
idea of Northern Pacific lands having
any value was utterly preposterous. The
1rS6une's remark that the Canadian Pa
cific is endeavoring "to unload &c., 200, 900
of land grant bonds ON the public, the
security of which is no better than the
North Pole" sounds very like the raid of
ten or twelve years ago upon Jay Cooke.
The St. Paul and Manitoba road with
its Winnipeg connection and the North
ern Pacific road long since exploded the
falsehoods relative to the Red River val
ley and the adjacent country. The
homely expression that "the proof of the
pudding is eating it'' finds it's counter
part in the proof of the fertility of the
soil by the millions of bushels of wheat
which the railroads annually bring from
this much maligned country. Consul
II. W. Taylor, at Winnipeg,
has supplied facts and samples
of grain which demonstrate that the Sas-
katchewan district even exceeds in fer
tility the famous Red River region-the
value and Importance of which is not
only undisputed, but it's praises and Won
derful productions are noted in every
quarter of the civilized world.
The grasshopper raid in sparsely set
tied country, signifies nothing. AS settle
ment is developed the liability of even
such temporary diversion becomes re-
mote. Thirteen years have now elapsed
without repetition of that in
cursion. 1t would be as I'M
reasonable to argue that Chicago
was an unfit and unsafe place to select
for residence, because large portion of
it was burned ten years ago. 1t would be
great deal more reasonable to argue
that the smallpox plague which is now
affecting that city renders Chicago bonds
worthless, the property upon which they
are based being given over to the pesti-
lence.
The Chicago Tribune will liye to be as
greatly discounted over its present raid
as its Cincinnati contemporary now is over
its disgraceful attack Of ten years ago
upon the Northern Pacific.