Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, Ramsey Co., Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1905, 1885-07-04
THE NORTHWEST.
Not the Haunt of Badness, but the
Home of Goodness.

OueAtALS po1eAO1Io VI elAO AAAdElt-iiCCA!s tSl-
ritory to which Minneapolis LOOKS Tor
the greater future which is to crown ne,
great present, reports of various indus
tries are most encouraging. 1t is true
that there are few signs this summer o;
a return of the wild boom spirit which
ragged from the Mississippi to the Column
bia in 1883 and 1854, and consequently
real estate business in the various towns
is reported as comparatively dull. But
that will not be any loss to the country.
A cessation of the excitement, even a
setback, vas unavoidable sooner or later,
and the uninterrupted continuance OF
the boom for a few years longer would
have made the resultant lull incompar.
ably more hurtful than it can be this
year. The quiet times coming now will
serve as q rest and q season of recuper-
alton. They will prevent many a man
from embarking too recklessly in pro-
jects which would have thriven for a
year or two only to bring ruin upon him
when the collapse came. They will pre-
vent many a young town from bringing
certain disaster upon itself a few years
hence by trading upon an exaggerated
estimate of its own to over
build and induce Investment which
only have brought discredit upon it in
the end. The immense natural wealth
of this northwestern region, of Mime
sofa, Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Wash
ington. territory and Oregon, has now
been proved beyond dispute. Promis-
ing town and substantial cities have
been established upon q foundation
which no temporary dizziness can under
mine. The prosperity of their future is
secured, and by anticipating it and
grasping prematurely now at the har.
vests which should not properly be ripe
Tor half a decade yet, they would have
done themselve 10 permanent good and
would have burdened their later life
with q debt which would have accumu-
lated interest at a terrible rate as the
months and years rolled on. That the
prices of town lots are not galloping up
wards at a pace of ten per cent. increase
per week, will be we believe a blessing
and no misfortune for the cities of the
Northwest.
In other and more important ways
the Northwest is doing, as it cannot
help but do, we'll. While in other parts
of the country business men are shaking
their heads and farmers are trembling
at the poor prospects of the wheat crop
of 1885, here in the Northwest every.
thing points to a magnificent coming
yield and we shall come out in the fall
with q surplus of the best wheat
grown on earth, enough to
supply the shortage on all the mar
kets in the world. Never have cattle
looked better than they do this year in
Dakota and Montana. The animals
have come through the winter splendid
ly; the troubles and dangers Of the spring
have passed, and they have nothing to
do now but loaf and get fat on the rich
prairie grass through the summer
months. The mining industries of Idaho.
and Washington territory and Wyo.
ming-of the Cook City, Ceur d'Alene,
Kootenai and Colvillo counties-all of
which suffered superAuous booming, are
said to be once more looking up. The
camps which last year were built in a
few weeks to proportions which should
only have come to them with years
and suffered for it sadly before the win.
ter came-are starting out on a new
lease of life and q sober business basis.
Instead Of whiskey-drinking, six-shoot-
ing, gambler-ridden camps they are bid
ding for prosperity as sober, law-abiding,
business-loving cities.
In the other great resources, perpetual
guarantees Of coming wealth, of this
great region-its coal and it's lumber, its
rich soil for fruit and vegetable raising,
its capacities for breeding sheep and
horses-these are as great as ever they
were and will not be made any less be-
cause business in lots is dull. And when
we say dull, it must be remembered that
it is oddly dull for the northwest. What
is dull III Minnesota would be lively in
New England, and from the Mississippi
to Puget's Sound there is not n CITY to.
: day where times are not what would be
called booming on the Atlantic coast.
The only difference is that the boom now
follows after, and models its growth
upon, the just development of the coun-
try's And this is the legiti.
mate method of growth. No city can
obtain substantial and permanent well
fare by booming town lots. Paying ten
dollars more a front foot will not bring
an extra bushel of wheat from the acre
or put another ounce of gold in a sluice
box. But the more the farms produce
and the better the claims pan out, the
more will the lots be worth in the city
which the mines and the wheatlaud
feed. Many a town has been ruined by
growing too big for its country; but NO
development of the surrounding lands
can hurt the town. The comparative
quietness Of this spring opening then