St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-05-26

InlnS Well worth WORKING Tor, ana
feel sure that the Canadians would see
the matter in the right light could the
facts be placed before them in proper
manner.
Until commercial or political union
between Canada and the United States
can be established, the people of Min
neapolis will do we'll to extend their
influence with the farmers OF the North
west. There are several ways in which
this can be done, the most feasible Of
which seems to me to be the formation
. and intelligent encouragement of farm
ers' clubs and agricultural associations,
| which shall seek to make popular the
now aweSOme features of scientific
farming, and devise practical ways of
growing Scotch Fife SucceSSfully,pn old
land. Any such movement as this
should, of course, be free from any at
tempt to advertise patent fertilizers, or
even to glOrify the achievements of the
city of Minneapolis. The incontestable
value of Minneapolis city lots as per-
manent Investment need not necessarily
be made part of discussion on the ro-
tation of crops. The Minneapolis expo
SltiOn might be made useful as a teacher
of the best methods of farming instead
of mere exhibitor of especially large
vidual farms.
II have dwelt at some length upon the
subject of farming in the Northwest,
for the reason that an article Onthe city
of Minneapolis would be incomplete
without it. Men may build cities on the
Northwestern prairieS with little other
resources than glowing prospects and
printers Ink, yet when the enthusiasm
has reached its limit, and the boom has
begun to grow stale, the wheat fields
must take up the burden of proof. Just
now Minneapolis is glorying in her sue
cess and smiling at her rivals, as well
she may. Her short history is story
of achievement such as few cities in the
world can show. There is no secret of
her success. Her prosperity is due to
the one fact that she has controlled the
product of her tributary country.
1t must not be supposed that since the
city has grown so maryellously in a
dozen years her business methods are
unstable or her social features crude
and raw, nor should it be thought that
her architecture is not fully equal to
that of cities of a similar size. The life
of Minneapolis has not been matter of
growth so much as process of trans
planting. People with their business
habits we'll defined, and their social
ideas fully formed, came to Minneapolis
from all parts of the country, and took
up anew the broken threads of their
daily lives very nearly the same as they
had left them in New England. New
York, or the older states of the middle
West. The broad streets were as we'll
built, as carefully paved, and as thickly
lined with creditable buildings as the
thoroughfares of any city of the same size
in the country. Even the look OF new
ness, which one would suppose to be in
separable from new city, was toned
down by the soft-coal smoke from the
numerous mills, so that in the undesr-
able grimy appearance of large manu-
featuring places Minneapolis was i'll no
Way behind her rivals. This smoke is
a nuisance only in the mill district, but
in this respect Minneapolis is no worse
off than st. Paul, Kansas City, Cincin-
natl or Chicago, where the Soft-coal
smoke hangs above the buildings in
clouds, and filters down through the
streets like mist. Such state of things
is not at all creditable to Minneapolis or
any of the other cities mentioned, for
the reason that the coal-smoke nuisance
is thing that can be prevented. When
a handsome city like Minneapolis gets
her fine buildings tinged with CRIME, it
reminds the disappointed visitor OF a
pretty woman with Sooty face. Mime
apolis has done so well toward making
| herself attractive that it seems great
| pity that the excellence of her archl-
! lecture should be marred by SCOT
and smoke. There are a large number
of imposing structures in the city, chief
| among which, when finished, Will be the
| city hall and court house. So far as the
mans NAV be taken as representing the
| finished building, it must be acknOWl-
| edged by even residents of rival cities
| that Minneapolis will have city hall
! and court house that many older and
| larger cities would be glad to initiate ii
| thew could. In this, as in most other
| things. Minneapolis builds quite as
| much for the future as for the present.
| Another illustration of this tendency
to look forward is the new public
| library building, which has recently
| been finished, after having been in pro-
| cess of construction for several years.
| It is not always an easy matter to carry
| on library enterprise in newly settled
community. and for this reason alone
the fact that Minneapolis has spent
$3.50. 900 for a library building should
have due consideration in the minds OF
persons looking for new homes IN the
| West.
"While the disposition to measure the
| quality of Intellectual training by the
| quantity of the architecture is In the
highest degree fallacious. especially in
| the new West, where school buildings
| are almost necessarily behind the de-
mands of rapidly increasing school
| population. yet were this standard to be
| applied to Minneapolis in the matter of
public schools. the result would be IN
| every way satisfactory. Surely this is
| evidence enough that Minneapolis is a
| good place in which to rear family.
| If more evidence is needed, there are
| plenty of churches ready to add their
testimony. TO conservative people of
| the East it seems to be rather an anomaly
| that any new community of the West
| should claim to be ''city of churches y
| and yet Minneapolis does this with sta
tistics that can hardly be contradicted.
| With churches, schools and educational
organizations of one kind or other as a
| foundation, Minneapolis has built for
herself social fabric that is in every
| way creditabe to the high standard OF
Western civilization. A city of churches
| is Invariably city of homes. Minneap-
| oils is beyond all question city of
| homes, many of which are rich and
beautiful, and some even sumptuous
| and imposing
Mr.. Howard then devotes consider
| able space to praising the newspapers
which have offices in Minneapolis, and
concludes thus:
ssBy the impetus of the early local adj
vantage, Minneapolis has continued to
grow until the benefit of location is
rather more of tradition than real
ity. The material greatness of Mime
apois is now the magnet that draws
trade from the Northwest and capital
from the East. Until some grain buy
ing and flour making rival shall arise to
dispute the power of this magnet. Min
| neapols will remain the milling center
of the Northwest. At present the sec
rotary of the chamber of commerce is
able to say to visiting strangers. as he
said to me, in almost reverential tones,
| You stand now in the room
where more wheat is sold than
! in any other room in the
| world 1t is not much of room from
an architectural point of view, but to
!, the awp-Stricken visitor under these