St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-08-30
TO BROADEN The CITY
A Plan to Annex All or Most
Of the County OF Da-
kota
To Give st. Paul and Ramsey
County Breathing
Room.
The Manufacturing Interests
Which Require More Free
Space.
Ramsey County Now as Small
Ramsey County Now as Small
as the Constitution Will
Allow.

VerSy III ramsey county THIS 1all DIS 10
the selection and nomination of candi-
dates to the state legislature. The Citi-
zens' committee selected full legisla-
tive ticket to be presented to both par
ties for their Endorsement. Some have
been Endorsed by one or the other of the
conventions, and some by both. The
members of the legislature from Ram
sew county, and Dakota county as well,
should this year be men of eX-
ceptional ability and men who
have the interests of their constituency
thoroughly at heart, as from present in
dicatiOns matters of considerable i'm
portaDce to both these counties will
come before the session next winter.
1t is well-known fact that the limits
of Ramsey county are as small as the
constitution of the state allows; and it
is also well-known fact that they are
entirely too small to accommodate the
rapidly growing population and
the increasing demand for suitable
sites on which to erect manufacturing
enterprises which are now receiving
renewed vigor and energy from the
Manufacturers Investment assertion.
Dakota county has fully twice the area
in square miles that Ramsey has; has
no large cities. and consequently no i'm
petuS to build it up and develop its re-
sources as they demand. The foster
ing care and judiciouS municipal man
age of st. Paul and Ramsey
county, and the immense amount
of money which both home
and Eastern capitalists would invest
there in establishing manufacture
ing enterprises would SO largely
increase the valuation of Dakota
county property as TO entirely remove
all the objections to annexation the res
idents of that county might have at the
present time. 1t is currently reported
and openly discussed that such plan
is on the tapis. There are really two
plans. One is to merely annex the up
per row of townships to Ramsey county
for municipal purposes. while the other
is to annex the whole of Dakota county.
The question of anneXing the complete
county would have to be submitted
TO vote of the people of
that county, according 10 the cOnstitu-
| ton of the state of Minnesota. This
proposition, it is stated, would probably
! meet with some opposition from the
farmers, as they could not perceive the
| immediate benefit which would arise
| from such move. The other PROPOSE
| ton would be more feasible. Section
| of article II of the state constitution re-
| lating to counties and townships says:
Laws may be passed providing for the Or
| ganiZation tor municipal aud other town
| purposes of any congressional or fractional
| townships in the several counties in the
| state, provided that when a township is
/ divided by county lines or does not contain
| 100 inhabitants it may be attached to one or
more adjoining townships or parts Of town
| ships, for the purposes aforesaid.
| Under this section it is claimed that
the upper tier of counties could be an
| neXed to Ramsey county for municipal
| purposes, and before the next election
| would come around the inhabitants of
| the remaining portion of the county
would be so thoroughly convinced of
| the benefits they would derive from a
complete annexation that they would
ask of their own accord to be taken in.
| There is no denying the fact that the
| contemplated plan would prove of i'm
mense value to both counties. Sites for
| manufacturing purposes could be Sc
cured at a nominal sum; switches and
| side tracks could be built from the
| South st. Paul flats to the river, and
thus the waterway used as means OF
cheap transportation for the productions
| of the factories. The river could also
be used as means for furnishing cheap
fuel by barging coal from the coal re-
| gions, which would be an important
| item to the manufacturers. On the
| other hand the employees of the manu-
featuring establishments could secure
| cheap and comfortable homes along the
slopes and hillsides that run back from
the river, and would aid materially i'll
building up and improving Dakota
county.
The legislative conventions to nomi-
| nate men to represent Dakota county III
the legislature next winter are soon to
be held. and the people should see to il
| that men are sent there who will work
for their interests. Quite number OF
candidates have been mentioned, among
them being Aiken. of Rosemount, for
senator; Rogers, as one of the members
for the lower house, and William
Bircher, formerly city clerk of South
st. Paul, and for number OF
years a resident of Dakota county
as the other. The question will probably
come before the conventions and De
thoroughly canvassed. There is ne
doubt but that the results OF such &
union would inure to the lasting bene-
fit of all parties concerned, and with
miles of factories stretching along the
banks of the Mississippi river, and
thousands of workingmen's homes
| reaching throughout the length and
breadth of Dakota county, it could
surely be said that st. Paul is, beyond 6
doubt. the metropolis of the Northwest