St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-03-05
THE IRON EXCITEMENT.

There is movement in iron proper
ties at the head of the lake as superb
and well settled as the action of a thor
| oughhred horse. Every morning parties
of gentlemen go out on the Mesaba
over the new railroad and poke their
canes and umbrellas down into vast
beds OF ore awaiting only few shoyels
| to put them in perfect shape for the uses
of commerce. In the evening they organ
ize new company to float their discov-
cries, and the next day the operation Is
repeated for another quarter by another
body of explorers. Iron is everywhere
to be had for the asking; and not only Is
this true, but it thruStS itself OH the
public gaze i'll the Strangest shapes ana
patterns 1t is not coyly hid deep Ill
The bosom of the earth, demanding
drills and shafts, expensive machinery
and wears of labor for its eXtricatlon.
But it is ON the surface, as plentiful as
dirt and just as accessible. the gold
days of 40 are repeated in the borders
of Minnesota. The accumulated wealth
of the ages has been opened to the
world by the construction of a single
railroad: and if every man who hauntS
the corridor of the Spalding hotel does
not make a fortune while the keen
excitement continues, he will have him
self, and not the bountlfulneS5 OF
Nature. to blame.
But what will be the ultimate results
of all this? Will they be good or bad?
1t would seem as though revolution In
the iron trade were impending. Ii there
are millions of acres OF cheap ore in
sight, easy to be mined and prepared
for the market eXpeditiously and at
small OUTLAWS, are we not going to have
this useful mineral at our command at
figures never dreamed of before? The
prevailing methods will become anti
quated in the tWinkling of All eye. ana
the old sources of supply driven Out
from competition before they can realize
what has happened to them. All com
modities into which iron enters will fall
in price. Tools and household utensils
will be purchased by the laboring man
at half their former cost, and he VIII
have so much greater surplus left to
apply for the qualification of his desires
or for investment against the demands
of old age or sickness. The discoveries
OH the Meseba would appear to be great
blessings at first glance. They show
the advantage of living in new and re-
sourceful country. Raw material is OBJ
tainable at low prices, and labor gets
biz wages. The poor, therefore, can buy
what they consume for little and sell
what they have for much. This means
general comfort in the communicative
body very rich and nobody in want.
There is fallacy, however, lurking
in such reasoning. Nothing can be more
dangerous than to have things cheap,
and if the new iron fields will induce
drop in prices, they carry with them the
seeds of disaster and national ruin. If
it were not for our patent North Amer
lean life preserver, the tariff, we should
not be able to survive their develop
ment The situation is precisely par
allel to that which the tin mines of Da-
kota produced. Unexpected wealth was
found in the earth's bowels, and it
looked a while as though the awful
calamity of cheap tin plate hung over
us. Much gloom ensued, but our pa
triotic congress was equal to the emer-
geney. 1t neutraliZed natures generos-
ty. 1t saved us from the shock of 10 W
prices. 1t put duty on tin, and our
situation was assured. Let nobody
tremble or be afraid lest we shall have
to go through a similar crisis in the iron
trade. We shall not get cheap stoves,
cheap shovels, cheap nails. While pro-
tectlonism is on top our doom will be
withstood. AS long as the taliff can be
raised, ali the discoveries OF the ad-
venturous and the enterprising cannot
harm us.