The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1892-09-04
N 0LO-TIMER'S VIEWS.
FOL. A. N. Voolfolk Talks Entertain
ingly Of Hslsna's Past and
Future.
AZ Her Citizens Will tho City Will
Grow or the Reverse Be
the Case.
Manufactures and tho Capital Problem
Some Original Views ON tina silver
Coinags Question.

Col. A. NJ. Voolfolk, who has been II
1elena for the past few weeks, looking
fter his interests and shaking hands witt
lie old time friends, dropped into thu
anctum Of The INDEPENDENT yesterday
smarkinR that il was his nrst leisure day
inos his arrival. Tho colonel once had thu
equation in Montana Of being n OF th,
lest political takers a. we'll 10 n of thu
aost brilliant writots on the state press
10 has resided in Chicago for several years
,raotioinR law. but ID still largely interested
d Helena. He always had views and idsaI
his own, and could always talk onter
ainly about them. In an interview viii
In INDEPENDENT representative yesterday
10 showed that he 10 still original and hal
lot lost his powers of keen observation,
n reply to y query a. TO his impressions o.
Helena since his return the colonel said:
II need NOT assure you that ! am de-
lighted with the changed aspect of the city
Helena. in the sixties, was torn up b.
placer mines. and I used to think il one o.
The most God-forsaken spots on the Garth
3us the enterprise and taste OF your people
las made u marvellous change. The foliage
~ uoWOAb NNO4 AAAk CVGIy JoiAS eAo etAoA
lid residences and public buildings, the
massive business blocks. and more than all.
his wonderful valley lying At your feet
irt around with mountains that mingle
With the upper sky and seem to DO = part
bf it. It 10 all q very beautiful and &c
Hanging in its beauty, that I never grow
weary of gazing upon the liRhts and shad.
bws that continually chase each other owe,
POUR valley and along your mountain sides.
The only thing l miss here is q park with a
ak0 f,inRcd with foliage aud surrounded
by an abundance OF green grass. But you
will doubtless have all this in time. as the
over Chessmnn ditch will furnish an
abundance Of water for the purpose"
What do you think of the future OF
Helena?"
1T IN in our own hands. You have the
military post, and ! believe the good sense
bf the state will give you the capital also.
Every state should have one chief city,
Ind usually does. The people need a
metropolis whore they can find a market for
hey want. They need a place too. where
hey can 20 tor recreation and rest. 1t il
better to concentrate and make IN re-
bpeotablo city than to have a half dozen
struggling towns. Tho military post here
will furnish quite q market for the farmers,
end a large city adjacent thereto will also
furnish another equally good. 50 that if one
fails they can try the other without the sx-
pense OF reshipment to some other point.
III a smaller town should get the capital
would, in oil probability, find that it had
t1rawn a cumbersome and expensive prize.
EpAoious hotels, etc.. must be built for the
accommodation of visitors when the legis-
(ature was in session; and yet after adj
6ournment the town would shrink to its
original proportions and its Investments
for such emergencies. would prove ~valueleBa
Ind burdensome.
But Helena has alrendy prepared for the
papital and left nothing to be desired. You
have fine law md public Libraries, the his
Eorical archives of the state, excellent no.
fels and theatcrs, an auditorium. street car
ines, handsome churches, an able daily
press, a concentration Of railroads. in fact
Pill the comforts and conveniences of a
great city, and all that will be required to
bid the 6olons Of the Legislature, and the
bench and bar in their researches"
do you think Helena will becomes great
eityY"
Montana is largely a pastoral country,
It's tillable lands are limited and its popu-
lation must necessarily DO limited also. l
DO not see how a great city could find sup
10 find fault with this. What we all seek is
happiness and I believe the city Of twenty
i've or thirty th~ousand--at most forty thou
aand people, conducea most to individual
p prosperity. When you Q ovid together n
great mass of people, competition in every
line becomes closer, the work is harder and
profits usually smaller. Great cities, like
the great ocean, are filled with whales, and
the big fab will ent up the little ones.
"Since my arrival here l have mot many old
who are already beginning to
sigh for the old times when the ranges were
abundant for the few herds which pastured
upon them-when Hslena's fvo Thousand
had plenty to do and plenty of
money, and when every house was occupied.
You know the good book lays that man
was never happy but once, ana that was
when only one man dwelt in Eden, with but
one woman for his companion. No, sir, great
are not essential to individual
happiness or prosperity"
but do you think that Helena can even
q population Of thirty or forty
t~housand?"
why not7 You have moro than half
that number now You have only to find
employment for 1900 additional mon and
The ratio Of five to one will give you a pop
of 2O.0 600 additional. I have seen
Chicago glow undor my eyes in the last five
years just in this way. A man has 500
acres near the city I'M wants to out 1t up
INTO lots and sell it. He goes. for instance,
% a great wagon manufacturer who Gun
p!oys a Thousand men. He offers him a
cash if he will remove his factory to Chi
,ago and establish himself ON this land.
The bargain is made. The factory il estab-
n in a year you will find tho 500
acres occupied by a thriving little town Of
) 900 or 6,0OO people, all supported by the
men who work in the manufac-
.ory. You have only to do that in Helena.
iou are separated by thousands Of
niles from eastern competition. and
,an successfully manufacture almost
everything that Montana oonsumes-vhere
7"u can obtain the raw material ut home
IT can import it Observation-Disclosures ought
aot to import furniture, for instance. II ia
bulky and expensive. You have an album
lance of pine and can import tho hard
woods cheaply from the Pacific. You
ought not to import leather, for you can
.,e hero and should be IN anufactursd into
goods. You should have a paper
in Helena. You should make your
wi stoves. etc., for l am oredihly ill.,
'ormed that you hhve as fne iron and ooal
mines here as anywhere on earth. In the
competition is close and you have only
% Offer some Inducements to cause manu-
in these and other branches of in.
lustry to bundle up and tome here with
heir men. Why not? They GET away from
he CLOSE competition of the east. Thoy
,et where the raw material Is abundant
md they have a market all around them
housnnds Of miles away from their eastern
,oml etitois."
But would not tho difference in the
orice Of labor prevent this2"
why should III The manufactus or
his laborers TO Chicago and each
nan 10 taxed. say $h0O, for a small lot. He
mat AIH0 borrow tim nVnnav In hnilH