St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-01-28

nesota that were to make of that state
the great and prosperous community
that exists today.
10 Mr.. Rice, more than to all others,
is the state of Minnesota indebted for
| those policies which have built her up
and made her prosperous. He prepared
and caused the passage OF the Dill grant
ing II, ZOO, 900 acres of land in Minnesota
| in alternate sections to aid IN and to in
| duce the construction OF that system OF
railroads that has made every locality
| of the state acce >Sibla and all its ma
! terial resources available. He caused
| the operations of the presumption laws
| to be extended to the unsurveyed public
| lands, and advocated the homestead
| laws. Against the most fierce oppo-
sition at home he established the bound
aries Of this Estate Jas they now exist,
! thereby forever linking together the
| great mineral, numbering, commercial
! and agricultural interests Of Mime
sofa, making each source of strength
and prosperity to the other. He Sc
| cured the perpetuation of the grant of
! public lands for the use of our common
schools, amounting to 1880 acres in each
township. whereby school fund has
been secured equal to at least fifteen
| millions of dollars, that will contribute
vastly toward the education Of the youth
of all succeeding generations. He
! caused to be set apart for the University
| of Minnesota seventy-two sections of
public lands, showing how clearly he
| discerned the Importance of having ma
terial, mental and moral development
| advance hand III hand.
In no period of his public life do
| firmneSs and craftsmanship appear so
marked and grand as at the commence
ment of the War of the Rebellion. The
strongest personal and social attach
meuts had been formed between him
self and the Hon. John G. Brecken-
ridge, of Kentucky. whom he had sup
ported for president against Mr.. Lincoln
in 1860; Hon. Clement G. Clay, of Ala
bama; Hon. Robert Toombs, of Georgia,
and other senators from the Southern
states, as we'll as with Stephen A.
Douglas, of Illinois. All those SEN
ators from the Southern states turned
against Mr.. Lincoln's adminiStra
ton and the Union, and eXerted
all their influence to induce their
friends among the Democratic senators
from the Northern states to follow their
example. In this exciting and crucial
time Mr.. Rice remained mistaken In his
loyalty, and, though an ardent Democrat
| of the Breckenridge school, gave the
most earnest and valuable support to
the Republican administration of Presi-
. dent Lincoln. He was at this time on
the most important committee of the
, United States senate, the committee of
military affairs, of which Hon. Henry
Wilson, of Massachusetts, was chair
man. 1t was the unqualified statement
of Mr.. Wilson that to Mr.. Rice, more
than to any other man, were the people
of the United States indebted for all
those laws passed in the early days of
the war which provided for the
clothing, camping, feeding, equipping
, and mobilization of great army OF a
million men or more, and that from his
? experience upon the frontier he worked
out the complicated problems, without
aid from any source and his conclusions
6 were embodied in laws which, when
carried INTO effect, made invaluable con.
tribution to the grandest military estab-
4 lIshment that the world had ever seen.
e | While the graduates of West Point and
r ! military officers had theoretical knOwl-
/ | edge, Mr.. Rice had that practical knowl-
!, edge he had gained in the movement OF
! troops, and In Indian campaigns on the
frontier, that proved Of ineXpressible
E value to the army and the country.
] In view Of the general policies adopted
5 | and established by him in regard to the
6 state OF Minnesota, which have made
= the state great and prosperous, and the
services of lnestimable value he
has rendered the people of the United
d States as member Of the committee
S on military affairs of the United States
d senate in the time Of actual war, con
4 sidered In connection with his un,
blemished character as business mar