Morris tribune., 1895-01-16

duly estimated and then sold at public sale
to the highest bidder. The governor and
state treasurer have no means at their dis
posal by which they can determine whether
given tract of pine is liable to be de-
stroyed. The only data furnished them
is the meager and generally unsatisfactory
report of an examiner sent out by the
state auditor. And the estimate made pre-
liminary to the sale is, as a rule, made In
hasty, perfunctory and slipshod manner
and hardly ever tallies with subsequent
scalings. In my opinion it would be well,
If the governor and state treasurer are to
have anything to do with the disposal of
pine stumpage, that each of them be
equipped with adequate means of obtain
ing information through the channels of
i his own office, to the end that these officers
may be check upon one another and
upon the state auditor, and to the end that
the state may have the benefit of the indie
/ pendent and well-advised judgment of each
of them. Each one of these officers should
also have the same power to procure an
estimate Of the amount of pine
now has. From estimates obtained
i through three independent channels, more
| reliable data could be secured, which would
be check upon subsequent unreliable
| scalings. The frauds most likely to occur
! in connection with the sale of pine stump
|
| liable estimates of scalings. I commend
| the entire subject to your careful consid-
| Grafton and attention. Our supply of pine
| is year by year growing less
and less, and we cannot exercise
too much care in disposing of
! the residue. In this connection cannot
forbear to call your attention to the i'm
portance of protecting our forests against
the ravages Of fires. 1t is difficult subject
| to regulate, but have no doubt your wis
| dom will devise some means to relieve us
from our present helplessness. You have
ample authority in the premises, for the
subject is clearly within the police power
| of the state.
| Red River Valley Drainage.
The legislature of 1893, upon condition
| that the Great Northern Railway Com
| pany would contribute one-fourth of that
| amount, appropriated the sum of $100, 900
| to be expended at the rate of $25, 900 per
year during four years, for the purpose of
draining the Red River valley by opening
closed water courses leading into the Red
| river and its tributaries and by opening
| existing streams in the valley. The Great
| Northern Railway Company has complied
with the condition aforesaid and has con-
tributed it's share, which has made $31, $50
| available each year. Pursuant to the terms
of the act making the appropriation, Ezra
G. Valentine and N. D. Miller were ap-
pointed to act with the governor and secre-
tary of state as board of audit to initiate,
carry on and complete the work of drain
| age. This board, in 1898, let contracts
for the Tamarac river ditch in Marshall
county and the Sand Hill river ditch in
Polk county. The former is tx miles long,
20 feet wide, of an average depth of Az
feet, and cost $21 ,4S3.06. The latter is of
the same width, seven miles long, of an
| g. ~ -
These bitches were finished in the spring
of 1894, and have drained, reclaimed and
restored to a tillable state thousands of
acres of wet, swampy and overlooked lands
of the richest and most fertile in the val
ley. part of these lands are owned by the
state, and these have, in consequence Of
the drainage, become enhanced in value to
an extent exceeding the amount of money
expended by the state. In 1894 the board
let contracts for the Mustinka river ditch
in Traverse county, the Borup ditch in
Norman county, the Ada ditch in Norman
county, the Snake river ditch in Polk coun-
ty and the Kennedy ditch in Kittson coun-
ty. The Mustinka river ditch is finished.
The other bitches are incomplete, and will
not be finished until next summer.
These bitches will drain and reclaim
vast area of overlooked and wet lands,
some of which are owned by the state. Not
only will large areas of land be reclaimed
by this comprehensive system of drain
age, but the entire valley will be affected
and undergo a vast Improvement and
change for the better. Wet lands have
caused late seeding, and late seeding late
maturing crops, and these crops have had
to contend with early frost. Drained lands
lead to early seeding and to early crops,
beyond the reach of the frost. The Red
River valley contains some of the richest
and most fertile lands in the state. Some of
1av 10rT OF oY1d
and require drainage to become arabic and
productive.
The work Of drainage is too extensive
to be carried on by local enterprise and To-
cal means. The federal government gave
our state large grant of lands to be used
in draining and retaining just such lands
as these. The state having accepted the
lands, stands morally, if not technically,
charged with the trust, and in expanding
money for this work of drainage, is doing
no more than what it fairly undertook
to do when it accepted the grant The
contracts that have been let will nearly
exhaust the money that has been appro-
priated. There is still a considerable
amount of drainage that ought to be under
taken by the state. OF this, perhaps, the
most extensive and important is the |
opening of the Middle river near Argyle |
in Marshall county. This involves ditch |
as large, as difficult and as expensive as
the SAND Hill river ditch IN POLK county. |
State Census.
Pursuant to section % of article w of
the constitution, it is your duty to provide |
for census of the state during the pres /
ent year. Provision should be made, not |
only for correct enumeration of the in
habitants, but also for a correct census
of the real and personal property, the
manufacturing, agricultural, mining and
commercial industries of the state and of
the labor and capital employed in the
same. Such census, if properly taken,
will be valuable guide in the future prog
ress of our state. In order to insure
correctness, the work in its detail ought
not to be committed to local assessors
but to some other public functionary or
to persons especially appointed for that
purpose.
I'm the Interest of Labor.
The factory act OF 1893 has, on the whole,
fulfilled the purpose for which it was en-
acted. There are some minor defects
developed in the practical workings of the
law that should be corrected. Our mining
industry needs a mine inspection law, in
spirit and purpose similar to the factory
inspection law. Chapter rs of the General
Laws of 1893, the so-called personal lib
erty law, should be amended so as to be
clearer more snecifc and mora strin gent