St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1896-02-02
DIR. GRANT, OF BROOK PARK,
WOULD HAVE STEEL WORKED
IN MINNESOTA.
VIRGINIA ORE, FIRsT-CLAss
AND EASY TO WORK, WOULD BEAT
EASTERN STEEL TOsMAR-
KET.
GONG FREIGHT HAULs SAVED,
And tHe Money That Is Spent East
Would Be Kept Within This
State.

DR.. G. A. Grant, of Brook Park, Pine
county, who was in the city yesterday,
called at the headquarters Of the Min
nesota State immigration association
to congratulate Secretary Groat upon
the success attending the immigration
movement.
DR.. Grant is a firm believer in the re-
sources Of Minnesota and thinks there
is no better way Of placing the states
possibilities before the people who are
seeking new homes than by fostering
grafton association.
AS a logical result of this work, prop
erly administered DR.. Grant Is sanguine
Of Minnesota ultimately becoming a
great manufacturing center. In accord
with previously conceived ideas, sub
Stimulated by the results Of the immi-
grafton convention recently held in
Duluth, DR.. Grant explains how the
Twin Cities, in particular, could prac-
tically establish themselves as manu-
featuring cities second to none in the
United States:
Our state is young, and so far, in
our zeal for its agricultural interests,
we have almost entirely lost sight Of its
wealth of mineral deposits. The little
township of Virginia, but six miles
square, is without question the richest
piece of mineral land of it's size in the
world Why, all they have to do up
there is to run fiat car up alongside
little knoll, scrape the dirt from the
top and load the highest grade ore to
be found anywhere on the cars with
steam shovels. Think of the cheapness
OF production by such methods as COM
pared with the system necessitated in
other iron mining districts where a
poor-paying vein of inferior ore must be
followed half way through a mountain.
MY Idea would be to discontinue the
Eastern expectation Of this ore and in
stead plant big rolling mills for max
ing the steel into bars at Duluth; then
ship it to st. Paul and Minneapolis.
where the further manufacturing proc
esses OF converting the steel into farm
implements, wagons, all kinds of ma
ch1nery, and even into tools and needles,
by factories which could be established
for that purpose, would be a profita-
bic enterprise The plan may not
appear practicable at first sight, but
just see how conducive everything
seems upon investigation. If we con-
tlnue to let all our ore leave the state
plentiful as 1t now is, when the supply
would inevitably become exhausted
we would be none the better Off This
was the case regarding the splendid pine
forests Of Pine county. Just as their
lumber might have been manufactured
there with great benefit to the people.
instead of them allowing it all to be
taken away and then be forced to paw
freight rates on the returned manufac-
tured boards for their homes, Just so
we might provide our own steel prod
ucts: Coal to run the rolling mills can
be landed at Duluth very cheaply.
The vessels carrying cargoes of wheat
TO the East have to have ballast for the
return trip, and are willing to carry coal
Tor this purpose at merely nominal
rates Now, having the pure Bessemer
steel bars manufactured at the head of
the lakes, would 1t not be more econom-
1cal to send them to ST. Paul and Min
neapolfS to be transformed into wag-
ons, plows and machinery of all kinds
than to pay freight on the ore to the
East, and then again on the manufac-
tUred article when ready for use? We
have forests of all the necessary hard
woods to furnish, at the. least cost, all
the woodwork of improved machinery
and farm implements, so many Of which
are used in this section of the country
OF course the Eastern capitalists would
oppose such plan as impracti ble It
might be for them, because they could
not move thier factories and mills to
the seat of supply without an almost
dead loss of the capital already invest
ed. AS consequence, new capital would
come in and the Eastern firms would
soon be outclaSSed, or at least made
parties to the most spirited COMPETE
ton. L would encourage this new cap
ital and the building of large manufac-
tories, said the speaker, ''by special
legislation. For instance, / would exempt
from taxation for say a period of ten
years any factory built and operated
for the manufacturing of this Minnesota
steel. [ am not sure, however, that
such legislation would be constitutional
and if it We're. unjust discrimination
would be urged against the plan by
other industries. This, in nv opinion
however, would be a fallacious argu-
ment in face of figures placed before
the recent convention at Duluth where
1T was said on the best of authority
that If all the ore shipped out of Min
nesota last year had been manufactured
in. the state, 1t would have furnished
occupation to 100000 additional peo-
pie. Now this being true would not
those 100000 additional people have
consumed proportionately that much
more flour and vegetables, and in fact,
a proportlonate amount of the output
of factories engaged in every other in
dustry? L was told but yesterday, by
prominent lumber dealer, that the lum-
bermaker was torpid by reason of over
production. Do you think this would
nave been the case had the share of
those 100000 people who would have
bought their lumber to build their
homes of been engaged in manufac-
turing Minnesota steel into articles. not
only for home, but to be sent all over
the world? And all 1 have outlined
could be accomplished without costing
the people of this state single dollar
We would be a manufacturing center
second to none. and all comparatively
for the mere asking, or rather for the
economical adjustment Of our wonder
full resources"