The Saint Paul globe., 1897-10-22
GOOD FELLOWSHIP
AND
GOOD ADDRESSES.
President Jesse GreSs Happily Presides-
Responses Made by Joseph E. Nc
Rfbben, e. "a. YounS, "A. 3. Sfickney
and lou WiIkes-A Few FiYe-Minufe
Talks Follow.

In celebration Of the dawn of pros
| perity in the Northwest, the CONNER
cial club rendered banquet last even
| ing to the st. Paul jobbers. 1t was an
occasion that fulfilled it's purpose. Over
one hundred representative business
| men of ST. Paul were seated at the ban
! quet tables, to first enjoy an excellent
dinner and then listen to the appropri-
| ate and admirable speeches which the
character of the celebration inspired.
| The programme of toaStS was of just
| the proper length, consisting of five
| addresses, which were supplemented by
| two or three informal ive-minute
! speeches. All the speakers paid loyal
| tribute to st. Paul and it's institutions,
while due recognition of the important
and valuable assistance of the jobbers
in building up the city, was expressed.
Jesse A. Gregg, the president of the
Commercial club, officiated as toast
master After the menu had received
a thorough discussion, Mr.. Gregg inau-
gurated the feast Of reason to follow,
with a brief address. In welcoming
| the jobbers, Mr. Gregg Said
''It gives me great pleasure to well
come you all this evening. Our gath
ering tonight has a twofold purpose,
first. to meet the returning wave of
prosperity, and, secondly, to call atten-
ton to the fact that never in all it's
experience have the prospects of st.
Paul looked so bright as they do to-
night
After paying special tribute to the
| "A 1011h1in Snirit of the
iobbers, Mr.. Gregg presented Joseph
McKibben, the president of the job
bers, union, who responded to the toast,
'The Evolution of a Metropolis
MR.. M'KIBBEN'S ADDRESS.
Mr.. McKibben said that the jobbers
desired to congratulate the Commercial
club on it's unity and successful busi-
ness management, two virtues, the.
possession of which by the city OF st.
Paul illustrated the essential differ
| ence between. this city and a certain
other city. ST. Paul, continued Mr. Nc
Kibben. was essentially a manufactur-
ing and jobbing city. 1t was for the
interest of every citizen to do all he
could to assist the merchants OF st.
Paul in their competition with the mer-
chants of other cities.
Mr.. McKibben likened the jobbers
| to the watchmen in ancient cities, VINO
were the first to announce the dawn
of day. SO the jobbers were the tlrst
to behold the dawn of prosperity. The
jobbers had already felt its benign ggI
the speaker said, bid fair to echpse
the results of any previous year.
Mr.. McKibben here related the. anec-
dote of the wife, who, ministering to
the comfort of her dying husband,
asked him if he wanted anything to
eat. Yes, 1 would like bit OF that
ham that 1 smell cooking in the kitch-
| en-" replied the sick man. mo, John,
YOU can't have that responded the
| thoughtful wife. That's for the fu-
| neral" daughter)
But the funeral is off now, and
we're here to enjoy the ham,, added
Mr. McKibben.
The speaker declared that the evo-
luton of a metropolis depended on
three things-a large rural population
producing commodities to be exchanged
in the city for other commodities; sec
ondly, good roads, and lastly, and per-
| haps the most important essential. a
nucleus of active, energetic, hard
working, public-spirited citizens. 1t
was a profound principal that the fate
of city lay in the hands of COM
paratively few. The speaker alluded
to the scriptural story of the destruc-
ton of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the
failure to find ten righteous men in
the former city Mr.. McKibben be-
lieved that st. Paul had those ten
saving men, and that some of them
were present on that occasion. And
here Mr. McKibben won applause
when he said:
All that is necessary is for each
citizen to take care of his business
| his own business
Such conduct was not inconsistent
with the interest of every mercantile
house in seeing every other line of
business brought UP to the proper
standard. Mr.. McKibben thought that
the jobberS had made a mistake in
| giving subsidies to enterprises in that
they had given them money as one
would to toss nickel to a beggar who
passes on. So enterprises assisted in
this way had passed on and gone to
the devil. In conclusion Mr.. McKib-
| ben said:
I'm behalf of the jobbers of st. Paul,
| we pledge ourselves to do our best to
push our individual enterprises to the
utmost limits and to make st. Paul the
metropolis of the northwest and to
keep it there"
E. A. YOUNG ON FREIGHT.
Mr.. Gregg then introduced E. A.
Young with the added tribute that no
man had done more to build up the
great trade center in St.Paul.
Mr.. Young responded to the toast
"Our Freight Situation Unique" A
year and a half ago the freight situ-
alton in St Paul was, so Mr.. Young
pointed out very discouraging. He
described the discrimination against
ST. Paul, as shown in the comparative
rates from New York to st. Paul, and
New York to Chicago. Mr.. Young also,
explained the lake and rail situation
whereby ST. Paul had to pay an in
crease in rates of so per cent over Chi
cago, though there was a difference
of only 10 per cent in the mileage.
But Notwithstanding these unfavor--
able conditions, the jobbers got
through the season and succeeded in
putting themselves in a fair position.
With the opening of the present sea-
son they managed to bring about a
still better condition of things. The
jobbers urged that they be put on
mileage basis from New York to st.