The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-01-19


works have now been scattered to the
four winds Of the earth.
when I took charge of the st. Paul
e. Pacific In 1879, the road had carried
nearly 100000 bushels Of grain for the
fiscal year ending in June 1t was con-
sidered a large haul. OF the crop CT
1896 we carried 69,0O0,o0O bushels, or
over 33 1-3 times as many bushels as
we did in 1879. This tells the story Of
the increased acreage. remember that
in 1878, after we left the environments
Of Fergus Falls going north, we were
out Of human habitation. Now there
are fifty houses where there used to
be one.
II would like to impress upon those
present that, with a climate and a soil
unsurpassed, we have conditions which
should make us as prosperous as any
state in the West. Some months ago, I
was in the state of Iowa. and in dTiv-
ing around inquired the prices Of farm
land . I was told that the land sold
for from $40 to $45 an acre. The lands
of Minnesota are equally good. They
are better located. Transportation ia
cilitieS and rates are better; yet our
lands in Minnesota sell for only SIS or
$18 an acre. Why is it that a farm in
Minnesota sells for less than half the
price of Iowa farms, when the value of
the two farms is the same? Mime
Iowa, but she raises better corn, and
can raise more to the acre. Our trOu-
BILE is not in the land, but is in the way
it is used.
Mr.. Hill referred to many different
matters and spoke of the steamship
line which now connects Puget Sound
with ASIA when we built our line
to the Pacific coast, 1 knew that it
would be necessary to look to Asia for
a portion Of our traffic. / sent an ex-
pert statistician to Asia and kept him
there a year. He took a manifest Of
the cargo Of every ship which left
every open port in that far off country.
The figures were startling. 1t showed
for instance that the JapS send over
to us $35, 900, 900 Of their produce every
year, and take but S., 900 of ours
When we established the steamship
line, we made rate on -four in order
to load the ships back, and as a. result
1T opened up a new market, to all the
wheat raised on the Pacific coast It
| effects us very materially. The world
has grown smaller with increased
transportation facilities. It is now
| easier to go from one remote corner
OF the world to another than it was to
go from Boston to San Francisco be-
fore the war. We are now sending
more wheat to Asia than the boasted
Argentines are sending to Europe"
with a brief address upon the mining
industries of the state, reviewing the
great strides which have been made
during the past few years. Minnesota,
he said, now ranks second in the pro-
duction Of iron, and will soon crowd
Michigan for first place. A total Of
100000 tons Of ore have been taken
from the mines of Minnesota, which
were worth, at the least calculation,
from $17,000,000 to SIC, 900, 000
| Prior to the open meeting in the leg
islative hail. the executive council of
the historical society held a meeting
in the rooms of the association and
elected the following members to the
council for the coming year:
Resident Members-RusselI Blakeley ]. B.
CLANCY, Greenleaf Clark, VIM. P. Clough, c.
D. Elfelt, Jno. Espy, H. S. Fairchild, c. E.
Flandrau, VIM. H. Grant, ]. J. HILL D. L.
Kingsbury, N. p. Langford, J. D. Ludden, G.
3. Mayo, D. A. Monfort, H. L. Moss, c. P.
Noyes, Alex. Ramsey, Jno. B. Sanborn,
Charming Seabury, H. P. Upham, Warren
Upham.
Non-R Resident Members-T. E. Adams, NJ
K. Armstrong ]. H. Baker, Geo. H. Dag
gett, M. o. Hall, w. G. LIE Due, A. o.
Sweeny N. H. Winchell