Omaha daily bee., 1897-01-01
DO EyrOSITToNS PAYp

VIII the Transmississippi Exposition
be paying Investment? This question
is being asked now by almost everybody,
and especially by members of our legis-
lature The tidal wave of migration
which began to turn westward in the
IO's was not an accident, nor was 1t
natural overflow of people out
of thiclily settled states. Those
who are familiar with the facts
know that it was the result of
organized effort on the part of the great
railways which had become possessed of
millions of acres of land, worthless un-
less it could be brought under cultivation
by thrifty settlers. Millions of dollars
were expended in advertising homes for
the homeless in Kansas and Nebraska,
and later on in the Dnliotas. Special
excursion trains We're run, agents were
sent abroad to advertise the trans
mississippi country far and wide as 'the
future great" and it proved to be very
judicious Investment,
The TransmissiSsipp Exposition is the
biggest advertisement that has ever been
attempted for Nebraska as well as for
the states beyond the Rockies. 1t is not
visionary. sky-rocket scheme, but n
well-planned and wcllmatured effort to
give the widest possible publicity to the
advantages offered in this section to cnpi-
talists and homeseekers who have
money with which to buy land and en-
gage in industrial enterprises.
A moderate estimate places the num-
Der of people who will visit the fair at
from 100000 TO 3,O0O.O00. The lowest
amount which these people will spend at
the exposition is $40 per capita. That
means from twenty to thirty millions
of dollars of money passing into Ne
braSka through the gates of the eXposi-
ton. But $40 each is n very low esti-
mate. Thousands will remain throughout
tho fair. each of whom will spend from
50 to So per day, and thousands
upon thousands will pass beyond
Omaha to the Rockies and the Pacific
coast. 1t Is safe to compute that the fair
will bring about the circulation of
100000. .O00 In the transmississippi cOun-
try, which will be expended for trans
portation, in the purchase of supplies
and in permanent investments. Thou
sands of people who visit the exposition
will not stop at Omaha, but, having
travelled that far, will venture beyond
and take in such parts of the country as
afford the most attractive field, measured
by the exhibits at the fair.
What will Nebraska get out of it?
First and foremost, it will bring mil
lions of dollars into the metropolis that
will be paid out TO supply food and drink
for man and beast. Who will feed the
multitude? The people of Nebraska.
The erection of great buildings and the
public improvements in Omaha will
afford employment to thousands of work
ingmen, and they In turn will become
profitable consumers of the products of
the farm, orchard and garden. BY far
the greatest and most lasting benefit
will be the investment or capital in fac
tories and mills and the advance In
property values that will precede the
holding of the exposition and continue
permanently with the tide of prosperity
which will flow In the wake of the expo
siton. The increase in property values
I'm Omaha will lift the burden of taxation
off the balance of the state and make
more valuable the property Of large
portion of the region tributary TO thr