The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-03-24
ern states seemed to be at stand

trlDuteQ some or the hard times Wn1Ch
have been experienced by the cities of
this state, as the prosperity Of the
country to the west Of us, right
through to the Pacific coast, has much
to do with the welfare of this state,
which is and probably always will be
to certain extent, the distributing
center for them. 1t is true that Chi
cago has tried, and Is trying very
hard, to secure this business and re-
tain it. but st. Paul and Minneapolis
have the advantage of distance In their
favor, and this city in particular has
established a position in the jobbins
trade which is not likely to be taken
away from it as long as our merchants
continue their present progressive
methods Of doing business. They real
ize full well that four families. each
living on quarter section of land,
mean for them far more business than
one family on a whole section, and, as
between a 10000 acre farm, owned by
one corporation, and run from cen
trail point, and the same amount of
land settled by family on each quar-
ter section, the profit derived from the
settlement on the small scale is out of
all proportion to anything that can be
secured from selling supplies in whole
sale quantities to the corporation own
ing the larger tract of land.
Roads Interested.
Probably however, no one is more
interested IN the settlement Of the
country than the railroads running
through it, and this does not depend
at all exclusively upon the question of
whether they own the land or not. OF
course, land grant road has more
interest in the settlement of the coun-
try tributary to it, as it derives con-
siderable revenue from the sale of the
land, but altogether irrespective of
that, it is matter of vital Importance
to the railways Of today to have the
country through which they run set
tied as densely as possible.
The purchase price of the land cuts
very small figure in this matter.
What the roads need is business, and
LEGAL business at that. A moments re-
Election only is needed to show the
truth of this.
The three important elements in rail-
reading today, which determine the
success or failure of any given system
of railway are, low capitalization, low
grades and local settlement. The
amount of capita iZation determines the
fixed charges which must be met out
of the earnings of the road as long
as it remains out of the hands of a
receiver Easy gradients mean long
trains, and one long train can be
hauled on a low-grade road for just
one-half of the expense which will be
required for hauling the same num-
Der of cars, where they have to be split
up into two sections, with two train
crews; and will thus mean very ma
terial saving in operating expenses, but
after all the most important of these
three factors is local settlement.
No sane man expects to see freight
rates or normal passenger rates ad-
vance. The steady tendency of legisla-
ton is to reduce them, and therefore
the railroads cannot expect to increase
their revenue through higher rates.
The only way they have to swell their
earnings is to develop their business,
and in no way can this be done more
effectively than by securing settlement
for the territory through which they
run. Competition will always keep the
rates on through business down to a
point where the profits are compare
lively small. 1t Is local business that
pays, and where you have a Tricky
settled country, with merchandise go
ing in all the time to supply the wants
Of the settlers, and produce coming out
on it's way to market to say nothing
Of the people constantly going back
ward and forward. visiting their
friends, you will find a road that can
pay its expenses and earn it's dividends.
some of the most sagacious railroad
managers of today can be very easily
proved by actual facts.
Pushing Immigration.
The Great Northern line. for In
stance, has not a foot of land for sale
outside of Minnesota, and very little left
| in this state. Yet it has for years been
actively pushing immigration work,
and, what is more, it has been direct
ing it's efforts principally towards set
ting up the state of North Dakota, in
which it has no land for sale.
1t was the pioneer in the Dunkard
colonies Of the Northwestern states. Its
first efforts were directed towards in
ducing a few desirable families, by
means of liberal transportation ar
rangements, to locate along it's line.
They found the country favorable and
prospered there. Others soon followed,
until what was a few years ago a
stretch of unoccupied land, between
Larimore and Minot, is now assuming
the appearance of a we'll settled coun-
try, and the settlement has been car
ried up on the northern branches
through this territory until it has as
sugned dimensions which the most san
guine could hardly have expected when
the movement started.
1t is a source Of wonderment to many
why so much should be made of this
Dunkard business, and they cannot I'M
derstand wherein Dunkard immigra-
ton differs from any other sort of i'm
migration, but even a comparatively
superficial acquaintance with these peo-
pie and their customs will explain the
matter.
The Dunkards are a religious sect,
whose tenets might perhaps be con-
fdently assumed to be in the declara-
ton of the Apostle Paul, that Godli-
ness is profitable for the things both
for the life which now is and for the
life which is to come" and they carry
their religion into their every day af-
fairs to a greater extent than can per
haps be said Of any other religious body
as a whole. In doctrine they may be
classified as literalists. They originated
in Germany, in 1908, when eight people,
grieved at what they conceived to be
the existing corruption In the church,
set themselves to evolve out of the
New Testament a form of doctrine and
church order that should be in accord
ance with the teachings of that book.
AS result, these eight people were
baptized in the river Elder, using what
is known as "trine" immersion, by
which is meant that they were miners
ed three times, face forward, once in
the name of the Father, a second time
in the name of the Son, and a third
time in the name of the Holy Spirit,
This is the form of baptism to which
they have adhered ever since.
The DunIeards.
They style themselves "Rrethern," In
legal documents, being denoted as &c r.
man Baptist Brethren" and besides