Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1899-11-24

" the Oiu rrench and Jesuitical Com
trOl---RemRrlSable Fertility of the Soil
---the City of Detroit.
Especial correspondence of The Phoenix
The territory of Michigan in 1918, the
date of the events spoken of in my last
letter, contained about 5000 inhabitants,
exclusive of Indians. Nearly 1900 we're
French and half-breeds, about 1000 were
Americans, the remaining 500 were Eng
lish, Scotch and Irish. The post of De-
troit, including the settlements north of
the river Raisin (Monroe) to Lake ST. Clair,
contained about 92OO people. With the
exception of a few hundred discharged sol
diers, not including the garrison, the above
was the approximate population when peace
was declared in 1915.
The political sentiment of this lot of ad-
venturers was anything but patriotic to
the American government. What civil
cation they possessed was only veneer
which they, or their antecedents, had
brought from medieval France, where hu-
man rights were smothered in absolute
feudalism, and human reason stifled by
the shadow of an hierarchy that antedates
| civilization. This element had backed
into Detroit from the north, and held
possession of the country bordering on the
lakes 147 years at the date above men
| toned
At some future time hope to explain
the causes which led to this antagonsm of
interests and the semi-savage condition of
the period anterior to the settlement of the
central West by the New England emigra-
ton.
The Erie canal, as you will recall, was
opened in 1925. From the New England
states and New York, via the canal, more
than 10000 emigrants came to Michigan
each year until 1885, the date the state was
admitted into the Union. Most of these
people settled in the southern counties,
forming the nucleus of what are now flour
ishing cities, but very few came directly to
the vicinity of Detroit; in fact Detroit had
not grown beyond the bounds of a sprawl
ing village before 1S40 The reason why
this town was neglected by the keen, dis
eliminating and sturdy emigrants is easily
explained. When Louis XIII, through
his prime minister, Richelieu, sent the first
instalment of explorers franciscan
monks) to take possession of this part of
North America, called New France, he
gave a charter to the company grant
ing them, forever, about one-half of
the present extent of all the United States
east of the Mississippi river. Armed with
this title they ransacked the whole north
ern part of their possessions, cutting the
| figures of the French flag and the cross on
the trees and trading with the Indians; Civ
ing them cheap tcinkets in exchange for the
valuable furs which they sent to France.
These conditions continued in Michigan
until Cadillac came to Detroit in 1901.
Cadillac, being a French nobleman and
man of influence, having been governor of
Frontenay, staked off nearly all of what
is now Wayne county as his private prop
erty and had the title ratified in Paris. He
gave the monks and Jesuits a portion of
the lands and they leased it in small patches
to the proletariat, who were their follow
ers. Cadillac and his descendants, with
the Jesuits, never sold an acre of this land
but leased it to the settlers under very Sc
we're restrictions. They took furs, fish,
venison, bears and small game for rent,
but never gave title until the new state
of Michigan blew the whole system into
the river with legal dynamite.
The reader can understand why the
men of New England did not settle near
Detroit, and why that city was fossilized
| 1870 years. A new era now dawned on De-
troit and the state of Michigan. From
1910 to 1850 the population of the city in.
creased 143 per cent; 1850 to 1860, III per
cent; 1860 to 1870, 10 per cent; 1870 to
1880, 40 per cent; 1880 to 1890, n per
cent, and a very conservative estimate
for the coming census will give the city
population of $50, 900, and the whole state
over 2, 0O0,O 900.
The topography and surroundings of
| Michigan are peculiar to itself. The lower
peninsula, at the beginning of this centu-
ry, was covered by immense forests, the
southern half being a superior growth of
oak, walnut, beech and other deciduous va
rleUles. IN bno uOIOh0ih POiUiOh SOOOu tho
most extensive and valuable white pine
forests in the world. Beneath this inesti-
mable resource lay soil of priceless fertil-
ity awaiting development by an industrious
agricultural community. Ohio and Indiana
are its southern neighbors, whileLakesMich-
igan, Huron and st, Clair completely enclose
the state except as above mentioned. The
centre of the state, being of greater alti-
tude north and south than the east and
west shores, forms water shed from which
flow small rivers into the adjoining lakes.
This brief description viii convey faint
idea of the great wealth existing above and
below the surface of the 10000 square
miles contained in the lower peninsula of
Michigan. With Chicago and Milwaukee