The Kalispell bee. [volume] (Kalispell, Mont.) 1901-1901, 1901-06-07
FRIDAY JUNE Z, 1901.
FOR NORTHERN MONTANA.

bune. Senator Gibson now in Boston.
writes most hopefully of the benefit
bound to accrue to this section of the
state from the settlement of the rail.
road propositions.
1t appears to him that the question
of the invasion of Great Northern ter
ritory by the Burlington and a similar
action upon the part of the Great
Northern being now put at rest there
will be many new branch lines built
in our state. The senator has fore
Swallowed the latest railroad news
which came from Great Falls of the in
corporation Of a feeder system which
will probably add much to the pros
perity Of the northern part of the
state, but in his letter he inadvertent
ly. perhaps, ignores the Flathead and
Kalispell. There is no other section
Of the state or community that has
more to expect from these several con.
templated branch lines than this and
Senator Gibson should be aware OF
this fact by his intimate acquaintance
with northern Montana. However,
we will let that pass for this time and
reprint the observations of the Sena-
tor upon this section generally.
The acquisition OF the Burlington
railway system by Mr.. Hill and his as
sOciates is the greatest and most far
reaching railroad transaction ever
contaminated on this hemisphere. 1t
not only establishes a community Of
interests between the corn and cotton
growing belts Of the middle west and
the south and the great mining, stock
raising and numbering regions Of the
northwest, but it places almost the
entire country embraced in the Louis
lana purchase. upon a highway OF
commerce now being established by
Mr.. Hill which will connect it direct
ly with the markets of the world. Our
part of the northwest, for the develop
ment of it's agricultural and manufac-
turing resources, must have and soon
will have cheap commercial freight
lines connecting it with foreign coun.
tries. The acquisition of the Burling-
ton lines by the Hill-Morgan interests
will lead to a much more speedy es-
tablishment of this great commercial
freight line through our state and
across the Pacific ocean. These
thoughts lead up to my favorite theme
the settlement of Montana and the
upbuilding of it's agriculture. The es-
Enlistment of manufactures, employ
ing our useful minerals, must be pre-
coded by the cultivation Of our fertile
lands and the cheapening of the staple
articles upon which our people subsist.
1t is only through agriculture that
the price of labor in mills and fac
tories in Montana can be reduced 10
the scale Of Pennsylvania, Ohio, ILL
nois, and Colorado. Although we have
unlimited supplies Of iron ORE with
all the essentials that must go with it
in steel making, We cannot compete
with the furnaces and rolling mills of
the middle states in products reuuir.
ed for our own state and for oriental
countries, because of our higher scale
of wages. This scale cannot be cut
down materially until the man who
works before the furnaces or in the
mill. is able to support his family or
practically the same amount of money
required by the iron workers in iii
nois. We have now reached the time
when Montana should cease to be sim
ply mining and pastoral stock-grow
ing state, state whose mines ar,
chiefly owned by nonresident capital
lists, and whose productive farm land,
are rapidly passing into the control o
a few men. Every possible effor
should be put forth by the state gov
eminent and by communities to locat
farmers upon such of our lands as cal
be located at once, upon the hig
lands of Teton, Cascade, Choteau an
Fergus counties. This would 500