The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1902-08-19
FARMS SOURCE OF STATES ~.
TuRE GREATNESS.
NATIONAL AID IS NEEDED
President Hills Advice to Montana
PeopIe-strongly Favors
Government Irrigation =.

While o unmlndful OF the fac
that they are at present the source
of a great income to the railroads
which he is managing and also fully
appreciative OF the fact that they will
continue to be such for years to come
still James ]. Hill, the dominating
power of at least two of the great
transcontinental lines, realizes that in
time the mines Of Montana will be.
come exhausted and that he and 9th.
ers must look to some other source
of revenue and wealth. Like the east
ern man that he is, he pins his faith
to agriculture al the only permanent
and lasting foundation of a states
prosperity and wealth. Wherever
he is heard to talk in public he lays
particular emphasis upon the sub
ject of developing the agricultural
resources Of the northwest.
In his speech at Great Falls, a few
days ago, he told the people that
while mining and stock raising were
all well enough as primitive indus
tries, it was only by tilling the soil
that Montana could hope to take the
place nature intended for her. Mines
would give out in time and be only
holes in the ground las that which
had been taken out of them could not
be. replaced, but the tiller of the soil
could go on for all time and produce
something out of the earth.
Here is what he had to say on the
subject:
Never-Failing Mine.
"You have a grand state; you have
banked, in the past, first on your
placer mines, and later on your more
permanent mines. Remember, that
when the metal is dug out of the mine,
that is the end of it. AS the people
come into your state-and you have
room for the greatest number-as
the people come into the state they
must find homes-they cannot all find
mines. You have within your borders
rich land, soil that, with water to
make it fertile, will be a continuous
mine of gold year after year.
II know that farming, turning over
the soil, in some parts of the state,
is not looked upon with as much ia
O as it deserves, but / say to you
that what is good for all the people,
in fact, what is good for every man,
woman and child in the state, is the
interest Of everybody to advance. No
body can question the situation in
this state. In your path you have ar
rived at a point where your advance
ment will be moderately slow if you
do not turn your attention to the cul-
tivation of the soil.
"You can find prospect holes, and
once in a thousand somebody will find
a sucker to buy them, but the suckers
are not as plentiful as they were;
many of them have been hooked and
caught. ~(Laughter.) And let me
say to you, while a mine will bring
great wealth to the one occasionally,
how many Of these holes in the val
leys and on the sides of the noun
tains are graves of disappointed
hopes? A great many dollars and a
great many lives have been wasted
in making these holes, but on the
broad, fertile prairie, if you car put
water on it, you have a mine that
will continue for all time, and you
will have a happy, contented people.
The. school house and the church
spire will loom up where now you
have bands of cattle and sheep.
"The cattle and sheep are good
forerunners, but they are not the
whole thing; you must get the other,
and in time you will. You say, we
do not need it; you may say, we will
postpone it. l say to you, the longer
you postpone it, the worse it will be
for you.
National Irrigation.
Look at the great state of Iowa;
look at Minnesota. Minnesota has
an income this year from her farm
ing products of aver one hundred mil
lion dollars. That is not turning the
stuff out of the ground and leaving
nothing but a hole in it's place. Next
year they a have the same, and you
can have the same if you will put
your ground where the water can
pour owe it. You cannot bring it in
your little private bitches. The gov
eminent must help to do it. If you
do not, remember that the popula-
ton of ycur state will be limited, and
If you do, the population of your
state will he almost unlimited and