River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1902-01-16
JAS. J. HILLS SPEECH
Delivered Before the Tri-State
Grain Growers Convention.
He Covers a Vast Amount of Ground Re-
lating to the Progress of the Farm
ers and Railroads OF the
Northwest.

Growers association had subsidized, he
addressed the audience as follows:
II want to present to you today some
important figures which, think, will
establish many facts that are of great
interest to all the people of this country,
and more especially to the people of the
northwest.
IAN advance in the material prosperity
of our country has always marked an
Improvement in the condition of the peo-
pie. Every United States census from
1850 to 1900 shows an average growth
which has practically doubled the pop
ulation of the country about every, thirty
years. At the close of the civil war
this country contained say 100000 OF
people At the average rate OF the IN
have at least $50, 100000 of people by
1890. The present increase is more than
1,500 900 annually.
'SThe alI-important question presenting
itself to every individual and to every
community is, Where will they go
ana Inat Will I4e 90 homes 10 and t6e
ability to educate their children and to
bring them up in such a manner as will
make them good, useful citizens of the
republic?
FAT the close of the war a large portion
of the states of Iowa, Wisconsin and
Minnesota were government lands, open
for homesteads, and practically all the
country west of these states to the Pa
cific ocean was open to settlement. The
census reports show that a large portion
of the increased population has gone in
to this new country, and built up cities
and states, opened up prosperous farm
ing communities and dotted the land
with schools and churches-eVery evil
dence of American enterprise and prog
reSS.
Agriculturists Are Nations Sheet Anchor.
Nearly one-haIf of the capital of the
country is invested in agricultural lands,
and what goes with it for the purpose
of making it productive: Nearly one
half of the population of the country is
directly or Indirectly connected with the
cultivation of the soil, and if we judge
oil no
the agricultural half of the population
has done than it's share in every
thing that goes to benefit the country as
whole. That half has always shown
itself more intelligent, more patriotic,
and in every way, the sheet i,c a1,o 81
to defend the flag of our country the
farmers sons have always been ready
to step to the front and answer the call.
While the farmers are ready to go ten
miles on election day to cast their votes,
others hang around the polls in the cities
waiting to sell their votes. From the
farmers sons in New England and the
middle and western states are constant
Iy recruited the numbers of those who
engage in the professions and the Varl-
Gus walks of business, and their lndlVld-
uaI successes clearly establish their right
to be placed in the front rank wherever
they have been called. My observation
leads me to believe that the nation at
large has more to expect from those who
cultivate the soil than from all others
combined.
.'The largest area of unoccupied land
and where clear water runs, hes IN the
zone between Lake Superior and the Pa
Gic ocean ana ito to the or settlement e anf
look for the increase of our traffic and
the future value of our investment in
railways
Homes Must Be Literally Provided.
"How are we to provide homes for our
rapidly increasing population? Most of
the lands that will produce crops every
year and are susceptible of cultivation
nIr DIV IJYNin i'm
question today before the statesmen of
the nation is: How can the remaining
lands best be made to furnish homes TO- Tor
the rapidly growing population? lit,
tie reflection will show every individual
man that it is only by the Wisest action
on the part of the general government,
by we'll matured plans for irrigation, and
every other means which will make avail
able every portion of the country that is
or can be made susceptible of cult1Va-
ton. There is a movement among q few
of our statesmen to secure this. end. In
some localities in the west this move
ment is opposed by cattle and sheep men,
who desire to retain these lands for their
own purposes. In some cases an effort is
being made to induce congress TO convey
the lands to the several states, to be dis
posed of by them. This latter movement
can only end in failure. The lands would
be frittered away, or practically given
away, or appropriated without benefit
ing any considerable number of people.
/ consider the future welfare OF the coun-
try depends more upon the wise DISPOSE
ton of the public domain, so as to secure
homes Tor the people, imam. upon any
other single condition in the nation Our
country is large; our population and oc-
equations differ widely, as the climatic
and natural conditions differ EVERY
congress shows an active effort being
made to secure some advantage to some
local district overlooking as l think, the
broad general fact that the nation should
and must prosper as whole.
I'm 1896 this country settled the. ques--
want wan % of confidence e'i' prior to that time
came to an end. People who had money
to invest were no longer afraid that II
they put out hundred-cent dollar they
would be compelled to take a hfty-cent
dollar in return, and now the business OF
the country is marching forward at a
rate greater than has ever been known in
our history in the history of the
world. Our attention is frequently called
to the enormous balance of trade in
our favor; in other words, the amount or
money we receive for what we sell is
b bnUVe thus ns m wo o M e Country rich be
yond all precedent. If we carefully in
quire into the source from which this
enormous balance of trade comes, we
find that about three-fourthS of our eX-
ports are furnished, directly and indi-
rectly, from the cultivation of the land;
The farmers have done the work and
have benefited the nation.
No Intelligent Effort to Get New Markets.
Now let us consider what the nation
has done in return for the farmers, or
what 1t can do in their behalf. The hrst
and great object is to provide them
means to sell the product of their land
and their labor at the highest possible
prices it will bring. / will ask you to
look over the statute books of the ma
ton and the different states, and find,
if you can, any intelligent step that has
been taken, to find new. markets for our
agricultural exports. l have examined
these records carefully, and up to the
present time do not find one intelligent
sentence or line, the object of which has
been to find new markets for the prod
ucts of the land, except as to southern
sugar and rice, and some wool.
"In order to advance the price of every
commodity the first step is to increase
the demand for it. as long as there is n
surplus in the market seeking a buyer
the price must remain low and whenever
there is a shortage and the demand is
greater than the supply, it follows that
prices must advance. Great Britain buys
about 20 per cent of all our exports: She
is our great customer and the single ma
ton that does not in her markets. or
through her tariffs discriminate against
the product of our soil. In order to buy
from us she must be able to sell her own
products and get the whereWith to pay
for her purchases.
England and Germany seek for mar
bots oil ri how no