Jamestown weekly alert. [volume] (Jamestown, Stutsman County, D.T. [N.D.]) 1882-1925, 1902-08-28
We will then be able to compete In
New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Balti-
more or any Atlantic seaport with
ships going by the Suez canal to the
Orient.

Mr.. Hill referred to the great de-
velopment Of the iron industry in Min.
nesotA, which now leads oil the states
and iron districts. He said:
In lS96-six years :ago- g, ,000, 900 or
9, ZOO, 900 tons Of iron ore left Lake Su-
perior for Lake Erie ports. Last year
there were over q, ,000, 900 tons of iron
ore that left Lake Superior for Lake
Erie ports. This year il it were posi-.
BILE to handle the cargoes out Of the
ships on the Lake Erie ports, it would
reach q, 900, 900 tons. And you cannot
today buy large bill Of iron or steel
and contract to have itdelivered, with
penalty for non-delivery, anywhere
in the United States. They cannot
fill their orders, the demand has grown
SO fast and SO great.
Referring to the development in the
northwest and the new movement in
settlement, J. J. Hill said before the
Trans-Mississippl congress-:
Now, take iron in the states west OF
the Mississippi-and iron and steel
and coal are sources of wealth to
every nation Great Britain. the
most successful nation the world has
ever seen, you may take her commedce
and mark it's progress by the develop
ment ofheriron industries. The clock
of Great Britain today has struck II,
and America leads the world and
America can lead the world. (Applause)
But the time will come when your
iron supply will overtake your home
local demand.
And the transportation Of the Unit
ed States today is system that is
the wonder of the world.
The average rate paid in Great
Britain for moving ton Of freight 100
miles is S2.35: in France it is a little
more than 50: in Germany. with gov
ernment railroads, | think it is a little
more: in Russia, with government
railroads, where labor is cheap, it is
s1.74. The average rate in the United
States is y cents. (Applause.) In Rus
sia locomotive engineers get about 60
cents day; in the United States they
| get an average Of S4.00 day. But
the locomotive in the United States
will pull the load of tivt or six Russian
locomotives.
And from natural standpoint,
while many Of you gentlemen are en-
gagged in business, ask you to stop
| and think if there has ever been a
| time in the history OF this country
when it's great agricultural interests
were not the backbone and sheet
anchor of the nation. The farmers
respond to every call; they are orderly
men who are ready to do their duty as
citizens, men who do not stand around
on the corner waiting for somebody to
! give them So for their vote, and ready
to take one if they cannot get two, but
men who will take their teams and
their neighbors and drive six or eight
miles to the polling place and cast
! their votes as citizens. They mean TO
do right Help them to do right.
| AGRICULTURE THE BASIS
Remember that a nation without
land would be mob, however big it
is, and all the most fertile land would
be a wilderness if it had no people on
it. You must have both. You pco-
pie west of the river may hope for the
development of your mineral resources.
1 hope you will succeed. I think it
will be slow. Gold and silver and cop
per will bear transportation when you
find them. They are not so easy to
find. There are great many pros
pect holes.
Last week 1 travelled through the
mountains in western states, and / saw
no end Of prospect holes. | thought
every one of them was the grave OF
some mans hope. So much money and
effort have been poured out seeking
for the precious metals. And that will
90 on, but there is limit to the devel-
opment Of any country on those lines.
! You will not succeed as manufac-
turing states for a long, long time to
come. Then take up your agriculture.
| Take the question up intelligently,
without bad temper, and work to-
gether. Looking to the development
of your agricultural interests, you will
get more money out of the ground year
by year on good farm than you will
in a poor mine. Once the metal is
taken out OF the mine it is there no
longer. But your farm. well culti-
waited, is mine forever.
/ know many areas where it will cost
from S. to s6 an acre to put water on
it. will be glad to take the land off
their hands at S12, and will put set
| tiers on it at from SIS to s2O, and the
man who buys it at from SIS or S20
u.