Omaha daily bee., 1902-02-28
SHAW SPEAKS OF THE WEST
Secretary Of Treasury Addresses National
Business League.
FAvoRs EXPANSION AND SHIP SUBSIDY
Urges National support of Western
Irrigation-JudEe Gavin Also
Urges Reclamation of
Arid Lands.

speaker at the banquet or the National
Business league here tonight. His subject
was Commerce and Industries OF the West
and his utterances we're received with
much attention, IL being one OF the FIRST
public speeches made by him since his APP
pointment to the present once. The first
set speech on the program was by John
Ella OF Chicago, who spoke on "The League"
He described at length the objects which
the league sought to attain, declaring: Its
purpose is to keep the business men
throughout the country informed as to leg
islation affecting them and to concentrate
their influence in the promotion of meas
ures, fsvoring business interests generally,
as distinguished from special interests, and,
as far as possible, to take business ques-
tions out OF politics. 1t also seeks so
to systematic the machinery of the ma
tional government as to put this country
on at least an equal footing with other
countries in the race to capture the worlds
trade"
Following Mr.. Ella came Secretary Shaw.
who spoke as follows:
The theme assigned is inspiring. Its
scope is limtless, its natural and necessary
subdivisions are many, while its compre-
hensive presentation within the time as
signed is impossible. Where shall the line
be stretched separating the east from the
west? Mason and Dixon's line at one time
supposed to mark the boundary OF a sec
tion of our country has been so far OBJ
liberated that to be mentioned except to
rejoice at its disappearance is an offense
to modern politics and alike to modern
Where shall the freight borne by the
mississippi river and the Illinois Central
waterway on its eastern bank, be classed?
The Southern Pacific conveys more than
Sentimental CO. tine H U freight % By & your % leave. ~ Mr.
Chairman, we will classify all this as west
ern commerce.
Arbitrary though 1t be, I assume for the
convenience of the hour that the west
includes Michigan, Indiana, Missouri. Okla
homa Indian Territory and all west of
these and all north and west of Texas.
Probably a majority of the people of the
| United States speak of Ohio as a western
states washed by the Mississippi realize
that they must travel some miles toward
these the setting sun to reach % the line that ItS would
census credited these states with As per
cent of the farm area, but gave them over
| twelfth census, not yet compiled, will
probably show a much larger proportion
than $500. .oOo, 900 bushels, more than 20 per
cent of the nations cereals, and 20 per
| cent of the nations hay. They contain 50
of all other cattle s. per cent of the swine.
7b per cent Of the sheep. and where, gen
tlemen, except In the west would you look
| for 80 per cent of the wool?
Other Industries Than Farming.
Honored. as / am. in being permitted to
represent in this presence the great farm
! ing district, permit a few observations
tending TO show that an ever Increasing
tory ] have described is giving well de-
| served attention to industries other than
agriculture. Illinois, Wisconsin and Iowa
! have increased their average annual cereal
product less than per cent since 1880
states states made adj a fourfofd larger increase. % ino
| dicating clearly, think. that the maxi
| mum capacity, under present methods of
| 1889 20 per cent of the arabic land of Iowa
| Cthe proportion actually cropped) produced
man. woman and child in the United States
in round numbers, 100000 tons. This
would be quite enough TO sustain life and
| the people of the world. If all the arabic
| land of Iowa were put in crops, and that
necessary nece for its cultivation, placed on the
market, the people of the United States
could not consume 1t, though restricted to
this unequaied 5000 square miles Of land
| can be consumed by s0,O00000 people is to
tured S into beef and pork and dairy butter.
| Our increasing population renders It inn
probable. however. that this remarkable
| Iowa, though she may increase to some
| extent her cereal production.
Plea for National Irrigation.
The only hope of a material increase in
| agricultural products is through irrigation
of arid lands. There may be, and there
| are, serious objections against the employ
ment of public revenues in such ways as
contemplate permanent national partieipa-
but 1 see no objection to some provision
that will encourage private capital to enter
and 1t seems to me this can be done in such
| a way as will place these lands upon the
cost Of irrigaton, and when paid fHs for' pere eTe
NIT the purchasers to become cooperative
owners of the irrigation plants 1 have
that provinciallsm which opposes any plan
OF developing any portion OF our common
it viii create sectional competition
| It ought not to be necessary to quote
the record to sustain the proposition,
| though the record does sustain It, that we
are consuming an ever increasing proper
ton OF our agricultural products and ex-
porting an ever-increasing proportion of our
try be encouraged, let every enterprise be
| fostered. let every interest be conserved
and, growing great, shall preserve our in
dustrial and commercial Independence, and
thus become an ever increasing blessing
| to the world
Preparation of Food Products.
The west not only grows food products
but its people have become no mean com
petitors in their preparation. Minneapolis
alone manufactures 100000 barrels OF
flour per annum, a carload 10000 pounds)
in the year. A branch factory in a prairie
| town OF Iowa of less than 1000 population
produces 100000 cans OF condensed milk
| per annum, while the parent plant in Wis
| consin makes more than double this
amount a portion of which helps 10 feed
the standing armies of Europe and to sup
ply the belligerents in South Africa. TVhe
! Elgin Butter company consumes the cream
from 100000 pounds of milk, manufac-
lures 100000 pounds of butter 500 tons)
and exports its products to China, Japan
Cuba, Mexico South American countries
and to Alaska. A single unincorporated
firm in southwest Iowa handled last veal
200,0OO,0OO pounds 12 tons) of butter and
100000 pounds (more than 100 carloadsC OF
marketed In single year 100000 dozeT
eggs, sending them to the Atlantic tht
Gulf ard the Pacific coast, while a third
firm ships dressed poultry, not by carload
only, but by trainload.
Packing House Progress.
The product of packing houses west Of
| the Missouri river sells on the market fol
| an amount in excess OF the postal receipts
of the United States, while single insti
| tuition, engaged in the preparation of ami
NAL products, whose parent plant is in thii
| city produced last year more than 10 OO
carloads 800 tons per day. of manufac
| tured products in addition to its meats
. The packing houses represented in Chicag,
| Weld a larger gross income than all mi
| custom houses and internal revenue col
| lectors Of the United States, while the liV,
| animals sold on square mile of groun,
| within the limits Of this city is only Is pe
cent less than the gross earnings OF al
| OF two packers within the territory i rem
/ resent DaVs more for live aufmals 10 ~