The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1902-01-10
PRESIDENT HILLS ADDRESS
He Argues That Combination Is bet
ter Than Competition.

Special to The Journal.
Fargo. n. D., Jan. 1O.-The feature OF
the afternoon session was President Hlli S
address. The great railroad man spoke
rapidly from manuscript.
President James ]. Hill opened his ad-
dress with few words Of praise Tor the
farmers, saying that 1.-The nation at large
has more to expect from those who Gull
tivate the soil than from all others COM
bined." He thought the best use for the
good lands as yet unsettled serious
question for the consideration of states
men. He believed that 1.-The future vel
ARE Of the country depends more on the
wise disposition of the public domain, so
as to secure homes for the people tnan
upon any other single condition OF the
nation"
The Only "Community of Interest"
He discussed the need Of action to Sc
cure more markets for our surplus prod
uots, citing the action Of other nations IN
that respect. After speaking or the de-
yelopment of the northwest he said he
thought that the one kind of community
of interest" that really existed was that
between the producer Of tonnage and the
carrier The land and it's products and
the railroads would either prosper to-
gether or be poor together. Much was
being said about combination between
the survival Of the fittest must inevitably
end such competition as exists by the de-
struction OF the weaker by the stronger.
This has already been done in the east.
He said:
Twenty five years ago it was supposed
that competition was necessary to reduce
rates I think we have shown IN the
northwest that without competition rates
have been reduced faster than anywhere
else in the country"
To-day the farmers can ship their grain
from the Red River Valley to the twin
cities or the head Of Lake Superior at
from Is to 20 per cent lower rates than
farmers living in the Des Moines valley
and western Iowa, where there are many
lines that can ship to Chicago-the same
distance. The effect Of this has been TO
bring thousands of farmers from the
middle western states, including Iowa,
Missouri Kansas, Nebraska, Wisconsin,
Michigan. Indiana and Illinois, to ind
homes in Minnesota and North Dakota.
This, more than anything else, has
doubled the price Of your lands in a com
paratively few years. We have about
1900 miles of railway in North Dakota.
Teh average cost of our railway, includ-
ing terminals, equipment, shops, eleva-
tors, ETC., is about 900 per mile, as
shown by it's capitalization. In the fif-
teen counties depending almost entirely
fir their transportation upon the Great
Northern railway, there are, in round
numbers, sixteen million acres Of land.
If the building Of the railway and what
has followd it has added ten dollars per
acre to the value of this land it is worth
$3.50, 100000 more than it would have been
without the railway and you have the
benefit Of this advance. l am glad that
1t is yours and hope it will enable you to
enjoy your old age in comfort and to make
those fellows after you good and worthy
citizens of your states. There has recent
1y been an attempt to show that we have
no interest in, building UP the prosperity
Of the people of your state and of the
northwest. If we did not do everything
in our power to build you up, we would
be false to our best interests. ..- ..
The Burlington Deal. $50. -
Our object in acquiring the Burling-
ton jointly with the Northern Pacific was
to insure an outlet to the best markets
for the grain, live stock and lumber OF
the northern lines, and to increase the
volume Of our traffic to the end that we
might at all times be able to establish
the lowest rates and most favorable con-