The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-01-11

new people will be greater than at any
previous time in the history of the
country. More people will come in to
make their homes with you and help
YOU as neighbors and fellow workers in
he development of your state than ever
before
COMMUNITY OF INTEREST
TAKES IN FARMEp
At the present time we hear much
about the community in intrests" be-
tween the railroads. ] want to say to
YOU here and now that the only COM
munity of interests that there is or
ever can exist is the community Of in
tercsts between the producer of tonnage
and the carrier; the man on the farm,
in the forest, and in the mine must be
able at all times to sell the products
of his labor and his lands with a profit,
or he will cease to labor and have moth
ing to sell. The railroads depend for
their existence on the products of the
lands served by their lines; they have no
other source Of income. individuals
may come and go we will all sooner or
later pass from active life, but the land
the country-its resources and the rail-
roads, Will be here permanently, and
they will either prosper together or be
poor together. There is no other COM
munity of interests that can ever exist
against this one While it is necessary
for the railroads that the farmers, the
lumbermen. and the miners shall be
prosperous, it is alsao necessary that
the railroads should prosper.
Much is being said about combination
between railroads, and that the country
for its prosperity must rely upon a
continuance of competition. The law
of the survival of the tittest must inev-
tably end such competition as exists
by the destruction of the weaker by the
stronger. This has already been done
in the East. and to the extent that
throughout all New England the hun
dreds OF original railway corporations
are now mostly consolidated into three
or four, and the people are better off
! than ever before.
Twenty-Five years ago it was supposed
that competition was necessary to re-
duce rates. | think we have shown III
the Northwest that without competition,
rates have been reduced faster than
| anywhere else in this country. Today 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 the
farmers living in the Des Moines valley
and Western Iowa, where there are
many lines, can ship to Chicago, the
same distance. The effect of this has
been to bring thousands of farmers
from the Middle and Western states, in
Guiding Iowa and Missouri, Kansas, Ne
braska, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana
and Illinois to find homes in Minnesota
and North Dakota. This, more than
ANYTHING else. has doubled the price of
your lands in a comparatively few years.
TREMENDOUS GAIN
IN LAND VALUES.
We have about 200 miles of railway
in North Dakota. The average cost Of
our railway, including terminals, equip
ment, shops, elevators, etc, IS about
So. GOO per mile, as shown by its capital
ization. In the fifteen counties depend
ing almost entirely for their transporta-
ton upon the Great Northern railway.
there are, in round numbers, 5000, O00
acres Of land If the building of the
railway and what has followed it has
added $40 per acre to the value OF thlS
land. it is worth 900 more than
it would have been without the railway,
and YOU nave the benefit of this advance
/ am glad that it is yours, and hope it
will enable you to enjoy your cid age
in comfort and to make those who fol-
low after YOU good and worthy citizens
of your state.
There has recently 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. II
we did not do everything in our power
to build you up We would be talse TO
our best interests. Our object in acduir-
ing the Burlington, jointly with the
Northern Pacific railway. was to insure
an outlet to the best markets for the
grain. live stock and lumber Of the
Northern lines and to increase the vol
ume of our traffic to the end that we
hn PGtAh-
Iish the lowest rates and most favorable
conditions under which the trafhc must
he carried The Burlington. with its own
rails. reaches Ch.caSO, Peoria, Rock ISL
and. Davenport, Quincy, Alton, Hannf-
bal. ST. Louis, st. Joseph, Kansas City,
Des Moines Omaha and Denver, and thus
connects with the main arteries of traffic
of the whole country.
WHAT BURLINGTON
PURCHASE MEANS.
Assuming that the line of the Burling-
ton had not been constructed and that
the Great Northern and Northern PACING
Jointly had raised the money and were
engaged in the construction of it. would
there be anything to meet the dlsap-
proval of the states traVersed bv the
line of the Great Northern and Northern
Pacific? On the contrary, would not Such
a course have been hailed with approval
as a means of opening up markets for
Northwestern produce and OF reachlnP
markets in the South and Southwest,
and of securing business, increasing the
volume of traffic of the Great Northern
and Northern Pacific. thus maxine re-
duction of rates and adding to the gem
eral prosperity of the Northwest? In
stead of building the BURLINGTON evs-
tenn, or a line of railway alongside Of II
the Great Northern and NOrthern Pacific
purchased the capital stock of line 9l-
ready constructed Instead of issuir~
stock or bonds for the purpose Of rails
ing money to build a line reaching the
same country, bonds were issued t. VIZ
chase the stock of a constructed line
The capital stock of railwav ccrc -, TO-
as OF other corporations will be held bv
somebody and somewhere. Railway COM
! panles, as carriers, are subject to su-
pervision and control by the ~ublic for
the purpose of insuring the perform
ance of their obligations to. the public.
The capital employed in railway con-
struct:on is made public. Railroads make
public through published rates the price
charged for transportation the only thing
I they have to sell, and must report the
amount they receive for what thew sell
and what has been done with it. Courts
are open for the purpose of determining
! whether railway companies. as carriers
observe Their obligations to the public.
Inc question of the reasonableness of
rates and service does not depend nnon
! whether one man owns the capital stock
| OF railway or another-whether the
capital stock is owned by ten men ar
! l'oOo' by persons or by corporations. ,e
! capital stock of a railway conna--- =
| personal property, to be sold, transferred
from one man to another, and anyone
may purchase and hold all that he ha
means to buy and pay for. The canital
stock of the Northern Pacific and tbe
! Great Northern will be held by some
/ BODY, persons or cnrnnra tinnr -