The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-11-26

Twenty-Five years ago there stood in
place of the present Great Northern
railway system receivership which
operated the two divisions of the old
st. Paul & Pacific, with western ter
minals In the southern end OF the Red
river valley, and a mortgage fore
closure on the part Of the Dutch bond
holders In sight
James J. HILL was at this time the
st. Paul station agent and one Of the
owners and managers Of a Red river
line OF boats plying between Fishers
Landing and Winnipeg. Having ex-
am1ned the resources and foreseen
the future development Of the coun-
try thru which the lines Of the
bankrupt companies operated he de-
vlsed a plan and formed party to
take over the $25,000,000 of the
mortgage debt In June, 1879, fore
closure DEGREES were entered against
all the properties. the total debt at
that time being $33,000,0O0, with
about s6,000,00O more in outstand-
Ing stock, and the st. Paul, Mime
apolis & Manitoba Railway company
was formed to take and operate the
road, with George Stephen, president;
r. b. Angus, vice president; Edward
Sawyer, secretary, and James J. Hill.
general manager.
During the twenty-four intervening
years the westward terminals of the
system have been pushed from Breck-
inridge, Fishers Landing and Grand
Forks, on the Red River Of the North,
to Seattle and Everett and Whatcom,
on Puget sound, over an empire 1900
miles broad from which have since
been carved four great common
wealths whose aggregate area nearly
empire combined.
Since 1879, the 900 miles Of main
track operated have grown to 5000,
thu so passenger and baggage cars
have grown to 500, the less than so 10
comotives have grown to $50, and the
1900 freight and work cars have null
tiplied to $4,000.
Thirty-Fold Freight Increase.
In other words. tho operated mile
age in twenty-four years has multi
piled ten-fold. the locomotives have
Increased eleven times In number and
fully double that In power, while the
freight cars have multiplied eighteen
fold in number and thirty-fold in ca
pacitS.
What is more important still. from
-, f1k - %hn 4,~IySo SoJo1-
opment and prosperity, the volume of
freight handled has grown from less
than half million tons a year to 49,
100000; whereas the average rate per
ton per mile charged the producing
shipper has been reduced from 3 cents
to eight-tenths of 1 cent.
Rates Reduced Two-Thirds.
That Is to say, from the day Mr.
Hill became manager of the Mani
toba" the volume of produce and mer-
chandise originating or distributed
along the line between the twin
cities and Puget sound has multi
piled over thirty times; while the cost
of rail transportation to the producers
and shippers has been cut down over
two-thirds. or about 10 per cent.
When, in 1888, Mr.. Hill was elected
president and undertook the exten.
sion Of the Manitoba" from It's Min
nesota and Dakota homestead to the
Pacific ocean, he was confronted with
three giant competitors, each Of whom
had received from the government at
Washington an amount of bonuses and
land grants sufficient to build theil
Pacific tidewater. Following the
Union Pacific. the Southern Pacific and
the Northern Pacific. there soon came
the Canadian Pacific, another trans
continental line supported by the pow
err and resources of great govern.
ment; whereas the Manitoba" and it,
SUCCESSOR, the Great Northern, had MOI
a dollar Of government subsidy or ar
acre Of government grant to forward
it's progress from the Minnesota
boundary to the ocean. .
Without Government Aid.
Without government aid. there wa:
but one condition upon which q road
could be- built over 1900 miles Of al
most appropriated expanse, and tina
was, to discover q route through .
territory whose natural resources were
capable of supporting a large and pro.
ductive population and thereafter tt
populate and develop that territory.
Over the present lines of the Grea
Northern system he discovered tina
route and territory. There was an
other factor in his favor, namely, thai
the country that Is best adapted tt
agricultural production Is one Of grea
level valleys and plateaus over which
the grades are the easiest and the cos
Of transportation the lowest. It hal
long since been developed that tn,
Great Northern has the easiest grades
and the most productive territory o.
any Pacific transcontinental railway
Hills Development Greed.
The route and the road secured
there remained but one condition, ant
that for twenty years has beer
crystallized into the Hill policy:
Develop the country"
Where one Of the Pacific transcon
tfnentals could rely for support upo1
q 10000, 000-acre land grant, and an
other upon hundred million dolla
bonus and grant, while third was t
all intent and purposes a government
1,4t Ia