The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1904-01-08
The niTCaGLL CAPITAL
FRIDAY. JANUARY 8. 1904.
! BUSINESS PROPOSITION

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Sturgis Record, Meade county,
Black Hills: The Record has always
been firm in its belief that the best
interests Of the Black Hills lie in the
removal of the capital from Pierre
and its location at Mitchell.
The reasons for this indisputable
fact lay along the same lines used by
the Pierre boomers for the past ff-
teen years-railroad business.
The only alleged reason ever ad-
yanced by Pierre for the retention Of
the state capital is that old. worn
out and t%hrcadbale argument that il
the state capital was kept at Pierre
the Northwestern railroad would
build across from there to the Hills
rs sure rs fate. For fifteen years we
have heard that cry; and for fifteen
years the Northwestern has had one
profitable line running into the Black
Hills through the Nebraska country,
With no more intention Of building a
costly bridge across the Missouri at
Pierre and running another line
through the bad lands parallel to its
own system. than Of building to the
moon. Any reasonable man can see
that such is the case.
The RECORD deals with this matter
from a Black Hills point o. view. It
does not know what the eastern part
OF the state thinks about the question
OF accessibility, but even that is bad
enough for Us, when to reach the
state capital we have to travel
through, three states in order to get
to Pierre, it's ramshackle buildings,
the public records of the commons
wealth in constant danger Of destluc-
ton, and not a reason in the world
to keep the capital there except that
baldheaded joke: ia railroad across
the reservation Readers Of this
paper will excuse reference to this
once more, but the chestnut has
been forced on us so often by Pierre
paid boomers that 1T sounds natural.
Adopting, however, for a moment
the line OF argument advanced-the
railroad question, and the PROPOSE
tion that anothe. railroad into the
Black Hills country is contingent on
the location Of a capital, let US see
about Mitchell:
Mitchell is located on the Chicago.
Milwaukee s. st. Paul road-com-
monty known as the Milwaukee. That
rad is now as far as Evarts, on the
Missouri river, and is going to build
to the coast. 1t cannot and will not
pass the Black Hills country without
building in here. and thus we will
have a direct route to the state cap
ital, and st. Paul, Minneapolis and
Chicago. II there is any virtue in
the tifteen-year-old plea Of Pierre
let's use it to our own advantage.
Let us give some ore else a show.
We have seen there is nc earthly
possibility of a road from Pierre be-
cause the Northwestern is too full Of
business to build a two million dollar
bridge across the Missouri at Pierre
and extend line through a cattle
country only to connect with its
other lines here. The Milwaukee,
on the other hand, cannot pass the
Hills by, as this little country will
be a great feeder.
The people Of the Black Hills can't
lose anything by the change. We
have dug in the old rut like blind
moles for fifteen years, swearing by
Pie1re-and for what? Nobody knows
except we used to have bull trains
across the reservation IN early days.
It's time we woke up and looked at
this matter like business people--from
4 business point OF view.