The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1904-08-29

&c.
But what they first saw, with the spirit
of a Gagged bird let loose, they embraced,
appropriated and made their own. Their
struggles to subdue the forests, to clear
homes for themselves, and in the mean
time to repress the savages, and finally
to secure their PERSONAL and political in
dependence, were intense, hard and heroic
more so than has fallen to the lot Of
subsequent generations Of our people.
These struggles Injured them to all Kinds.
Of physical and moral hardships and bred
in them a moral, and intellectual stamina
and greatness unparalleled, and which boz
came the groundwork and motive power Of
the republic which they created and es-
tablished
Secret Of Our Progress.
We have made great progress since those
trying and exacting days, but we never
could have taken the pace nor made the
distance we have made had not the spirit
and the inspiration of those heroic souls
and stout hearts been upon us and our
country, and infused into US that energy
and fertility Of resource, so marked the
world over, in the American people. s
Other lands have as favorable soil and
of people, nor our freedom Of thought
and action, and hence in the field Of in
dustrfal competition we distance them all,
and stand at the head of all.
Aside from our grand system of govern
ment and the character and makeup of
our people, two causes, the foundation
for which was laid by the fathers of the
republic in the very structure and make
up Of our government, have in a large de-
gree and to a great extent contributed to
our material and industrial progress and
prosperity. @tSsa
These causes, briefly stated, were, (a),
an ample supply of fertile lands and a
4 lsrs.o<x
of the same, and CD the policy Of estab-
fishing and fostering manufacturing in
dustries and building up a home market
for our agricultural products and album
dant raw material. The large domain
We secured thru the war for indepen-
dence-909,050 square miles in all-was
only partially and to admitted extent de-
purchase, which added an ernPire-s75,-
OBS square miles In all-of the most fertile
lands in our country and gave us com
plete control Of the Mississippi river and
all it's tributaries.
"A Farm for Everyone.
Thus within twenty years after we had
secured our independence we had nearly
Sam ns was O now rich eh hpS T. give e ali
his people a farm. And he pursued a most
liberal policy in disposing Of the same
The old world Eidea5o of a fvast agricultural
tenantry holding under the crown, or un-
der few great land surfeited landlords,
was discarded as had been discarded the
old worlds schemes of government. The
tiller Of the soil was to be his own land
lord His title was to be a fee simple,
with no rents payable except to himself.
A few special grants were perhaps i'm
prOvidently made in the first instance. A
liberal and justly deserved allowance was
made to the surviving soldiers Of the
revolution, their widows and children. But
after that our public lands were at first
disposed Of in fee at public sale and
private entry. By and by the presumption
law was passed, which gave the pioneer
a chance by settlement to secure a prefer
payment and entry. Then came the be-
neficent homestead law, which Of all our
land laws has been the. iwisest, and most
liberal for the real and actual settlers,
and which has done more than any other
land law to develop the agricultural re-
sources of our country and to afford In
dependent and happy homes to the great
mass of our people. To aid the pioneers
in the speedy development Of their farms
and to secure them an early and accessi4
BILE market, grants Of lard were made
for the construction Of railroads on the
frontier The homesteader got his grant
of land for making it into farm; the rail
the homesteader within reach of market
in the early stages OF his settlement
The blessings of this policy We're not only
conferred upon the natives of our country,
but were also freely and generously con-
ferred upon the thousands of poor and
industrious immigrants that came to our
shores from the old world. And thus
these people secured what most Of them
could not secure in the countries of their
nativity, the gift of personal and political
| freedom and happy homes that they could
call their own 81
| Russia, in the course of her expansion.
has had at her disposal as vast quantities
of fertile and unsettled lands as our coun-
try, but She has failed to make such use
of it as we have, and the result has dem
! onstrated to the world our wisdom and
her shortsightedness, now more apparent
than ever.
| The Growth of Manufactures.
But the tendency Of. such liberal land
: policy was, by itself, TO make us a. ma
! ton Of farmers ultimately to be weighed
down by the$Noumef and momentum OF
| our production. And, as a matter Of fact,
! in the earlier stages of our progress We
We're nation Of farmers depending large
lily upon the old world for. the products al
! manufacture. We furnished them the food
4 and raw material and they in turn sup,
piled US with their fabrics and finished
products. Our chief markets were on the
other side Of the great ocean, and we hai,
] little else to sell than the products OF
our farms and forests. Such a condition
would inevitably breed agricultural COZ,
gestion. And so it became apparent to
our early generation of statesmen that a
remedy was needed, and that this remedy
must be sought in the Investigation OF
our industrial life; that some of our PEG.
pie must pursue some other calling beside
| that Of farmer and that at least some
of our abundance of raw material should
be utilized and made into finished prod
ttuct at home. In other words, that we
i ought to become manufacturers as wet
las farmers
The second act passed at the first ses.
sion of the first congress, under the con.
stitution, approved July 4, 1889, contained
this preamble:
Section l.. Whereas, It is necessary for the
4 debts of the United States, and tile encourage
ment and protection of manufactures, that du
! ties be laid on goods, wares and merchandise
4 imported. Be 1t enacted etc That
4 the several duties hereinafter mentioned sha L
be laid on the following goods, etc.
Words OF the Fathers.
George Washington, in his eighth and
last annual message, delivered Dec. 4
1 1886, declared:
Il Congress have repeatedly. and not without sue
cess, directed their attention to the encourage
ment of manufactures. The object is OF too mucl
i consequence not to insure continuance of thef
iieHofts In every way which shall appear material