The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1905-09-29
]. J. HILLS NOTABLE ADDRESS
He Discusses Agriculture, National and World
Affairs at County Fair.

James ]. Hill. president OF the Great
Northern railroad. delivered an address
at the Fillmore county fair at Preston.
MIMI, on Sept 20. which is perhaps the
most notable public utterance of the
many he has made. 1t is of national.
even Worldwide scope. and is attracting
great attention. He began by expressing
his pleasure at meeting Il strictly asri-
cultural community and then made this
Northern Iowa:
In your state here. and you will pardon
me for making some comparisons, that
may seem, as comparisons often are. Il
sofa with S No oiea'f iowa S the tier Of
counties on the line of each state. with
nothing but the conventional boundary
tie beyond rMf yo !neS cn nfe enough your
| farms average exactly the same in acre
age. You have about 1sO,oOn acres more
vantage in " the o ame aaf Of lH live Stock
| Now. they have no advantage in soil or
climate over yer YOU But they pro1'Iih 3
earlier than YOU did They probably took
UP the care of live stock. of cattle and
hogs earlier than you did. and for that
s ss ss from St the G fi acsS at e
the records show that they are 81 an
acre ahead of you.
Comparing Southern Iowa with North
ern Minnesota he said the Southern farms
realized ~ an acre more than the north
ern and added:
There is no calling in the world where
a man can be more independent or nap
| pier than he who cultvatcS the sofia
man on farm is an independent prince
and and ne ought to succeed Your future tut re
the land in an intelligent way and the
restoration of the qualities OF the soil
that give good returns Live stock .; on
YOU can get for the live stock because
the manure as Il fertilizer is worth one
third of the market value of the feed you
Following along this line, Mr.. Hill pro
cceded to say that if they could sell their
grain. hay or roots, feed them to their
more than the market price OF the feed.
l want to say to you. cultivate your
land, Take good care of it. Nothing will
pay you as well. Stock raising means
more to you and to the country.
Keep the Farm.
Keep your farms. Cultivate them: cul-
tivate them well. Stand by your state
agricultural farm. To-day | want to call
your attention to this. ! have taken e:
terest; in thu, state farm. There is but
one change that would make if could,
and ] would make that in the interest Of
| the school. I would separate it from the
| state university, because to-day it is only
an attachment. 1t is strong enough anu
! it is OF NOR" Importance that the boys
and girls OF the State of Minnesota shall
be educated to take advantage of and to
intelligentiy cultivate the soil.
Everything that is of value in the world
comes from four sources. The sra.-we
are counted. and in a very few wears
Minnesota will have no forests thar are
of any value. Theoretically we have
twelve years Of standing timber. OF
course they won't cut ii all in twelve
years, but that will be because they re-
duce the rate at which it is cut each
| year.
Proceeding. he said the mines We're next
to the forest. but the farm III Minnesota
produces more value, more gold every
year than the mines of any state in the
| Union. When miues are dug out they
cannot be reproduced. but crops can be
reproduced indefinitely. I'll" mines will
not oye Gr9% Ts again nt p, but s the hr rGrs w m
keep them for their boys and girls.
lie then related the circumstances OF
the great drouth in the northern part OF
the state in 1852. and how to encoura Sc
diversified farming he bought between
800 and 800 thornughbrrd bulls and be,
tween 6OOO and 1000 Berkshire pigs and
scattered them throughout the northern,
part of the state and Dakota. Spcailine
OF his recent visit to the North Dakota
state fair, he said:
Practical Example.
saw as fine cattle there as ever saw
in my life and brought them over from
Great Britain and had paid as much as
5000 for a COW. 1 had more pride in
seeing these cattle. because among the
lot there was one animal that took the
of Canada; in July he took the sweep
stakes in Winnipeg. in the province OF
Manitoba; in Grand Forks lie took sec
a North Dakota bull. had a little feel
ing of pride creeping up my throat when
the owner told me that he was descend
| ant of one of the animals | sent up there.
gether or will be poor together
MI. Hill continued at some length to
expa tiate upon the Importance. advan-
tages and indepeliSence of the farm life.
and then took up general matters which
might be termed national. Along this
line he said in part:
Government Policies.
There are two main essentials to all
successful and happy effort: industry and
character in the man as d private indi-
vidual. and honesty and intelligence in
his acts and in the acts of those who are
chosen to represent him in the life of the
state. You cannot get along without
either the one or the other You are all
affected. directly and permanently. by
the quality and the acts and the policies
of the government under which you live.
1t that is low or dishonest it will react
upon you eventually just as surely as il
you received into The intimacy of your
family life some man OF bad CONVERSE
| ton and corrupt example. If that is I'M
| Intelligent. mistaken or wilfully miSdi-
| rected it will affect you just as certainly
| as ii you continue to use Il plough that
merely scratches the surface of the soil
| instead OF turning ii over. or carry your
products to the lowest instead of to the
| highest market. 1t is your place to keep
just as sharp u guard set upon these pub
| lie issues and the way in which they are
met YOU do upon Your own personal
expenses and the actions of those who
work under your personal orders.
Are your Representatives. speak in the
| broadest and most general way, for your
| representatives will compare we'll with
| those OF other stateS-of the highest NOR
| al quality and fiber. and are they doing
| those things which are most clearly con-
| ceived to benefit you. the people. and not
some interest aside from and antagors-
| tic to your OWN? 1T will profit las all to
| think seriously about these matters. for
| the responsibility for them cannot be
| evaded or shufflcd off,
| War Graft
| And first as to honesty, which Is the
| main thing. You all read the papers
| and it is a chief stay and hope OF this
country that the diffusion OF intelligence
| and an intimate acquaintance with wha t
| h, happening elsewhere has become So
| general. For that reason the extension
| Of The rural mail service is to be claSsed
! as one Of the real achievements of our
! time; one fit to rank with the spread OF
| education in our schools. AS thus IA
| niliar with events. it is scarcely neces-
| IL,