Omaha daily bee., 1906-10-07
NOTE OF WARNING FROM HILL
Railway kagnats Says Nations Natural
Resources Are Bsing Wasted.
EXTENSIVE FARMING lMPovtRlsHts sou


the principal speaker tonight at the banquet
given at the Auditorium hotel under the
auspices of the Commercial association
Ills theme was THE Development OF the
Northwest" and his remarks were greeted
with added attention because of the great
deal i'm ore lands which he closed recently
in behalf of the Great Northern railroad.
David r. Forgan president of the Com
mercial association, presided at the banquet
which was attended by about $50 members
of the association and their friends. Sir
Thomas Upton was one of the chief guests
of the evening other speakers were Con
quest of the Pacific" Congressman George
Il. Foss; "San Francisco Ernest F. Bick-
nell. Mr. Bckuell represented the Chicago
Commercial association in the relief meas
ures at San Francisco after the earth
quake.
MIR. HiITs Address.
After reviewing the progress made in the
northwest in the past fifty years, Mr.. Hill
said:
.- The first business and the highest duty
of the northwest Is to prepare for the
burden and heat of the coming day and
to postpone the lengthening OF the shadows
that must surely fall. Within certain limits
this country and the northwest If forces
now operating continue, and If tendencies
now active are unchecked. These. briefly,
are the certainties of the next fifty years,
supported by the facts ascertalned beyond
possibility of error. By the middle of this
century, within the lifetime of thousands
than 100000. Where are these : people epi
TO find profitable occupation? How are they
TO obtain the necessities of life? The ques-
ton is already pressing upon great cities
IKE chicago, where immigration concen-
trates. But these newcomers cannot be
excluded. Labor was never as scarce
tplN
day. We cannot stop the inflow or check
the natural increase. We must determine
however. upon a national economy different
from the present, when our population is
approaching three times what It was in
i9W Striking as has been found the con-
trast between 1880 and 1900 that between
me present and 1850 will reveal more serious
features. -.
Minerals and Forests Going.
Practically speaking, our public lands are
All occupied. The irrigation of land by the
general government will do something, but
Win WIN an the present plans they win fur
nish land for fewer than l,56O,OOO small
farms of forty acres each. or for a popu-
laton of 1,O0OO0 OF $4,000 people Our
other natural resources have been ax-
plotted with a lavi h han ur Xport
ot winch "e ioNe 10 boast. consist ..osIy
OF the products of the soil. Our iron and
coal supplies viii begin TO show signs of
exhaustion before fifty years have passed.
The former, at the present rate Of increas.
ing production, will be greatly reduced. Our
forests are rapidly going, our vast supply
of mineral oil flows to the ends Of the
earth we cannot continue to supply the
I world and recruit our own resources by the
methods of trade that now obtain. because
/ the minerals stored in the ground do not
recreate themselves, Once used they are
/ gone forever We shall with these coming
millions to provide for, be thrown back
upon the soil. the only resource Of mankind
! that is capable of infinite renewal and that
! offers life for generation after generation.
! The period of ransacklng the national
| storehouse to see what can be sent over
| seas and sold must be changed to an era
/ In which we shall consider The preserva-
| tion and Improvement of what is fonda
| mentally, our chief maintenance. For upon
the cultivation of the soil of all veritd
| commercial activity, and upon II depends
the future of mankind and the nature and
| stability of It's institutions. ..
| Soil Is Being Impoverished.
In some things we are going backward.
! The soil of the country is being impov-
4 erished by careless treatment. Forests
| and the floods scour II into the ocean
| 1t has been cropped with the same grain
year after year, until it's productive power
! in some of the richest portions of the
! country has deteriorated fully so per-
| cent. The census returns show an actual
! decrease in farm values in IA large number
/ of states. 1t is easily demonstratablC
\ that near reform of methods of culti-
walton would double the agricultural pro
ducts each year. adding to the whole
! country from 5000 900, 900 to Sc. 900, 000
600 10 the national wealth: while the
resort to small farms and the adoption
of the intensive cultivation would Civ,
an equal additional increment These art
possibilities to which necessity will lenC
a more pertinent and compelling aspec
with the coming years of the present cen
tury. The coStliest error Will be in
clinging to the dclusion that we are 4
continue to increase our exports and Il
live upon the profits of the foreign mar
, ket. The time is coming when we shal
need our wheat crop for home consump
tion and seed, when our. mines will no
/ Weld nXcpnt Increased the irOl
and coal required for manufactured com
modities consumed at home, and when tn
/ cheap labor of the orient, whose wage
we cannot hope to meet, equipped wit
our machinery and with the patience ant
immitative instinct tltere so highly de
| veloped will vanquish all competitors Il
every market. Though our trade Wer
unshackled from the legislative bond
that now prevent It's natural growth an
free expansion, IL would not offer us 10
long yothCr reliance than a broke
reed Every nation that enjoys pro
perity and that exhibits n healthy nationa
vitality is rooted in the soil; ana all IL
other Industries are clustered about III
lage as the branches spring from IN
parent stoock that nourish them all. 7
a realization of our position, to retur
e to a jealous care of our land resource
both as to quantity and quality and I
!, a mode of cultivation that shall at ono
! multiply the yield per acre and restor
d instead of destroy productive qualities
;. we must come without delay II we are [
- escape disaster.
: Next in Importance to the productivity
? the soil comes that of the trans9orta tiol
: Already the growth of our commerce D.
!, tween the Mississippi river and the A
4 lantic coast finds Itself delayed and han
3 pered for want of additional railway line
< and of terminal facilities. And throughol
the whole country there is "A rising call ft
Z more tracks more engines, more cars an
a more transportation facilities Of all ktnd
To furnish what is required VIII cah I!
: the investment of many hundreds or mi
!. lions Of dollars to be furnished from u
savings of the people OF all classes az
o without them the whole business OF Il
4 country must suffer. Money invested
railways expects fair return on the Il
2 vestment and It also expects the san
measure of protection before the law th'
, is accorded TO other property.
The enormous pressure of masses or pc
pie seem 10 crush out the hope and el
!, ergy and prosperity of a large propartic
u of them, and the great problem OF niodel
progress. after all, Is how to deal with IN
tendency-how to prevent the forces OF a.
Sancing social evolution from be'ne q
structiVe as well as creative. This Is u
problem OF the nation, exactly stated, az
10 il Is In a special sense. the problem o. u
northwest.