The Montana plaindealer. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1906-1911, 1906-10-12
TELLS CHICAGO COMMERCIAL
GLIB WHAT He TIMES.
notbuest Must Pave WaJ Q 's'
toaus--our Highest Duty ls 70 POST
nav Of Shadows - Economic
Granddaughter Of Waste msnsee'
-. Hation-lntensifed Farming.

theme was The Development v d"
and his remarks were
greeted with applause because Of INS
yreat deal in ore lands which ne c4o7
"a gently in behalf Of the Great
Northern Railway.
hid = Forgan, president Of the
Commercial association, PRESIDED a.
n. bsDouet. which was attended D
.t,rt 750 members Of the ASSOCIATION
.rd their friends. Sir Thomas Upton
-.s one Of the chief guests Of the
evening Other speeches were
aco,oYsst o.. the Pacific" Congress
nan George Z. Foss, and San iran
~,sco" bv Ernest F. Bicknell. MI
Bickneu represented the Chicago Com
Ta-rIa1 association in the relief meas
u-es at san Francisco after the earth'
quake. -
After reviewing the progress made
in the northwest in the past 50 years'
Mr. Hill said: -
The first business and the highest
6u-v Of the northwest is to prepare tor
the burden and heat Of the coming day
! and 10 postpone the l~engthening OF the
zhadovg that must surely fall. Win
lin certain limits We may know exactly
what Is 10 happen in this country ana
The northwest If forces now operative
and if tendencies now active are IN
checked. These, briefly, are the Ger
,alnties Of the next 80 years, support
ID nv facts a~scertained beyond pos
sibility OF error. By the middle OF
this century, within the life time OF
thousands now living, our population
will be more than 200, 100000. Where
are these people to find profitable &C.
cupation? How are they to obtain the
Necessities Of life? The question is
always pressing upon great cities Ike
| Chicago. where immigration concen-
~ltrates. But these newcomers can not
be excluded. Labor was never as
scarce. wages were never as high as
al the present day. We can lot stop
the inflow or check the natural in
crease. We must determine. however.
upon an economy different from the
present. when our population Is ap-
preaching three times what ii was in
1900. Striking as has n found the
contrast between 1850 and 1900, that
between the present and 1850 will re
veal more serious features. Practi-
cally speaking, our public lands are all
occupied.
Irrigation Will Assist.
The irrigation of lands by the gen
eral government will do something.
but when all the present plans are
| completed. they will furnish land for
fewer than 100000 small farms Of 20
acres each. or for a population OF
seven or eight million people. Our
other natural resources have been ex-
plotted with a lavish hand. Our ex'
ports. OF which We love &c boast. con.
sist mostly Of the products Of the soil.
Our iron and coal supply will begin 10
show signs Of exhaustion before 80
years have passed. The former at the
present rate of increasing the produc
ton, will be greatly reduced. Our for
ests are rapidly going. our vast supply
Of mineral oil flows TO the ends Of the
earth. We can not continue to sup.
ply the whole 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 resourct
? OF mankind that it capable Of infinite
D renewal and that offers life for gen
Grafton after generation. The period
I OF ransacking the national ~storehoust
10 see what can be sent oyer seas and
; sold must be changed to an era il
? which we shall consider the preserva
ton and improvement Of what is. fun
~damentally, our chief maintenance
or upon the cultivation Of the soil anC
all varied commercial activity, intris
sic or intact. is mainly built: and upor
Il depends the future Of mankind. anC
the nature and stability of its institu
tons.
= In some things we are going back
ward. The soil of the country is be
ing impoverished by careless treat
ment. Forests are cut down that tn,
sun may make it and the floods scou
II into the ocean. 1t has been croppe,
with the same grain year after year
> until its productive power in some o
the richest portions Of the country ha
deteriorated fully so per cent. Tn
census returns show an actual de
crease in farm values in a large mum
: Der OF the states. 1t is easily demon
strated that a reform of methods O
cultivation would double the agricu,
tural production each year. adding Z
the whole country from $4,000. 600 o,
. 10 100000. 900 to the naUona
: wealth, while the resort Of smaI
farms and the adoption Of the inter
sive cultivation would give an eoua
!, and additional increase.
0 FOREIGN Trade 4 DeIusior