The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1909-11-19
PRAISE FOR A STATE.
GOVERNOR A. o. EBERHART DIS
CUSSES MINNESOTA.
Describes the North Star Common
wealth Before the National Farm
Land Congress; Goes Into De-
tailed Statement of Her Varied
Resources; Great Wealth; Educa-
tional Institutions; Future; Mines.

Chicago, Nov. 1.-THE National
Farm Land congress began it's sessions
at the La Sale yesterday. The con-
gress will continue until Friday.
Scores of delegates from practically
every state in the Union, particularly
from the western and southern states,
are here.
The bills of announcement explain
that the purpose of the congress is to
inform the people of the entire coun-
try of the possibilities for development
of all lands within the United States
and the opportunities for the home
seeker.
One of the notable addresses of yes
terday's session was a speech by Gov
ernor A. o. Eberhart of Minnesota,
! whose topic was Minnesota"
Some Development Statistics.
After describing the resources of the
state in detail, Governor Eberhart
said:
ave have developed in our woods
and along our prairies 10000 farms,
placed on them $3OO,OOOOOO worth of
buildings, livestock and machinery, and
thus created in a single generation
farm property which represents total
investment of over 81 000O00,0OO, real
izing thereon gross annual product
of 1926, 100000.
"We have built schools in every ham
let of the ninety-fv counties, until
our common school enrolment of 45O,-
900 equals that of Maine, Vermont,
New Hampshire and Rhode Island
combined In addition to the common
schools, we have $50 high schools in
the towns and cities, with an attend
ance of $4,000, five state normal
schools with an enrolment of 1900,
and we extend state aid to 2,400
rural and graded schools; while our
greatest educational institution, the
University of Minnesota, has a present
enrolment of $500 and ranks in at
tendance and equipment as one of the
four largest universities in America.
BY a wise investment and handling of
our school funds and lands, we are
able to show a permanent school and
university fund of $20000,00O invested
in high-class securities, and school
lands, mines and timber which will
yield future educational income of
perhaps $l0O,O00,O0O more
Wealth Exceeds Three Billions.
''Our estimated total wealth is over
So, 500, 100000, which the census of 1910
will undoubtedly extend to $4OOO,OOO,-
600. Our railroad investment of $780,
100000 is equaled by only four other
states. Our national and state banks
during the past ten years of agricul-
tural prosperity have grown from 239,
with $74,000,000 of deposits in 1898 to
SOB, with $27O,OOO,OOO of deposits in
1909.
''In other words, our banking insti-
tutions have practically quadrupled in
both number and volume of deposits
during the brief period of eleven years.
We have developed iron mines from
which in twenty-five years high grade
homatite ore has been taken to the
value of $7OO,OOO,OOO, and yet our min
ing development has only fairly begun.
'Our chief distributing point, the
Twin Cities, has a jobbing business of
$500,0O0,O0O and bank clearings of
$l,5OO,0O0,00O annually, and these cities
rank in commercial Importance with
Boston, st. Louis and Pittsburg, while
our head-of- the lakes port, Duluth
clears the greatest freight tonnage OF
any shipping port in America. In the
conservation of our great resources
we are studying soil fertility and prac-
ticing crop rotation, we are preserving
the state timber and taking steps to,
wards reforestation.
Preserving Mineral Lands.
"We are preserving the state min.
eral lands for the maintenance of state
institutions, we have drained 10000
acres of state public lands and added
$40 per acre to their value at a cost
of only 81 per acre for drainage, We
are conserving and protecting the
headwaters of the Mississippi with
reservoirs, and we are looking forward
to the day when the great Father o.
Waters shall be the connecting navi
gable highway uniting the ports of thu
great lakes and the gulf for the gen
eral industrial development of thu
greatest agricultural and commercial
empire in the world, embracing thu
twenty-five states of the great Mis-
sissippi valley that extends from tn,
Rockies to the Alleghanies and from
Canada to the gulf"