The Appeal., 1910-10-29

earnest Of its future. That steward
ship, covering period of years,
leaves nothing to the explanation of
accident. The party, like, its candi-
date, has made good. y Today the
state treasury contains million dol
lars more than in any previous year.
One officer alone, the Attorney Gen
eral, has collected through litigation,
settlement and otherwise, the sum OF
1,054, ,722.82. He has inaugurated the
principle of the collection of inner
itance taxes on the estates of foreign
residents, which in the case of the
late John S. Kennedy has yielded
$345,325.25, and which will yield un-
told revenues in the future. He has
done this without the aid of outside
counsel and at a cost to the state
for the conduct of his Office of $24,-
10000 per year. The one collection
alone will pay the cost of the At
torney Generals Office for more than
1873 years. 1..-
Conservation has been the keynote
of the Republican administration AS
practical illustration of this, the
work of the State Drainage Commits
sion established by the legislature of
1901, is an excellent example. bitches
are being built throughout the state
and plans are on foot for material
improvements which, when executed
will involve the expenditure of over
half a million dollars, from which
the benefits will be incalculable. From
small beginning, the State Drainage
Board is now regarded as one of the
most important branches of the state
government. w.
In it's reclamation of swamp lands
and with it's quieting of titles from
the government, the state has given
another example of practical ap-
plication of the policy of conservation
The value of these lands, with their
timber and mineral, cannot be esti-
mated
That conservation, from the outset
of Republican administration, has al
ways been the keynote of Republican
legislation. even though the name was
then unknown, is shown by the school
fund of Minnesota. Under the di-
rection of Alexander Ramsey, the first
Republican governor, in the early
sixties, coupled with the foresight and
wise legislation of subsequent legis-
lation, Minnesota has today the larg-
est permanent school fund of any
, state in the Union or of any similar
government in the world.
1t was due to Alexander Ramsey
that school lands were sold for not
less than $500 an acre, while on the
pine lands, the timber and land were
to be sold separately. The effect was
to take the public lands of Minne-
sofa off the market and to preserve
them for the future While other
states were selling land at $1.25 an
acre, Minnesota's lands were increas-
ing in value SO that for three forty
acre tracts of swamp lands the state
received more money than the states
of Wisconsin and Michigan combined
have obtained for the whole of their
public domain.
When Governor Ramsey fought for
the conservation Of state lands, iron
ore had not been discovered. In 1889
the principle was established that in
every sale of public land the ore
should be reserved for the state. The
| total estimated income from ROYALTIES
on iron ore properties has aggregated
Sl,39l ,S32.86 and the state has only
just begun to reap the real harvest.
The result in figures dazzles the
| imagination. Conservation has al
ready resulted in permanent school
fund of over S21 1,OOO,OOO.0O as COM
| pared with $4.270,411.62 for Michigan
+ and SO. .723,599 for Wisconsin.
This means that as a result of Re-
publican legislation. Minnesota will
| lead the world in it's educational in
| stitutions. 1t means that the fore
sight exhibited and the statesman
ship employed by early Republican
leaders and continued by the Re-
publican party of today, will yield
richly in that greatest of all subjects
of conservation-the development of
the human mind.