Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1911-10-14

mileage has now passed the 5,0O0
mark, and the assessment Of prop
erty for taxation purposes is $780,
100000
But this is just the beginning CO
things. Underlying more than one
half of the state are 500, 100000 tons
of Ignite coal. Men are just be.
ginning to realize it's importance and
to take it out of the ground for fuel
purposes, and when the work that
is now being done in the laboratories
of the university is eliminated and
applied commercially there is no rea'
. son why the stacks of commerce
should not rise in many villages and
towns.
Many travellers passing through our
borders have remarked upon the fiat
, ness of the surface; they have called
attention to the lack OF forests and
continued area of smooth land. Yet
in other states men are cutting trees
and leveling the ground for the very
purpose of securing the end that
nature has accomplished here. But
| the fairness of the earth has its adj
vantages. It produces unusual air
and atmospheric effects, and unQues-
! tionably Influences vegetation marked
! ly. Speaking of the animals of North
! Dakota, one writer calls attention to
their greater locomotor activity, their
migration and aggregation, as seen
! in the bison and prairie dog. 1t is
noted again and again that there is
certain uniformity of social organ
ization seen among them, which has
its prototype in the society Of civil
; lied man. In pioneer life the settlers
! were rovers. The means of trans
portation was the prairie schooner,
while great herds of cattle, cowboys
carrying water for their jOurneyings,
all constitute various features of the
! life of the state But as advance
ment is made toward a greater civil
| ization the flatness of the country
makes progress easier. Railroads are
built straight, without varying from
the point they wish to reach. Good
roads over the prairies are created.
farm machinery is developed in per-
lection, while at the same time dry
farming, root crops, come to be a
part of the agricultural system.
And socially, civilized man in North
unity. He possesses solidarity that
is remarkable, as shown in the close
relationship existing among the peo-
pie of the state. The organization of
government and the conduct of it is
upon more thoroughgoing basis as
compared with states of the same age
because of the uniformity created on
account of geographic unity
There are few states in the galaxy
off the Union, looking back over a
history of little more than twenty
flew years, that can count the number
of schools, educational institutions,
and means Of caring for dependents
than are to be found in the common
wealth of North Dakota. The census
of 1910 showed 10000 children be.
tween the ages of 6 and 20. Ninety
per cent of these, or $4,000, were
enrolled upon the books of the
| schools. The. average attendance was
more than 100000, scattered among
4,S34 schools. At the different edu-
| cational institutions there was an at
! tendance of nearly 5000 students.
There have also been established vari
| GUS agencies for the general uplift-
ing of the population. as shown in
the state library commission and the
extension work.
While these accomplishments are
! markedly in the direction of better
things, the state is: nevertheless con-
fronted by many difficult problems.
In the towns, questions of public
health, of sanitation, of water supply
and proper sewage disposal, increase
in difficulty as the days 60 on. And
with the growth of population in
North Dakota must face these mat
tiers intelligently, must arrange sci
entifically for proper water supply
and method of sewage disposal that
will not carry with it disease and
death. We are calling upon the p7o-
pie of other states and nations to
send us. their population, and we are
| asking them to come with the ex-
pectation of securing their co-opera-
ton asd citizenship within the bor-
ders of the commonwealth. But the
problem of taxation has not yet been
solved, and under the simpler con-
ditions of an agricultural state the
pressure has not yet reached a point
where the problem is an especially
difficult one. The demand for more
income, however, is apparent. The
necessity of meeting social obliga-
tons, the betterment of health, edu-
cation, and the care of dependents re-
quires, more income. This will me-
cessitate serious consideration of
the problems involved in the field
of taxation. We are as yet a people
of two railways, running east and
west. The cross line railroads that
will make us more closely related and
affiliated are yet to be built. The
evidences of this exposition show the
possibilities of the future. The
mechanism of commerce must be pro-
vided in order that the state may
grow to its possibilities. But here
IN this commonwealth, with its broad
praries. every man and woman has
the sweep Of the sky for his vision
Narrow valleys do not shut him in,
nor do great cities crowd him close
against his neighbor. Here is the
place of breadth of mind and sweep
of vision II ia tho n1aoo uhoro ;doo1e