Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-10-28
HUGE SCHOOL FUND
That for Minnesota Amounts
to $4,000, 600.
SOME DAY 100000, 900
Enormous Revenue From Leases Of
Mineral Lands.
GOV. RAMsEY'S WISDOM
Every Branch of Instruction in Time
Will Be Free to the Young
People of the State.
SOME DAY s2oo,ooo,ooo
RAMsEY's
GOV

Il People of the State.
III was Mr. Curtis habit to prepare his mat
Ter ahead OF publication. the result OF neees
sity inasmnch as he was often travelling. some
times In far distant lands. and with untrnst-
: worthy communications behind him. 1t is q
! tribute to his careful method that his copy
| sever failed. and AT the time of his death
there are IN hand several letters prepared and
| revised By him and supplied In advance OF the
dates assigned for publ cation in accordance
, Win re custom OF years. The Star feels that
i should be printed just as though Mr. Curtis
Were living. II viii therefore continue until the
] end j. reached the publication of this series of
tlftis letters. : despite the fact shat death has
laii'n so swiftly To put an end TO a career that
| mas rev parallels for usefnlness.i
BY WILLIAM f. CURTIS.
Special Correspondence of The Star and the
Chicago Record Herald
/ ST PAL.
samuel g. Iverson, auditor of the state
OF Minnesota. who has been ir that Office
Tor twtnty-four and a half years and,
naturally. knows more about the past.
the present and the future of the pro-
digious school fund than any one else,
tells me that the present total is about
ST 100000, and that it will be S5Oupt, 900
| in the immediate future. and he esti-
mates that ultimately the Iessees of the
mineral lands. the swamp lands and other
property belonging to the schools will
provide not less than S@OOOO0.OOo tor the
education of future generations.
| Mr.. 1verson gives me the following
statement. which explains itself:
| State mineral leases IN force. 224: state
mines opened and operated, ~; state
mines containing ore ,unopened), So:
known tonnage thy driling) on above %
leases, tons, 149, s.207a: estimated roy
atty income to school. university and
other funds from the eveloped land
leases, Sr.rh,uvO; from lands leased put
not yet developed. SIvO,.su.upo; estimated
ultimate income In roy aitIes from all the
state scnool. university and swamp ianas
now leased, S2,U,CUu.VUO.
/ The only state that has anything to
compare with this Is Texas. and Mr.. lver-
son has just received letter fl ON w. p.
Lane, controller of that state, who says:
In regard to the ultimate amount of per-
manent school fund of Texas. l will say
that owing to the fact that a large
amount Is in land. it would he difficult
to give a close estimate. However my
opinion is that the fund will reach
| The permanent school fund Of Texas
will certainly be a very large one" said
Mr.. I've. son. and the people of the Lone
Star state are to be congratulated on hav-
| ing conserved SO large a part of their
know, Texas has always retained control
| of her public lands, and very large
acreage running into the millions was
set aside for the permanent schoO. fund,
while in Minnesota we have had only
such lands as were granted to the state
by Congress- which for school purposes
were less than three million acres
Policy Maintained in Minnesota.
| The. current agitation to safeguard the
natural wealth of Alaska Is In line with
those common-sense ideas urged by Alex
| ander Ramsey and his compatriots in
| Minnesota territorial times more than
fifty years ago. and which to a large ex-
tent have dominated the public land poll
cles of our state ever since. In 1854 we
began selling our pine timber at public
sale by the thousand feet, retaining the
Zee title in the land. In 1889 leases we're
authorized on a 25-cent per ton basis to
mine iron ORE Minnesota was a pioneer
in these policies of handling public lands.
our early lawmakers had no statutes of
other states or nations to follow. but
were guided solely by their common
sense and a patriotic regard for the COM
mon welfare
Having been connected with this de-
partment for twenty-fOur and one-haf
years, i naturally feel a pride In the sue
cess achieved in Minnesota, and believe
that the telling of our story will be bene-
fetal at least to the two new states that
are about to enter the Union. l know
that North and South Dakota have fol-
lowed the policies of Minnesota in regard
to the handling of their trust fund lands
and are making phenomenal successes.
"Our resources for school purposes are
in splendid shape" said Mr. lverson,
land fortunately they are so concen-
trated that they are easily looked after
The revenues from them are paid in the
form of royalties upon the amount of
iron ore produced from the land that
belongs to the schools, and are leased
to private corporations and individuals
No risk or doubt or question Is possible.
1.-The state tax commissioners. for ex-
ample have assessed for taxation pur-
poses thirty-five of the school leases
upon basis Of 1O5. 29496 tons of ore In
sight: they have assessed the university
lands on a basis Of s, S44.S71 tons In sight.
and other lands on a basis Of 81 .O59.977
tons in sight. making total of 145. $780,
SIT tons of ore belonging to the schools
that Is known to exist, without taking
into consideration deposits that have
never been explored. and are probably
quite as large and quite as valuable, and
possibly many times so.
Other States Sold Lands.
Most Of the states admitted into the
Union before Minnesota sold their school
| lands to encourage settlers and promote
development. Minnesota, however, early
adopted a conservation policy SO as to
insure the welfare of coming genera
| lions. We are equally fortunate In hav-
| ing advantages that have never been en-
| loved by other states. From one section
| Of school lands. occupied by the Hill iron
| mine, the school children of Minnesota
will receive more money than the states
| IL Michigan, /. Wisconsin and Iowa COM
bined have received or will ever receive
| from all the lands ceded to them by Con-
| gress. The farthest generation Of the
| people Of Minnesota will owe this bless
| ing to Alexander Ramsey. our first terri
| torial governor who was afterward our
representative in the United States Sen
ate and Secretary OF War.
| I'm January, 1881. Gov. Ramsey sent
| a remarkable message to the LEGISLATURE.
! in which he asserted that In fifty years
| the 3.OOO.OOO acres OF school lands In
Minnesota would yield revenue which
| would raise our educational system above
| the level Of that of any other state in
| the Union. From the remaining LANDS
| granted by Congress to the state. includ-
| ing swamp lands. he predicted that we
would realize $1,000 600. which would he
| sufficient to endow a university ard nor
NAL school. pay OF the public debt and
| aid in establishing a system Of public
| charities.
| 1.-THE half-century period has just pass
ed, and our school fund In interest
bearing securities alone amounts to
| <ot 900. OOO. with more than million
| ,cres OF school lands unsold. The Other
lands have produced more than 100000
1 . nv tn,