The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1915-04-23

Outlook Says State is Zone of
Most Extraordinary Pros
porous In Uni0n.''

Minnesota is termed zone of the
most extraordinary prosperous of the
commonwealth of the Union" by
Frederick H. Davenport in a series
under the title ION the Trail of Prog
ress and Reaction in the West" now
appearing in the Outlook.
Constitution Rockbound.
Mr.. Davenport declares IF one is
looking for reaction in Minnesota, he
must 60 after it with fine tooth
comb" He criticises the difficulty the
electorate has in amending the state
constitution and says ut is no wonder
that there is large, restless element
in Minnesota demanding the calling
of constitutional convention. Build
ing dam without spillway is pref
ty bad construction"
Praises Economy Commission.
He declares the report of the ef-
ficiency and economy commission lis
fine piece of work." AS to politics
he says, minnesota is permanently
progressive. 1t is not in the soil or
in the human stuff of the state to be
otherwise"
many Foreigners here.
Minnesota is, Of course, one of the
! most extraordinarily prosperous of
the commonwealth of the Union.
Its thrift and intelligent and enter
prlsing preponderantly Scandinavian
population is an illustration of what
America can do at her best in the way
of assimilation of fine strains from
western Europe. Probably three
fourths of the people Of the state are
foreign-born or the children of for
! eign-born. And yet there is no more
genuinely American and national
commonwealth in the Union. Its
prosperity has not been scratched by
the prevailing industrial depression.
Third in the country in its production
OF oats and wheat and first in the
production of barley, its fields every
where fertile and well-watered, dairy
ing rapidly increasing, it's iron ranges
yielding five-eighths Of the output of
ore in the United States, in lumber
the chief commonwealth east of the
Rockies, in the main its industry is
yielding up precisely those commodi-
ties of which the country and world
have most now used. The banks of
Minnesota have no lack of funds, and
the men of business and finance in
Minneapolis and St. Paul are cautious
because of what they hear from New
York and the east, not because Of
what they themselves experience. The
system and education in Minnesota
university and common school, is un.
derwritten by the mining royalties Of
the state lands in the Mesaba Range
If the opinion of experts is not astray
two hundred million of dollars ar,
in sight as endowment for the com
mon school system, and fifty million!
for the university.
Not Much Reaction.
IF one is looking for reaction ii
Minnesota, he must go after it with
a fine-tooth comb. There is a rea
struggle on, however, between thos,
who do not and those who do favor s
greater measure Of popular freedom
and social advance; and it is still tru,
in Minnesota, as in most of the othe1
western states, that eternal viQilanc,
is the price of liberty Minnesot:
has worked herself free from tn,
railway domination. AS every on,
knows, not many years ago the grea
railway system Of the middle ives
parceleA out the states to rule. TIL,
North Western took Wisconsin,, tn,
St. Paul took the Dakotas, the Burl
ington took Iowa, and the Grea
Northern took Minnesota. In tn,
old days the representative of tn,
Great Northern in the capitol wa!
the government. When on politica
business days he went up in the ele
vator to his suite in the leading no
tel, the chief representatives of tn,
people submissively followed in tn,
next elevator and took their order
for the day or the session, as tn,
particular need might require. It i
not so now. When Louis Hill tool
command of the Great Northern i,
Minnesota, there was new orde1
introduced. The railway now pre-
sents in an open and straightforward,
manner its cause to committees O
the legislature.
Danger in Breweries.
The influences that now will bea
watching in Minnesota are the grea
brewery interests and the stron,
group of gas and traction and tele
phone corporations which have S,
much at stake at the seat of govern
ment in St. Paul. The powerful brew
cry influence is fighting for its lif
} in Minnesota. It already is feelin,
the ground-swell Of prohibition from
the states beyond. Every man of tn
lower house was elected this year o,
the wet and dry county option issue
The speakership contest was lineu]
between the vets and the drys, an,
the all-dry candidates failed by onl,
two or three votes, and that evidentl,
because certain personal elements en-
. tered in. When the vote came on tn
county option bill, the drys won. An,
> woman suffrage, which is the twi,
devil of prohibition to the brewer,
interest. passed in the lower hous
and failed in the senate by only on
vote. There is good reason to believ
that the Hill influence in Minnesot
is on the side of the drys. The wis
and foolish virgins in big bushes
in this country are getting separate
! faster than many people have an
idea Of And var;o,,c binds of h;