The Tabor independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1913-19??, 1916-06-01

.
JAMES j. HILL.
cific ocean. He was confronted by three
great competitors in the south,
each Of which had received big bon
uses as government aid, whereas the
Manitoba, or the Great Northern. as 1t
came to be known, did not have
a dollar Of government subsidy or an
acre Of grant to forward its progress
from the Minnesota boundary to the
| sea-
In this light Hills plan was widely
deemed pure folly, but he pressed 1t
to conclusion by building and popu-
/ lating as he built. For several years
he laid rails westward at the rate Of
| a mile day, and at cost Of $4,000
! a mile, and as he went he left q trail
I Of embryonic farms by the railside.
| With the line to Puget Sound once
laid, he turned empire builder. He in
| troduced the live stock industry into
vast areas Of bunch grass plains, and
developed them by importing blooded
| stock; he sent demonstration trains
Through the country with men who
showed the people how to raise more
wheat to the acre; he made an outlet
| for the grain by establishing q cheap
rate by rail and steamship to Buffalo,
where he built great elevators; in fact,
for upward of 20 years he left moth
ing In his power undone to develop the
! country where he had staked out his
claim as the greatest common carrier.
But at the Pacific tidewater he was
not satisfied, for he saw in the orient
still further opportunities. He organ
lied a feet of Pacific steamships for
the commercial invasion Of Japan and
China. Japan at the time wanted
steel rails, but proposed getting them
from England, as the rates were less.
1t is related that when John w.
Gates, the steel magnate Of Chicago,
came to Hill with the proposition Of
getting American rails to Japan, the
latter replied:
II will make you a rate of So a ton
from Chicago to Pittsburgh to Yoko-
hama. II that Is too much, will
carry it for the axle grease used on
the locomotives and freight cars, and
If you can't stand that, I will carry
your freight for nothing"
AT the 50 rate named, the American
manufactures was enabled to secure the
| japanese contract.
An Empire Builder.
The same tactics were adopted in
getting American wheat and flour into
Japan and China, where rice was the
| staple food.
His faith in the far east was reward
ed as literally rs that in the northwest
|
now carries nearly $50 600, 900 worth Of
products to the orient every year.
! While Mr.. Hill built up for himself
and his associates an immense fortune,
| he also helped to create for the settlers
| along his lines wealth of over $5,000,-
100000 in real property. which is rep
| resented by the value Of the 400, 900
farms and their 65,OOO,00O acres of i'm
| proved land.
Upon his retirement at SO, the streak
Of rust" he had bought 30 years before,
| had expanded to more than 5000 miles
and 1t was earning gross profits Of more
than $66,000,0O0 a year, and carrying
| 100000 tons Of freight annually. He
still retained hand in the Great Nor
thern's policy as chairman Of the board
Of directors, while his son Louis, who
had worked up from the humblest poS
sition of his fathers railroad being
president,
The secret Of the Hill success was
no secret at all, according to Mr.. Hill.
and he had no new recipes to offer.
| The man with the big opportunity to-
day" he said, us the man In the ranks"
! But the secret Of failure he frequently
declared to be extravaganza. He re-
against which he strongly set himself.
particularly as concerned the national
| resources.
During his active supervision of the
| Great Northern system, Mr.. Hill over.
| saw almost every detail, to the wonder
Of all employees with whom he came in
! contact. A fugitive instance Of his rec
ognition in his own country is the story
of tourist who declares that there are
afloat in the Swedish section of the
northwest upwards Of 10000 different
stories in Swedish dialect with YEN
He'll as the centerpiece.
For several years James ]. Hill had
hnan IN "a ho nf M
his friends and the public that he was
not actively engaged in business.
Just how active he was during the
last few years Of his lifo can be judged
only by little evidences Of his master
hand in matters affecting the Great
Northern railroad and the First Ma
tional bank, of st. Paul, and by the
outstanding accomplishments in which
his will and genius asserted them
selves.
Helped Float Loan.
From world viewpoint II would be
hard to say whether his staunch sup
port of the Belgian people following
the invasion of the Germans or the
part played in the negotiations for the
$500, 900 GEO. loan to the allied govern
ments, is the more important. From
the time the work of succoring the Bel
gians began Mr.. Hill took a leading
part in the movement 1t will probably
never be known how much money to
sent to King Albert, an old personal
friend, and how much he induced 9TH
ers to send.
His place as an international figure
was never more prominently displayed
than when the representatives of the
allies came to New York in quest of a
huge loan. One Of the first men to
be sent for by J. p. Morgan, was Mr..
Hill, and his assurance that he and the
people of the northwest were prepared
to do their share IN taking up the
foreign bonds is believed to have con-
tributed largely to the success Of tina