The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-11
Great Area in North Dakota and Montana to Be
 Opened Up
IS WORKED OUT ON
 SCIENTIFIC BASIS
The Elder Hill Some Ten Years Ago Called Attention to Plans Now About to Be
 Consumated
By HOLLAND

New York, July 10-(Special) )-When
 Louis W. Hill was in New York shortly
 after the death of his father, he un- doubtedly intimated to some of those
 whom he met there that it would speed fly be made evident that the policy ini-
 tiated by his father, James J. Hill, when he began the construction of the Great Northern railroad, policy which was continued by MT. Hill until his death
 would be maintained. For reports were in circulation while Louis w. Hill was
 in New York that information respecting
 the expansion of the Great Northern sys- tenn, especially in the western part of North Dakota and the eastern part of Montana, would be speedily made public These reports are now semi-officially although informally, published. They in- dicate that an area as large al one of the
 smaller of the American states is speed | fly to be opened up to the pioneer farm
 CTS and the men of industry.
 year ago James J. Hill, while chat | ting with a few friends in his office in this city, turned to the map of the north
 west and having put his finger upon that part of it which was intended to represent western North Dakota and eastern Mon tana, said that in a few years that con-
 siderable area, perhaps something more
 than two thousand square miles, would be
 under high degree of cultivation and
 would be well populated
 Mir. Hill at that time was able to re- port with the accuracy of a man of sci
 ence what the characteristics of the soil
 in that section are. Some years ago he
 caused study of this soil to be made and he himself had specimens of it, as we'll
 as the reports of the experts, before him
 while contemplating the expansion of the
 Great Northern railway system in this
 section.
 Something like s2,000,00O are to be ex- pended in the construction of railroad
 lines which when completed sometime in the autumn of this year will penetrate
 western North Dakota and eastern Mon- tana. They will afford adequate and
 needed transportation. MT. Hill was con fdent that when transportation of this
 kind was furnished the whole section would rapidly fill up with farmers most
 of them experienced farmers who were
 likely to begin the cultivation of wheat
 and. if they needed MT. Hill's copnsels,.
 als ostock raising. l It is in the far northwest that Mr. Hill
 looked for the increase in our harvests of grain. and especially in wheat so that the United States will be able to match ! it's increase in population by increase Tn
 wheat production. He was, however, anx- l lous that the farmers also go into stock l raising upon large scale, and his thor ough personal knowledge of that section justified him in saying that it ought to | be made one of the best stock raising sec l tions of the northwest.
 | Other expansions of the Great Northern system are known to be in progress, there | being two lines which together when com pleted will have about 60 miles of track | age, which will make possible a great l increase in population and the settle ment of what in a short time will be- come flourishing communities.
 THE HILL POLICY
 | Louis w. Hill by long association with his father and by inherited gifts of in- tellect and temperam ment is regarded as well qualified to carry out the policy in- stituted by James w. Hill as long ago as the time when what he has called the enterprise of railroad to the Pa citic" was conceived by him. Mr. Hill al- ways had great faith in North Dakota and Montana, and it was faith estab- lished with him long before others thought of these states or territories-as they were then-as sections of the country rich in agricultural possibilities. Mr. Hill was firm believer in the old proverb that trade and development follow the rails. He was familiar with the now traditional achievement of the Chicago and Northwestern railroad which built 1000 mics of uack due west fl om the MISSES N 1ir1h its,fiI prairie, there being no living thing seen uy the builders excepting wild animals and an occasional Indian. Within two years after the construction of this line, the Chicago and Northwestern was send
 ing out daily 200 cars occupied by pio- neers and their families, who had only waited convenient transportation to en- able them to open up the country
 An experience of that kind MT. Hill later met with in the northwest He knew, however, that his own span of life would not be long enough to permit him to take part in or to witness the complete opening up, especially of North Dakota and eastern Montana, to cultivation. He Is presumed to have inspired his son, now the president of the Great Northern and to have found that son an apt scholar
 Mir. Hill. years before some of the bankers of the east realized that there is no danger in high wages, provided only there be correspondingly high production. In 1906. he said that the American wheat | farmers ought to raise 30 bushels of wheat an acre, for if they did that they would equalize the high cost of living and high wages. Now some of the bank CTS are preclaiming that what the country really wants Is 8 bushels of wheat to all acre instead of 15, full bale of cot ton to the acre instead of quarter of bale. cows that average 800 pounds in butter a year instead of 150 pounds. These were the figures given by George E. Roberts in the recent address to the Michigan state bankers at Flint, Mich. but in saying this MT Roberts uncon- sciousy, perhaps. echoed what MT. Hill said 10 years ago. The opening up of a large section in western North Dakota and eastern Montana by the Great North ern Railroad company Is likely to lead to a much greater production of agrcI>- tural and dairy commodities per acre or per COW than the farmers heretofore have produced.