Milford chronicle., 1950-02-03
MinnesOta's Sore Thumb

Minnesota s Sore Thumb
THE 18TH NATIONAL nose count
! ing. which win start next
April. will not change the number
of congressman privileged to sit
N the house Of representatives st
That number Is fixed
BY law at 4S5. The nose counting
win determine the portion Of that
1875 to be selected BY the voters
Of each state.
States that fail to show q proper
donate increase in population viii
lose to those states that show q
proportionate increase. Following
the completion Of the tabulation-
a year hence-congress win fix
the number Of representatives from
each state. with no state having
less than one.
The Pacific coast states.
especially California. are ex-
pected to show q considerable
gain In representation in the
house. while the agricultural
states In the Mississippi river
valley are expected TO show .
decrease. That Is not because
the farms are going out Of
business or producing less, but
because tractors. gang plows,
combines, corn, cotton and DO
tatO pickers, and other me-
chanical gadgets have re-
placed much Of the manpOwer
needed for farm operation.
The sons and the hired men Of
the farms have found new j0hs
In the industFialIzed states.
The farmers viii not be able
20 count on as many votes for
subsidies as they have had In
the past.
While the federal government
makes the count and pays for It.
each state will see 20 It that none
Of its people is overlooked. That
fact recalls an incident Of the 1880
census that was Of interest to me
and taught me a lesson In Amer
ican geography.
A map Of Minnesota shows a
piece Of Lake Of the Woods county
Of that state sticking UP into Cana
da like a sore thumb. There is no
land connection with that piece q
some 80 to 40 square miles and no
point in Minnesota touches IT, The
only way that bit Of the United
States can be reached is through
Canadian territory. or by boat on
Lake Of the Woods.
In the 1880 census n. z.
Mitchell, then the editor Of the
Bemidji, Mimi, Pioneer, as his
bit Of Republican political pat
rOnage, was given the Job Of
census enumeratOr for Lake Of
the Woods county, including. Of
course, that. BIT tucked away
inside Canada.
The population, red and white.
or that bit Of lost land consisted
Of fewer than 80 whites and some
thing more than 200 Indians. Min
nesota demanded there be a re-
turn for each nose, white or red.
The whites were comparatively
easy. They were located in the one
little trading center, patronized by
the Indian trappers. hunters and
fishermen, scattered throughout all
that 40 square miles. much Of il
marsh, and extremely bad going.
especially in April when the ice
Is beginning to rot, the SHOWS melt
ing. the rain falling.
''Heinie." as his friends knew
Mitchell. objected to undertaking
that part Of his job at the normal
nose counting job Of around 80
cents per nose. When. in view Of
the condition, the government Of.
fered a price Of 81 a nose. Mitch
ell put his enumerators into that
piece Of Canadian encircled terri.
tory. Through rotting ice. melting
SHOWS, deluging rains they dug oui
every Indian shack and counted
every nose Of men. women and chill
dren. 'Heinie" received the 81 Z
nose, but the cost Of doing that jot
took better than $500 out Of hii
pocket over and above what thu
government paid.
When the census Of 1870
rolled around Mitchell was en-
tireIy satisfied that the Job Of
counting noses go TO the Demo
Gratis. He wanted no part Of it.
Mitchell told me Of that explol
some years ago. and out Of tn
telling 1 first learned Of that los
piece Of a United States count,
stuck up there in a Canadian
wilderness. You can see Il all b,
looking at any standard map q
Minnesota. You will see that bit 0
forsaken country-other than q
: census taking time-up in Canad
above the northern boundary Q
{ Minnesota.
understand It was all a resul
? Of bad guess on the part Of inter
national boundary commissioners
4 something over 100 years ago
The guess hasn't been rectified.
}. During the two months spent 4
n their own baliwicks the senator
, and representatives got an earfI
Of what the folks at home are d.