From the earliest days of the territory the people had predicted the growth of cities at several points. At St. Paul, because it was the head of navigation of the Mississippi river; at St. Anthony, on account of its great water power; at Superior, as being the head of navigation of the Great Lakes system; and at Mankato, from its location at the great bend of the Minnesota river. It must be remembered that when these prophesies were made Minneapolis and Duluth had no existence, and Superior was the natural outlet of the St. Louis river into Lake Superior, and had its land titles not been so complicated when the railroad from St. Paul to the head of the lakes was projected, there is no doubt Superior would have been the terminus of the road; but it was found to be almost impossible to procure title to any land in Superior, on account of its having been sold by the proprietors in undivided interests to parties all overthe country, and it was situated in Wisconsin, so the railroad people procured the charter of the company to make its northern terminus on the Minnesota side of the harbor, where Duluth now stands, and founded that town as the terminus of the road. Some years after Minnesota Point was cut by a canal at its base, or shore end, and the entrance to the harbor changed from its natural inlet, around the end of the point, to this canal. This improvement has proved to be of vast importance to the city of Duluth and to the shipping interests of the state, as the natural entrance was difficult and dangerous.
Duluth increased in importance from year to year by reason of the natural advantages of its situation, as the outlet of much of the exports of the state and the inlet of a large portion of its imports. As railroads progressed, it became connected with the wheat producing areas of the state, which resulted in the erection of elevators for the shipment of wheat and mills to grind it. As nearly all the coal consumed in the state came in by the gateway of Duluth, immense coal docks were constructed, with all the modern inventions for unloading it from ships and loading it on cars for distribution. Duluth soon attained metropolitan proportions. About the year 1870 Mr. George C. Stone became a resident of the city, and engaged in business.
In 1873 Jay Cooke, who had been an important factor in the construction of the Northern Pacific Railroad, failed, which was a serious blow to Duluth. Mr. Stone had given his attention largely to the investigation of the mineral resources of the Lake Superior region in Minnesota, and had become convinced of the presence of large beds of iron ore in its northeastern portion, now known as the Vermillion Range. Whenhe first made known his discovery, the location of the ore was so remote from civilization that he found it difficult to interest any one in his enterprise. Few shared his faith, but undismayed by lack of support, he undertook, with steady persistence, the task of securing the capital necessary to develop what he was convinced was a great natural wealth-producing field. Comparatively alone, and with little encouragement at home, he visited the money centers of the country, and assiduously labored to induce men of capital to embark in the enterprise, but found it to be uphill work.
The first men whose support he secured were Charlemagne Tower of Pottsville, Pa., and Samuel A. Munson of Utica, N. Y., both men of education and great wealth. They became sufficiently interested to secure a proper test of the matter. Professor Chester of Hamilton College was sent out on two occasions. Mr. Munson died, and after the lapse of a few years Charlemagne Tower, then a resident of Philadelphia, undertook to furnish the necessary funds to make the development, which involved the expense of $4,000,000 in building a railroad eighty miles in length, with docks and other operating facilities.
The railroad was opened in July, 1884, and there was shipped that season 62,124 tons of ore, and in 1885 the shipment reached 225,000 tons. In 1886 304,000 tons were shipped; in 1887, 394,000 tons; in 1888, 512,000. The output of the iron mines at and about the head of the lakes had, by 1898, grown to the enormous quantity of 5,871,801 tons. The grade of the ore is the highest in the market. This product is one of the most important in the state, and seems destined to expand indefinitely.
No better idea of the growth and importance of Duluth,and, in the same connection, the advance of the state, since the war, can be presented than by a statement of a few aggregates of different industries centered at the head of the lakes. The most recent record obtainable is for the year 1898. For example:
Lumber cut544,318,000 feet.Coal received2,500,000 tons.Number of vessels arrived and cleared12,150Wheat received, and flour as wheat82,118,129 bushels.Other grain19,428,622 bushels.Flour manufactured2,460,025 barrels.Capacity of elevators24,650,000 bushels.Capacity of flour mills per day22,000 barrels.
Many other statistics could be given, but the above are sufficient to show the unexampled growth of the state in that vicinity.
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Another very interesting and instructing element in considering the growth of Minnesota is the commerce passing through the St. Mary's Canal, which connects Lake Superior with Lakes Huron and Michigan, the greater part of which is supplied by Minnesota. No record of the number of sailing vessels or steamers passing through the canal was kept until the year 1864. During that year there were 1,045 sailing vessels, and 366 steamers. The last report for the year 1898 shows an increase of sailing vessels to 4,449 and of steamers to 12,461. The first record of the net tons of freight passing the canal was opened in 1881, which showed an aggregate of 1,567,741 net tons of all kinds of freight. In 1898 it had grown to the enormous sum of 21,234,664 tons. These figures, like distances in astronomical calculations, require a special mental effort to fully comprehendthem. An incident occurred in September, 1899, in connection with this canal traffic, that assists in understanding its immense proportions. By an accident to a steamer, the channel of the river was blocked for a short time, until she could be removed, during which time a procession of waiting steamers was formed forty miles in length.
I have been unable to obtain any reliable figures with which to present a contrast between the commerce of this canal and that of the Suez, connecting the Mediterranean with the Red Sea, but it is generally estimated that the St. Mary's largely exceeds the Suez, although the commerce of the world with the Orient and Australia largely passes through the latter.
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In the early days of Minnesota its agricultural population was largely centered in the southeastern portion of the state. The soil was exceptionally fertile, and produced wheat in unusual abundance. The Western farmer of early days was a careless cultivator, thinking more of the immediate results than permanent preservation of his land. Even if he was of the conservative old New England stock, the generous soil of the West, the freedom from social restraint, and the lessened labors of the farm, led him into more happy-go-lucky methods than he had been accustomed to in the East. It was Mark Twain who once said that if you plant a New England deacon in Texas, you will find him in about a year with a game chicken under his arm, riding a mule on Sunday to a cock-fight. When farms were opened in the southeastern counties of Minnesota it was not an unusual thing to be rewarded with a crop of from thirty to forty bushels of wheat to the acre. The process ofcultivation was simple, and required scarcely any capital, so it was natural that the first comers should confine their efforts to the one product of wheat. They did so, regardless of the fact that the best soil will become exhausted unless reenforced. They became accustomed to think that land could always be had for the taking, and in twenty or twenty-five years, the goose that laid the golden eggs died, and six or eight bushels was all they could extract from their lands. About 1877 or 1878 they practically abandoned the culture of wheat and tried corn and hogs. This was an improvement, but not a great success. Many of the farmers of the pioneering and roving class sold out, and went west for fresh lands.
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About this time the dairy business had become quite profitable in Iowa, and the Minnesota farmers turned their attention to that branch of industry. Their lands were excellent for pasturing purposes and hay raising. They began in a small way, with cows and butter-making, but from lack of experience and knowledge of the business their progress was slow; but it improved from year to year, and now, in the year 1899, it has become one of the most important, successful and profitable industries in the state, and the farmers of southern Minnesota constitute the most independent and well-to-do class of all our citizens. It was not very long ago when a mortgage was an essential feature of a Minnesota farm, but they have nearly all been paid off, and the farmer of southern Minnesota is found in the ranks of the stockholders and depositors of the banks, and if he has anything to do with mortgages, he is found on the winning side of that dangerous instrument. A brief statementof the facts connected with the dairy business will demonstrate its magnitude. There are in the state:
Creameries, about700Creamery patrons55,000Capital invested$3,000,000Cows supplying milk410,000Pounds of milk received in 18981,400,000,000Pounds of butter exported63,000,000Pounds of butter made, 189850,000,000Gross receipts, 1898$10,400,000Operating expenses, 1898$1,100,000Paid to patrons$8,600,000
Since 1884 Minnesota butter has been exhibited, in competition with similar products from all the states in the Union and the butter-making countries of the world, at all the principal fairs and expositions that have been held in the United States, and has taken more prizes than any other state or country. Its cheese has kept pace with its butter. There are in the state, in active operation, ninety-four cheese factories. This industry is constantly on the increase, and Minnesota is certainly destined to surpass every other state in the Union in this department of agriculture.
While this new and valuable branch of industry was gradually superseding that of wheat in southern Minnesota, the latter was not being extinguished by any means, but simply changing its habitat. About the time that wheat culture became unprofitable in southern Minnesota, the valley of the Red River of the North began to attract attention, and it was at once discovered that it was the garden of the world for wheat culture. An intelligent and experienced farmer, Mr. Oliver Dalrymple, may be said to have been the pioneer of that enterprise. Lands in the valley were cheap, and hesucceeded in gaining control of immense tracts, and unlimited capital for their development. He opened these lands up to wheat culture, and gave to the world a new feature in agriculture, which acquired the name of the "Bonanza Farm." Some of these farms embraced sixty and seventy thousand acres of land, and were divided by roads on the section lines. They were supplied with all the buildings necessary for the accommodation of the army of superintendents and employes that operated them; also, granaries and buildings for housing machinery, slaughter houses to provision the operatives, telephone systems to facilitate communication between distant points, and every other auxiliary to perfect an economic management. These great farms, of course, produced wheat at much lower rates than could the lesser ones, but did not materially interfere with wheat production by the smaller farmers, as the output of 1898 of nearly 79,000,000 bushels sufficiently proves. There seems to be no need of apprehension about the lands of the Red River Valley becoming exhausted, as they appear to be as enduring as those in the valley of the Nile.
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The University of Minnesota, for the establishment of which the United States donated to the state nearly 100,000 acres of land, and the agricultural college, which was similarly endowed, have been consolidated, and both have long been in successful operation. The university proper opened its doors for the admission of students about the year 1869, and has since attained such proportions as to entitle it to a place among the leading educational institutions of the United States, its roll of studentsfor the last college year numbering over three thousand. Its curriculum embraces all studies generally taught in the colleges of this country, professional and otherwise. The state of efficiency and high standing of the University of Minnesota is largely attributable to the work of its president, Hon. Cyrus Northrop, a graduate of Yale, who had attained eminence in the educational world before being called to the university.
The school of agriculture is of the highest importance to the welfare of the state, the influence of which will soon remove its chief industry from dependence on the crude methods of the uneducated Western farmer, and place it upon a basis of scientific operation and management. Every branch of the art of farming is taught in this institution, from a knowledge of the chemical properties of the soil and its adaptation to the different vegetable growths, to the scientific breeding and economical feeding of stock. Much of the success in the dairy branch of farming is the direct result of knowledge gained at this school. It is well patronized by the young men of the state who intend to devote themselves to agriculture as a profession. Quite recently a new department has been added to the institution, for the instruction of women in all that pertains to the proper education of the mistress of the farm. It goes without saying that when Minnesota farming is brought under the management and control of men and women of scientific and practical education in that particular line there will be a revolution for the better.
The methods of instruction in this school are not merely theoretical. It possesses three experimental farms for the practical illustration and application of its teachings, the principal one of which is situated at St. Anthony Park, and the other two respectively at Crookstonand Grand Rapids. Work is also done in an experimental way in Lyon county, but the state does not own the station.
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This society dates its corporate existence from the year 1868, although for many years previous to that date, even back to the territorial days, a society had been in existence covering the main features of this organization. In 1867 the state recognized this society by appropriating $1,000 for its encouragement. Its object was the promotion of agriculture, horticulture and the mechanic arts. The society held annual fairs in different localities in the state, with varying success, until 1885, when the county of Ramsey offered to convey to the State of Minnesota, forever, two hundred acres of land adjoining the city limits of St. Paul, for the purpose of holding annual exhibitions thereon, under the management of the society, of all matters pertaining to agriculture, human art, industry or skill. The state met this munificent donation with the same liberal spirit that characterized the offer, and appropriated $100,000 for permanent improvements.
The board of managers proceeded immediately to erect the necessary buildings for the first exhibition, but found the appropriation inadequate by about $32,000, which was readily supplied by public spirited citizens of St. Paul and Minneapolis. The state being again appealed to in 1887, made a further appropriation of $50,000.
In 1887 the society was reorganized by act of the legislature, and its membership designated and made to consist of the following persons:
First—Three delegates from each of the county and district agricultural societies.
Second—Honorary life members, prominent by reason of eminent services in agriculture, or in the arts and sciences connected therewith, or of long and faithful services in the society, or of benefits conferred upon it.
Third—The presidents ex-officio of the Horticultural Society, the Amber Cane Society, the State Dairymen's Association, the Southern Minnesota Fair Association, the State Poultry Association, the State Bee-Keepers' Association, and the president and secretary of the Farmer's Alliance.
Fourth—The president of any society having for its object the promotion of any branch of agriculture, stock raising or improving, or mechanics relating to agriculture.
By this selection of membership it will be seen that the society is composed of the leading agriculturists of the state. It holds annual meetings in St. Paul for the transaction of its business. The state appropriates $4,000 annually to aid in the payment of premiums to exhibitors.
The society is in a prosperous condition, and holds annual fairs, in the month of September, on its grounds, which have been extensively improved. Each year there is a marked increase in the magnitude and variety of exhibits, and extended interest and attendance. Its financial statement for the year 1898 was: Receipts, $62,523.70; expenditures, $56,850.83. It has just closed its fair for the year 1899, which in extent and perfection of its exhibits and financial results surpassed any of its previous attempts.
There are in the state the following named societies, all more or less connected with agriculture, and all in flourishing condition: The State Horticultural Society, the State Forestry Association, the Dairymen's Association,the State Butter and Cheese Makers' Association, the State Farmers' Institute, the State Poultry Association, the State Bee-Keepers' Association, and perhaps others. These associations have done much in the promotion of the agricultural interests of the state, and by their intelligent guidance will, no doubt, soon make it the leading agricultural state in the Union.
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In the year 1887 it became apparent that the Civil War and the Minnesota Indian War had left a large number of soldiers of the state in dependent circumstances from old age, wounds and other disabling causes. The state, recognizing its obligation to these men, determined to provide a home for their comfort and maintenance. By an act of the legislature, passed March 2d of that year, provision was made for the purchase of a site and the erection of suitable buildings for that purpose. The act provided for bids for the purpose of a site, and also authorized the acceptance of donations for that purpose. Minneapolis responded handsomely, by offering fifty-one acres of its beautiful Minnehaha park as a donation. It was accepted, and is one of the most beautiful and picturesque locations that could have been found in the state, being near the Mississippi river and the Falls of Minnehaha. The beginning of the home was small, one old house being used for the first six months, and then, from year to year, handsome and commodious brick houses were erected, until the home became adequate to accommodate all those who were entitled to its hospitality. The conditions of admission are: Residence in Minnesota, service in the Mexican War, or in some Minnesota organization in the Civil or Indian Wars, honorable discharge, and indigent circumstances.As there are no accommodations for the wives and families of the old soldiers and sailors at the home, provision is made for relief being furnished to married soldiers at their own homes, so as to prevent the separation of families. There were in the home at the date of the last report (August 3, 1899) 362 beneficiaries. The home is conducted by a board of trustees, consisting of seven members, whose election is so arranged that they serve for six years. This beneficent establishment is to be commended as an evidence of the generosity and patriotism of the state.
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I have been somewhat explicit in mentioning the institutions of the state which are connected with its prominent and permanent industry—agriculture; but it must not be supposed that it has not provided for the many other interests that require regulation and control to constitute a perfectly organized state government. There are, besides those I have mentioned, four normal schools (located at Winona, Mankato, St. Cloud and Moorhead), all devoted to the education of teachers, state high and graded schools scattered all over the state, a state board of corrections and charities, and state hospitals for the insane (of which there are three), located as follows: One at St. Peter, one at Rochester, and one at Fergus Falls, and a fourth in contemplation. According to the latest report, these hospitals contained 3,302 patients, as follows: St. Peter, 1,045; Rochester, 1,196; and Fergus Falls, 1,061. For a small, new state, this showing would seem alarming, and indicate that a very large percentage of the population was insane, and that the rest were preparing to become so. The truth is that a case of insanity originating in Minnesota isquite as exceptional and rare as other diseases, and can usually be accounted for by some self-abuse of the patient. The population is drawn from such diverse sources, and the intermarriages are crossed upon so many different nationalities that hereditary insanity ought to be almost unknown. The climate and the general pursuits of the people all militate against the prevalence of the malady.
The explanation of the existence of the numerous cases is, as I am informed by the very highest authority on the subject, that in nearly all European countries it has become the habit of families afflicted with insanity to export their unfortunates to America as soon as any symptoms appear, and thus provide for them for the rest of their lives. I cannot say that the governments whence these people emigrate participate in the fraud, but it is not reasonable to suppose that they would interpose any serious objections even should they have knowledge of the fact. A comparison of the nationalities of the patients found in these hospitals with the American element, given by the census of the state, proves my statement, and an inquiry of the medical authorities of these institutions will place the question beyond doubt.
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There are also state schools for the deaf, dumb, blind, and the feeble-minded. These institutions are all located at Faribault, in Rice county, and each has a very handsome, commodious, and in every way suitable building, where these unfortunates are instructed in every branch of learning and industry of which they are capable. During the last two years there have been enrolled 275 deaf and dumb children in the school especially devotedto them, where they receive the best education that science and experience can provide. This school has already been instrumental in preparing hundreds of deaf and mute youth to be useful and intelligent citizens of the state, and year by year a few are graduated, well prepared to take their places beside the hearing and speaking youth who leave the public schools. About one-third of the time is devoted to manual training.
The school for the blind is entirely separate from that of the deaf and dumb, and is equipped with all the appliances of a modern special school of this character. It makes a specialty of musical instruction and industrial training, such as broom-making, hammock weaving, bead work and sewing. The course of study embraces a period of seven years, beginning with the kindergarten, and ending with the ordinary studies of English classes in the high schools. The school is free to all blind children in the state between the ages of eight and twenty-six, to whom board, care and tuition are furnished. The average number of pupils at this school for the past few years is between seventy and one hundred.
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There is also a
This school is located at Owatonna, in Steele county, and is one of the most valuable of all the many establishments which the state has provided for the encouragement of good citizenship. There are eleven buildings, which comprise all the agencies that tend to make abandoned children useful citizens and rescue them from a life of vagrancy and crime.
The object of this institution is to provide a temporary home and school for the dependent and neglectedchildren of the state. No child in Minnesota need go without a home if the officers of the several counties do their duty. There is not a semblance of any degrading or criminal feature in the manner of obtaining admittance to this school. Under the law, it is the duty of every county commissioner, when he finds any child dependent, or in danger of becoming so, to take steps to send him to this school. The process of admission wisely guards against the separation of parent and child, but keeps in view the ultimate good of the latter. Once admitted it becomes the child of the state, all other authority over it being canceled. Every child old enough to work has some fitting task assigned to it, to the end of training it mentally, morally and physically for useful citizenship. They are sent from the school into families wanting them, but this does not deprive them of the watchful care of the state, which, through its agents, visits them in their adopted homes, and sees that they are well cared for.
On Jan. 1, 1899, there had been received into the school, from seventy-two counties, 1,824 children, of whom 1,131 were boys and 693 were girls. Of these 233 were then in the school, the others having been placed in good homes. It is known that eighty-three per cent of these children develope into young men and women of good character.
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This institution was formerly "The Minnesota State Reform School," and was located in St. Paul. In 1895 the legislature changed its name to "The Minnesota State Training School for Boys and Girls," and its location has been changed to Red Wing, in the county of Goodhue. This institution has to do with criminals, and thestatute provides, "That whenever an infant over the age of eight years and under the age of sixteen years shall have been duly convicted of any crime punishable with imprisonment, except the crime of murder, or shall be convicted of vagrancy or of incorrigibly vicious conduct," the sentence shall be to the guardianship of the board of managers of this school. Here they are given a good common school education and instructed in the trades of cabinet making, carpenter work, tailoring, shoemaking, blacksmithing, printing, farming, gardening, etc.
The inmates are furloughed under proper conditions, but the state watches over them through an agent, who provides homes for the homeless and employment for those who need help.
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This institution was established in 1887, and is located at St. Cloud. It is designed as an intermediate correctional school between the training school and the state prison, the object being to provide a place for young men and boys from sixteen to thirty years of age, never before convicted of crime, where they may, under as favorable circumstances as possible, by discipline and education best adapted to that end, form such habits and character as will prevent their continuing in crime, fit them for self-support, and accomplish their reformation.
The law provides for an indeterminate sentence, allowing of parole when earned by continuous good conduct, and final release when reformation is strongly probable.
Honest labor is required every day of each inmate. Almost every occupation and employment is carried onin a practical way, and each inmate is learning to fill some honest place and to do useful work. The workings of this reformatory have been very satisfactory, and have undoubtedly rescued many young people from a life of crime.
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All prisons where criminals are sent to work out sentences for crimes committed are alike on general principles, and the Minnesota prison, situated at Stillwater, differs only in the fact that it combines in its administration all the modern discoveries of sociological research which tend to ameliorate the condition of the prisoner and fit him for the duties of good citizenship when discharged.
The plant is extensive and thorough. The labor of the prisoners is now devoted to three industries: the manufacture of binding twine, high school scientific apparatus on state account, and the manufacture of boots and shoes.
The discipline and management of the prison are the best. The most advanced principles of penology are in force. Sentences are reduced by good conduct, and everything is done to reform as well as punish the prisoner. A newspaper is published by the convicts, and a library of five thousand volumes is furnished for their mental improvement. Nothing known to modern social and penal science is omitted from the management.
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This society, as I have said before in speaking of the work of the first territorial legislature, was organized by that body in 1849, and has been of incalculable value to the state. The officers of the society are a president,two vice presidents, a treasurer and a secretary, and it is governed by an executive council of thirty-six members, which embraces the governor, lieutenant governor, secretary, auditor, treasurer of state and attorney general as ex-officio members. The state makes an annual appropriation in aid of the society. The executive council meets once a month for the transaction of its business, at which meetings, and at its annual meetings, interesting papers and essays are delivered on historical subjects, which are preserved, and with other matter are published in handsomely bound volumes when sufficient material is accumulated.
The society, in the manner prescribed in its by-laws, may establish the following separate departments:
Department of Annals and General History of Minnesota.Department of Geology of Minnesota.Department of Zoölogy of Minnesota.Department of Botany of Minnesota.Department of Meteorology of Minnesota.Department of Northwestern Geography and Chartology.Department of American History.Department of Oriental History.Department of European History.Department of Genealogy and Heraldry.Department of Ethnology and Anthropology.
Department of Annals and General History of Minnesota.Department of Geology of Minnesota.Department of Zoölogy of Minnesota.Department of Botany of Minnesota.Department of Meteorology of Minnesota.Department of Northwestern Geography and Chartology.Department of American History.Department of Oriental History.Department of European History.Department of Genealogy and Heraldry.Department of Ethnology and Anthropology.
It has corresponding members all over the world, and official connections with nearly all the historical and learned societies of Europe and America, with which it interchanges publications. It has a membership of 142 life and 37 annual members. It may receive donations from any source.
Its property, real and personal, is exempt from taxation of any kind. It has accumulated a splendid library of about 63,000 volumes of all kinds of historical, genealogical, scientific and general knowledge, all of which are open and free to the public. It also has a gallery of pictures of historical scenes in Minnesota, and portraits of men and women who have been prominent in, or who have contributed to, the history or growth of the state, together with an extensive museum of Indian and other curiosities having some relation to Minnesota. One of its most valuable attractions is a newspaper department, in which are complete files of all newspapers which have been and are published in the state, except a very few unimportant ones. The number of our state papers, daily, weekly and monthly, received at the beginning of the year 1899 is 421. These papers are all bound in substantial volumes, for preservation for the use of future generations. On Sept. 1, 1899, the society had on the shelves of its fire-proof vault 4,250 of these volumes. Its rooms are in the capitol at St. Paul, and are entirely inadequate for its accommodation, but ample space has been allowed it in the new capitol now in the course of construction.
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Besides the general state boards and associations having special reference to the leading products of the state, and those of a reformatory and educational character, there are many others, regulating business of various kinds among the inhabitants, all of which are important in their special spheres, but to name them is all I can say about them in my limited space. Their number and the subjects which they regulate shows the carewith which the state watches over the welfare of its citizens. I present the following catalogue of the state departments:
The Insurance Commission.The Public Examiner.The Dairy Food Commission.The Bureau of Labor.The Board of Railroad and Warehouse Commissioners.The Board of Game and Fish Commissioners.The State Law Library.The State Department of Oil Inspection.The State Horticultural Society.The State Forestry Association.The Minnesota Dairymen's Association.The State Butter and Cheese Makers' Association.The State Farmers' Institutes.The Red River Valley Drainage Commission.The State Drainage Commission.The Commission of Statistics.The State Board of Health and Vital Statistics.The State Board of Medical Examiners.The State Board of Pharmacy.The State Board of Dental Examiners.The State Board of Examiners in Law.The Bureau of Public Printing.The Minnesota Society for the Prevention of Cruelty.The Geological and Natural History Survey.The State Board of Equalization.Surveyors of Logs and Lumber.The Board of Pardons.The State Board of Arbitration and Conciliation.The State Board of Investment.The State Board of Examiners of Barbers.The State Board of Examiners of Practical Plumbing.The Horseshoers' Board of Examiners.The Inspection of Steam Boilers.
The Insurance Commission.The Public Examiner.The Dairy Food Commission.The Bureau of Labor.The Board of Railroad and Warehouse Commissioners.The Board of Game and Fish Commissioners.The State Law Library.The State Department of Oil Inspection.The State Horticultural Society.The State Forestry Association.The Minnesota Dairymen's Association.The State Butter and Cheese Makers' Association.The State Farmers' Institutes.The Red River Valley Drainage Commission.The State Drainage Commission.The Commission of Statistics.The State Board of Health and Vital Statistics.The State Board of Medical Examiners.The State Board of Pharmacy.The State Board of Dental Examiners.The State Board of Examiners in Law.The Bureau of Public Printing.The Minnesota Society for the Prevention of Cruelty.The Geological and Natural History Survey.The State Board of Equalization.Surveyors of Logs and Lumber.The Board of Pardons.The State Board of Arbitration and Conciliation.The State Board of Investment.The State Board of Examiners of Barbers.The State Board of Examiners of Practical Plumbing.The Horseshoers' Board of Examiners.The Inspection of Steam Boilers.
It is difficult to conceive of any other subject over which the state could assume jurisdiction, and the great number which are embraced already within its supervision would lead one who is not in touch with our state administration to believe that state paternalism dominated the business industries of the people; but nothing is further from the truth, and no state in the Union is freer from governmental interference in the ordinary channels of industry than Minnesota.
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Since the settlement of the debt created by the old railroad bonds that I have heretofore mentioned, the finances of the state have always been in excellent condition. When the receipts of an individual or a state exceed expenditures the situation is both satisfactory and safe. At the last report, up to July 31, 1898, the receipts of the state from all sources were $5,429,240.32, and the expenditures were $5,208,942.05, leaving a balance on the right side of the ledger of $220,298.27. To the receipts must be added the balance in the treasury at the beginning of the year of $2,054,314.26, which left in the treasury on July 31, 1898, the large sum of $2,184,612.53.
The original indebtedness arising from the adjustment of the state railroad bonds was $1,659,000; other bonds, $300,000.00. This indebtedness has been reduced by payments to the sum of $1,475,647.22, on July 31, 1898, the date of the last report. If this debt hadmatured, it could at once be paid by the funds on hand, leaving the state entirely free from all indebtedness.
The taxable property of the state by last assessment, in 1897, including real and personal property, was $570,598,813.
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It has been customary in the United States to expect a disturbance in monetary and business affairs about once in every twenty years, and the expectation has not been disappointed since the panic of 1837. I have described the effect of the panic of 1857 on the Territory and State of Minnesota, and the difficulties of recuperating from the shock. The next similar event was not due until 1877, but there is always some special disaster to precipitate such occurrences. In 1857 it was the failure of the Ohio Life Insurance and Trust Company, and in 1873 it was the failure of Jay Cooke & Co., of Philadelphia. This house had been very prominent in placing the bonds of the Northern Pacific Railroad Company, and in the construction of the road, and was relied upon by many classes of people to invest their money for them, and when their failure was announced, its effect in the East was disastrous, but here in Minnesota it only affected us in a secondary or indirect way, in stopping railroad building and creating general alarm in business circles. We had been diligently at work for sixteen years, endeavoring to recuperate from the disaster of 1857, and had to a great extent succeeded. Real estate had partially revived, but had not reached the boom feature, and the state was on a sound financial basis. Fortunately we had not recovered sufficiently to become investors in railroad securities to any great extent, andland speculation had not reached its usual twenty years' mark. We had, also, on hand a local affliction, in the presence of grasshoppers, so that, although it disturbed business generally, it did not succeed in producing bankruptcy, and we soon shook it off.
This periodical financial disturbance has been attributed to various causes. From the regularity of its appearance, it must be the result of some impelling force of a generally similar character. My opinion is, that the period of twenty years being the average time of man's active business life, the actors of the second period have not the benefit of the experience gained by those of the previous one, and they repeat the same errors that produced the former disasters; but be that as it may, when the period extending from 1873 to 1893 had passed, the same result had occurred, and with quite as much force as any of its predecessors. Land speculation had reached the point of absolute insanity. Everybody thought he could become rich if he only bought. Values, already ridiculously expanded, continued to increase with every sale. Anyone who had money enough to pay down a small amount as earnest and intelligence enough to sign a note and mortgage for the balance of the purchase price became purchasers to the limit of their credit. When a party whose credit was questioned needed an indorser, he found many requiring the same assistance who were ready to swap indorsements with him. Everyone became deeply in debt. The country was flooded with paper, which was secured on the impossibility of values continuing. The banks became loaded with alleged securities, and when the bubble was strained to the bursting point, and some one of supposed financial soundness was compelled to succumb to the pressure, the veil was lifted, which opened the eyes ofthe community and produced a rush for safety, which induced, and was necessarily followed, by a general collapse. In 1888 and 1889 banks suspended, money disappeared, and in 1893, in the expressive language of the West, everybody who was in debt, and all stockholders and depositors in defunct banks "went broke." Had the cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis been captured by an enemy and a ransom of ten million dollars been demanded from each, paid and carried away, the consequences upon business would not have been worse. It was much the same in all the large cities of the state, as land speculation was more active there than in the rural districts, and no matter what may happen, some value always remains to farm lands, while under such a collapse as that of 1893 the greater part of city property becomes utterly valueless for the present, and much of it forever.
There was, however, a great difference between the consequences of 1893 and the previous disasters of 1857 and 1873. Although the disturbance was great, we were better prepared to meet it. Population had increased immensely. The area of civilization and production had kept pace with immigration. Manufactures of many kinds had been introduced, and although we were seriously wounded, our hopes of recovery had solid grounds to rest upon, and we were not dismayed. The only remedy in such cases—industry and economy—was applied, through necessity if not from choice, and recovery has been slowly progressing up to the present time (1900), when we may be classed as convalescent.
Will this experience serve to prevent a recurrence of the follies of the past? Most assuredly not. Those who have reaped wisdom will have surrendered the speculative arena to others before the financial cycle rollsaround, and history will repeat itself, notwithstanding the state never had a better future outlook than at present. It does not follow that the panic due about 1913 will be caused by over speculation in real estate. It is more likely to be produced by the excessive and fraudulent capitalization of all sorts of corporations, called trusts, which will, of course, succumb to the first serious blow.
With the exception of the events I have narrated, including the financial troubles of 1873 and 1893, nothing of special importance to the state has happened, except a few occurrences of minor moment.
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Sept. 5, 1878, President Hayes made a short visit to the state, and delivered an address at the state agricultural fair.
On the 7th of September, 1876, an organized gang of bandits, which had been terrorizing the State of Missouri and surrounding states with impunity, entered this state, and attacked a bank in the town of Northfield, in Rice county, with the intent of looting it. The cashier, Mr. Haywood, resisted, and they shot him dead. The people of the town, hearing of the raid, turned out, and opened fire on the robbers, who fled, with the loss of one killed. In their flight they killed a Swede before they got out of the town. The people of the counties through which their flight led them, turned out, and before any of them passed the border of the state, two more of them were killed and three captured. Two escaped. The captured were three brothers named Younger, and those who escaped were supposed to be the notorious James Brothers of Missouri. The three Younger Brothers pleaded guilty to a charge of murder,and on account of a peculiarity in the law, that only allowed the death sentence to be imposed by a jury, they were all sentenced to imprisonment for life. One of them has since died, and the other two remain in prison.
The manner in which this raid was handled by our citizens was of immense value to the state, as it proved a warning to all such desperadoes that Minnesota was a bad field for their operations, and we have had no more trouble from that class of offenders.
In 1877 the constitution was amended by providing for biennial, instead of annual, sessions of the legislature.
On May 2, 1878, a very singular and disastrous event took place at Minneapolis. Three large flouring mills were blown up by a dust explosion, and eighteen men killed. It was inexplicable for a time, but it was afterwards discovered that such explosions had occurred before, and prompt measures were taken to prevent a repetition of the trouble.
On the 15th day of November, 1880, a portion of the large insane asylum at St. Peter was destroyed by fire, and eighteen of the inmates were burned, others dying of injuries received. The pecuniary loss amounted to $150,000.
On the first day of March, 1881, the old capitol burned, while the legislature was in session. That body moved their sittings to the St. Paul market house, which had just been finished, where they remained until the present capitol building was erected upon the site of the one destroyed.
On the twenty-fifth day of January, 1884, the state prison at Stillwater was partially burned.
On the fourteenth day of September, 1886, St. Cloud and Sauk Rapids were struck by a cyclone. Scores ofbuildings were destroyed, and about seventy of the inhabitants killed.
In the year 1889 the Australian system of voting at elections was introduced in cities of ten thousand inhabitants and over, and in 1892 the system was made general throughout the state.
On the seventh day of April, 1893, the legislature passed an act for the building of a new state capitol in the city of St. Paul, and appointed commissioners to carry out the object. They selected an eligible and conspicuous site between University avenue, Cedar and Wabasha streets, near the head of Wabasha. They adopted for the materials which were to enter into it—granite for the lower and Georgia white marble for the upper stories. The whole cost was not to exceed $2,000,000. The corner stone of the building was laid on the twenty-seventh day of July, 1898, with appropriate and very imposing ceremonies, in the presence of an immense throng of citizens from all parts of the state. Senator Davis delivered the oration, and ex-Gov. Alexander Ramsey laid the corner stone. The building has reached the base of the dome, and will be a very beautiful and serviceable structure.
On Sept. 1, 1894, there was a most extensive and disastrous fire in Pine county. Four hundred square miles of territory were burned over by a forest fire, the towns of Hinckley and Sandstone were totally destroyed, and four hundred people burned. The money loss was estimated at $1,000,000. This disaster was exactly what was needed to awaken the people of the state to the necessity of providing means for the prevention of forest and prairie fires and the preservation of our forests. Shortly after the Hinckley fire a state convention was held at the Commercial Club in St. Paul, to deviselegislation to accomplish this desirable end, which resulted in the passage of an act, at the session of the legislature in 1895, entitled, "An act for the preservation of forests of this state, and for the prevention and suppression of forest and prairie fires." Under this act the state auditor was made the forest commissioner of the state, with authority to appoint a chief fire warden. The supervisors of towns, mayors of cities and presidents of village councils are made fire wardens of their respective local jurisdictions, and the machinery for the prevention of fires is put in motion that is of immense value to the state. The forest commissioner appointed Gen. C. C. Andrews chief fire warden, one of the best equipped men in the state for the position, and no serious trouble has since occurred in the way of fires.
On the ninth day of February, 1887, the Minnesota Historical Society passed a resolution, declaring that the pretenses made by Capt. Willard Glazier to having been the discoverer of the source of the Mississippi river were false, and very little has been heard from him since.
On the tenth day of October, 1887, President Cleveland visited the state, and made a short stay.
This enumeration of passing events looks a little like a catalogue of disasters (except the building of the new capitol and the visits of Presidents Hayes and Cleveland), but it must be remembered that Minnesota is such an empire in itself, that such happenings scarcely produce a ripple on the surface of its steady and continuous progress. It is because these events can be particularized and described that they assume proportions beyond their real importance, but when compared with the colossal advances made by the state during the period covering them, they dwindle into mere points of educational experience, to be guarded against in the future,while the many blessings showered upon the state, consisting of the health and wealth imparting sunshine, the refreshing and fructifying rains and dews of heaven, which, like the smiles of providence and the life-sustaining air that surrounds us, are too intangible and indefinable for more than thankful recognition. Our tribulations were really blessings in disguise. The bold invasion of the robbers proved our courage; the storms and fires proved our generosity to the distressed, and taught us lessons in the wisdom of prevention. Minnesota has as much to be thankful for and as little to regret as any state in the West, and our troubles only prove that we have a very robust vitality, difficult to permanently impair.
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For many years there has been a growing sentiment in the United States that Spain was governing Cuba and her other West Indian colonies in an oppressive and unjust manner, and the desire to interfere in behalf of the Cuban people received a good deal of encouragement, and its general expression succeeded in creating very strained relations between Spain and the United States. It is a well known fact that the Spanish people, from the north line of Mexico to Cape Horn, as well as the inhabitants of the Spanish Islands, hate the Americans most heartily. Why, I do not know; except that our social, governmental and religious habits, customs and beliefs are radically different from their own; but that such is the case no one doubts who knows these people. In 1897 some effort at conciliation was made, and Spain sent one of her warships to New York on a friendly visit; but she did not stay long, and got away as soon as she decently could. The United States sentthe battleship Maine to Havana on the same friendly mission, where she was officially conveyed to her anchorage. She had been there but a short time when she was blown up, on Feb. 15, 1898, and 260 American seamen murdered. There was an official investigation to determine the cause of the explosion, but it found no solution of the disaster. Various theories were advanced of internal spontaneous explosion, but no one was misled. The general sentiment of Americans was that the Spanish in Cuba deliberately exploded a submarine torpedo under her, to accomplish the result that followed. Previous to this cowardly act there was much difference of opinion among the people of all sections of the country as to the propriety of declaring war against Spain, but public sentiment was at once unified in favor of war on the announcement of this outrage. On the 25th of April, 1898, congress passed an act declaring that war against Spain had existed since the 21st of the same month. A requisition was made on Minnesota for its quota of troops immediately after war was declared, and late in the afternoon of the twenty-eighth day of April the governor issued an order to the adjutant general to assemble the state troops at St. Paul. The adjutant general, on the 29th, issued the following order, by telegraph, to the different commands: