10 The Conservative *
for to bay some fried fish. He forgot
his street , end at 28 o'clock was still
circling around Rome. At the office of
the Public Security of the Monti he
could say no more that that he inhabited
at the number 22 , but could give no
indication of the street. "
The plight of the unfortunate pilgrim
who went forth to buy fried fish , and
remembered his street number but for
got his street , was indeed pitiful. It
was like that of the man who knew the
answer to a conundrum , but did not
know what the conundrum was.
Jerome A. Hart , in the Argonaut , Rome ,
May , 1900.
TAMES .T. HILL AND THE GREAT
NORTHERN.
A better illustration of what American
enterprise and push will do cannot be
found than that afforded in the career
of James J. Hill , president of the Great
Northern. His life completely refutes
the oft-repeated slander that success is
only the triumph of unscrupulous
methods. Brains were his capital.
Strict integrity and a rugged indepen
dence were bis distinguishing charac
teristics. He not only made a fortune
for himself but added millions to the
wealth of the great northwest and
opened up the greatest wheat producing
fields of the world.
THE CONSERVATIVE believes that the
life of a sturdy character like James J.
Hill is deserving of study and worthy of
emulation by the youth of today. In
him we find a type of a better citizenship
and truer manhood than in those who
damn success , commend failure , and
believe individual faults to be due to
governmental ills.
That which is to be especially com
mended in James J. Hill is the fact that
his fortune was acquired entirely by
persistent and well directed personal
effort , unaided by favors from the
government. His unerring judgment
and keenly discerning eye told him that
a railway , connecting the great wheat
producing fields of the northwest with
eastern markets , -would pay. He did
not ask the government for bounties or
subsidies. He interested private capital
in the enterprise by showing up its
promise as a financial investment. The
road was built. It is a compliment to
Mr. Hill's splendid foresight and proof
of his genius for management that the
Great Northern has , from the beginning ,
been a financial success and has exceeded
the expectations of its most enthusiastic
promoters. This road illustrates what
corporations do in the development of
the country.
The story of the Great Northern is
thus splendidly told by Miss Mary
Harriman Severance in the Review of
Reviews :
The Transformation of the Northwest.
"Following a railroad come population ,
trade , civilization. A railroad , even
through unarable country , brings some
settlers along its line ; a railroad , how
ever poorly managed , causes some move
ment of trade. How much more is this
true of a pioneer road through a coun
try every mile of which is possible of
settlement , and great tracts of which
are as fertile as any on earth ! Follow
ing the track-layers come the settlers.
Following the settlers come the hamlets ,
villages , towns , cities , the mills , factor
ies , and all the concomitants of trade.
The building of the depot causes the
construction of the schoolhonse , and the
upraising of the church spires to the
sky. It is hardly possible to overesti
mate the effect of the construction of
the Great Northern upon the develop
ment , physical and sociological , of a
great part of our northwest. The shriek
of the locomotive whistle evoked the
spirit of progress. "Village and town
sprang up along the line. Dwellings
and granaries dotted the prairies.
Hundreds of thousands of acres of pre
viously nonproductive laud were put
under cultivation. Desolate prairies be
gan to bloom. The grain elevator , like
a lighthouse in a yellow sea , uplifted
itself above the fields of waving wheat.
"That there should have come an out
let for these magnificent possibilities ,
seems now almost inevitable ; but in
this case the credit must go to James J.
Hill. The State of Minnesota alone
produces approximately about 80,000-
000 bushels of wheat , or about one-
thirty-seventh of the total production of
the world. Of this she is able to export
two-thirds. Of the Dakotas , not having
begun to reach their limit of productive
ness , North Dakota raised in 1898 55-
000,000 bushels , and South Dakota
42,000,000 bushels. Oregon produced
24,000,000 bushels. The modern farm
ing methods in the northwest challenge
the admiration of the world. Steam
and electricity are made to serve the
farmer's purpose. He plows , reaps ,
threshes by machinery. He telephones
from his farmhouse to his granaries.
Sometimes he receives the latest grain
quotations over a private telegraph wire
in his dwelling. Often the acreage of
his farm is expressed in the thousands ,
sometimes in five figures. He comes
from the poor places of the earth , and
finds a home and self respect. He sends
his products to Europe , Asia , Japan ,
even China. He furnishes a traffic that
provides work for tens of thousands of
employees of transportation lines. He
keeps a procession of grain ships moving
to the Saulte Ste. Marie canal which
makes the "Soo" rank ahead of far-
famed Suez in point of tonnage. More
over , he is furnishing bone and sinew
for this great country of ours which
cannot be expressed in figures. And
much of this is duo to the Great North
ern Railroad.
Mr. Hill's Fortune Fairly Earned.
"Unlike other 'Napoleons of Finance'
and 'Railway Kings' who have preyed
upon the interests confided to their care ,
Mr. Hill has accepted no salary , profited
by the ruin of no man's fortune , depend
ing for his reward upon the natural in
crease in the value of his investment.
While he has built up for himself and
other shareholders of the road a con
stantly accruing fortune , he has created
for the settlers along his line $1,000,000-
000 of wealth in real property. The re
duction in rates of transportation has
given the shippers along the road prac
tically $07,000,000 , thus diminishing the
company's revenues by that amount.
"Nevertheless , in fourteen years from
the beginning of Mr. Hill's stewardship
to 1893 , the company had paid to stock
and shareholders between $15,000,000
and $16,000,000 , while ernyloyees had re
ceived for their share $79,000,000.
Owing to its economy in operation , con
stantly increasing business and earning
capacity , the great Northern has made
a steady decrease in freight rates. Last
year the president suggested a new
schedule of grain rates , which meant a
reduction of $1,500,000 to the company.
The Great Northern Railroad of Today.
' 'The Great Northern today comprising
a system of roads giving in all 6,000
miles of excellent construction , extends
in a network from Fuget Sound on
the west to St. Paul on the east , from
Duluth on the north to Yankton on the
south. The headquarters is at St. Paul ,
where are located the general offices and
operating staff. During the season of
navigation , Dnluth and Superior are ,
however , the practical terminals , where
the road connects with its own steamers
of the Northern Steamship company for
Buffalo. Passengers are offered the per
fection of travel , via the 'Northwest' or
Northland , ' two of the most luxurious
steamers of the world. The restful
journey over inland seas , varied with
rivers , charming resorts and locks , is
attracting tourists to the full capacity
of the boats. "
A WORD FROM ALBERT W ATKINS.
Dear Crawford Brothers : A few
weeks ago you urged in The Democrat
that certain magazine articles of mine
indicate that I ought to be s nt to con
gress. The object of the following
remarks is to take advantage of the
opportunity you have given me to point
a political moral and not to adorn a
personal tale.
Your suggestion in question must
have been prompted by a friendly spirit
which I greatly appreciate ; for it is in
compatible with practical politics. In
many articles such as that to which you
refer , I have freely spoken economic
and political truth , and so have pleased
neither of our great party trusts. When
I started out as a boy in journalism with
you , I contended for administrative and
tariff reform and sound money that
time being the heyday of Grantism and
