Grand Rapids Herald-Review Newspaper, May 11, 1910, Page 3

GRAND RAPIDS HERALD-REVIEW, WEDNESDAY, MAY 11, 1910. Sale of Light Weight Silk Goods at Just About Half This is an opportunity you can’t afford to miss at this early season, hundreds of yards of new Tussar silk, Crepe de Soie , Kuto, Opera Chiffon, Maxine Brocade etc., in pink, st. blue, green, rasin, wisterias, champaign, re- ceda, white, cream, golden brown, Alice blue, navy, gray and chanticler red. See display in center win- dow. All of these beautiful fabrics at i : men and young men. Men’s fine dress shirts valued at $1.25, $1.50 and $2.00 on sale Saturday at....$1.00 A few more new styles of oxfords for all sizes and prices. imported shirts for out JUDGE STANTON FRRREFUL TALK Discusses Fallacies of the Present} State Land Policies and Suggests Remedies. WHY HOMESTEADERS ARE LEAVING Under the Present Crude System Northern Minnesota Development Will Long Be Retarded—Enthu- siasm at Bigfork Meeting. | } | } 1 i | | | } | t | JUDGE C. W. STANTON The fact that the population of Koochiching county is steadily de- | and the homeseekers are creasing aving this part of the country was made the subject of one of the strong est denunciations ever uttered against Minnesota’s state land policy, by C. W. Stanton of Bemidji, judge of the Fifteenth district, last Friday be- a meeting of the Koochiching county. Development association of Bigfork, A movement was started by the judge’s speech which, it was predict-| ed by members of the Northern Min-} nesota Development association, will) materially affect the resolutions to be adopted by the development con- gress at Crookston, June 1, 2, and 3, and the legislation ta be enacted mext winter. Judge Stanton did not mince mat- ters in openly speaking of the de- climing population of this county, declaring that he believed it better! to face the issue than to indulge in flattering remarks. The judge laid | the lack of roads, schools, churches and society to the policy of the state im holding its lamds, half of the county being state land, until the settlers made their improvements} thus refusing to share the burden} of the pioneers While later reaping the benefit of an increased land valu | The method, time, and price required! in selling state lands were strongly | condemned by the speaker as_ be- ing against sound business and moral policies. “Introducing his speech with a state- ment that the Koochiching county De} velopment association has exceptional | conditions to meet and that an honest | effort to better conditions will be) state, khe judge said: Population Decrea ing. “Koochiching county is an empire in area; it is blessed with a soil | that is surprisingly fertile; its clim- atic conditions are healthful; its matural fvealth of tim- ber is enornjous; the beauty of its scenery is unsurpassed; it possesses tthe greatest water power in the northwest;! iit is fortunate inj its im- dustrious and hip. And yet it is a stubborn fact ‘that its population, except in the; villages, ts constantly decreasing. Despite the fact that it contains ap- proximately 1,500,000 acres of unoc-' cupied lands, nearly every acre of which is highly productive, and not- withstanding the inviting natural con ditions which I have enumerated, the tide of immigration constantly passes by and the homeseeker finds a domicile in far less attractive local- ities. Even the homesteaders of the county, many of them, who braved the perils’ and hardship of the forest before the advent of railroads,have in recent months, after securing their government title, abandoned their homesteads and sought homes else- where. This state of affairs, though deplorable, is true; and at a gatherin af this Kind it seems to me that it is better to consider and discuss the hard facts—to confront ourselves with the situation as it really exists— ‘ather than to endeavor to smooth things over by indulging in pleasing flattery or exaggerated statements of the poom yariety. “The pertinent question, then, is: Why are the hardy, courageous set- tle: who came here five years or more ago for the expressed purpose of acquiring homes, and who have since experienced the hardships of | pioneers—why, now, just after be- coming the owners of these homes and just following the building of ilroads and the establishment of great industries in the county—why, I ask are they now, on@ by: one,’ lockin* their cabin doors and’ going ri | to seek a livelihood elsewhere? There be some good reason for surprising action. Where is the fault? It is not in the soil, nor m iie climate, nor in the citizen- ship, nor in the failure on the part of the people of the county to in every respect do and perform every- thing within their power to bring prosperity’ and contentment to the entire population. State’s Policy Responsible. “The answer is plain to one at all familiar with the real situation. No roads, no schools, no churches, no society. Here lies the fault. . De- prived of these essential adjuncts of development because so much of the land surrounding that occupied by settlers is owned by the state, and ‘the stata refuses to join with the settlers in sharing the burdens — of frontier development. In other words; because the state has adopted the policy of holding its lands until the settlers shall construct the roads, drain ithe wet lands, provide the needs of civilization, and thus make the lands valuable and salable with out cost or effort on the part of the state. The theory of the state seems to be to hold to all it has and to part with nothing, in the hope and wust suck expectation that r a few gener- ations this course will prove the most profitable, As to the manner of disposing of | the school lands—about 186,000 acres| in this county— the state is restrict-! ed. These lands were granted to the state in trust, for the explicit pur- pose of being applied to the use of the schools of the state, and by its constitution the state solemnly cov- pngnted with the United States to fasked by the southern part of the| so apply them, and prohibited their The finest underwear for men and boys Just received a fine line of French Flannel CLOTHINC DEPARTMENT Men’s an hand bags at ings at the lake. The finest line of straw hats to be found in the town, $1.00 to $6.00 in all sizes. 38 d ladies’ fine suit cases and all prices. HENRY HUGHES & CO. The state sale except at public sale. was not required, though, to make these lands undesirable and un- sought by the settlers by enacting that before being offered for sale exceptionally , they shall be stripped of al] timber. You know the law now provides that “where land valuable for agricultur- al purposes contains only small quantities of pine, tamarack, or other timber, the land commissioner timber separately, or he may sell the fand as agricultural land and re quire the purchaser to pay down a first cash payment the value of the timber, in addition to the 15 per cent on the land.” Neither was it required to reserve all mineral rights, which it has done. The Swamp Lands. enterprising rn tact [nb im his discretion, either sell the same requirements as to the sale of timber and reservation of mineral rfghts shall apply ms in the case of school lands. Policy Is Wrong. /True, the state has adopted a system of state drainage and is ex- pending some money in constructing ditches, but this is only a loan, a method of investment,and the amount expended, with interest, is added to the purchase price of the.land.benefit- ted, hoth school and swamp. “The assertion that this policy on the part of the state is wrong seems too self-evident to admit of argument. It is unjust to the present settlers who are striving against such odds, ers who under more liberal condi- tions would occupy these lands, un- “But as to swamp lands—of which j just to the| state itself by restricting Koochiching county contains about 700,000 acres—the conditions of the grant to the state are altogether dif- ferent. The purpose of this grant to the state by the United States, as expnessed on the face of the act, was to enable the state to construct the necessary levees and drains to reclaim them. The lamguage of the grant is “that the proceeds of said lands, whether from sale or direct appropriation in kind, shall be appli- ed exclusively, as far as necessary, to the purpose of reclaiming said wands by means of the levees drains aforesaid.” So it became and is the moral duty of the state to use these lands for the purpose for But the United States supreme court has held that it is not the legal duty of the state to fulfill this moral ob- ligation. That court id, in an opin- ion written ‘by Justice Bradley in 1882: “Upon further consideration of the whole subject, we are convinced that the application of the proceeds of these lands to the purpose of the |rant rests upon the good faith of the state, and that the state may use its discretion as to the disposal of them. It ds a matter between two sovereign powers; and one which private parties cannot bring into dis- cussion. Swamp and overflowed land of the United States, whose principal interest in them is to dispose of them for purposes of revenue; whereas, the state governments, being concerned in their settlement and improvement im the opening up of roads and other public works through them; in the promotion of the public health by systems of drainage and embankment are far more deeply interested in hav- ing the disposal and management of them. | Mor these reasons, it was a wise measure on the part of congress. to cede these lands to the states in Wwyhichi they lay, subject to the dis- | posal of their respective legislatures; and although it iw specially provided, that the proceeds of such lands shall be applied, ‘as far as necessary’, to their reclamation by means of levees and, drains, this is a duty which was imposed upon and assumed py the states alone, when they accepted the grant;and whether faithfully perform- ed or not, is) a question between the United States and the states; and is neither a trust following the lands, nor a duty which private parties can enforce as against the state.” “The state of Minnesota has there- fore taken advantage of this construc tion of the grant, and instead of de voting these swamp lands,—700,000 acres in Koochiching county alone— and | which the United States gave them. ! is of little value to the government | | sity: of a constitional its development, and especially unjust to the five northeastern counties of ithe state where more than four-fifths of this land lays. “If this vast acreage was owned by an individual or a corporation it is certain that tthe owner would appro- priate a part of the property to the construction of roads and drainage of the} wet lands so as to create a market for the remainder. This would be only the natural course sug- gested by ordimary business sagacity. | But the state has far greater reasons than the private owner to adopt such ja plan; for, aside from the purely business incentive,it isa moral duty |to perform and is eminently concern- ed in increasing its population and adding to the publie wealth. } “It should devolve upon the state |to at all times make reasonable and |consistent effort to attract settlers jand to provide them with the op- | portunity to, maintain and enjoy ,decent roads, good schools, relig- ious societies, township organizations jand the many things incident to a | comfortaible and happy rural ex- |existence, And so I contend that the prime object of the state in deal- ing with its lands in Northern Minne- | sota should be to attract settlers, and that every provision should be en- acted with that purpose in view. The value of the land itself is insignifi- cant in comparison with the value | of the, benefits, to the state, and par- |ticularly to the community in which |the lland“is situated, of having it oc- cupied and improved by a bona fide settler. The tax on the property thus | directly and indirectly added to the veluatipn of the state would soon exceed the value of the land to say nothing of the manifold beneficial re- sults of thus populating sparsely set- tled communities. The policy of the state should be founded upon the principle that every tract of land in the state should be some citizen’s ome and the nearer it comes to the accomplishment of that purpose the nearer perfect it will be. More Liberal Policy Needed. “The state must be induced to adopt a more liberal policy in the disposi- tion of its lands—a policy that will attract settlers and help to trans- form the wilderness into farms and homes. One suggestion that is not without meniti is to place large quantities upon the market at fre- quent ,intervals,to be sold to actual bona fide ‘settlers only, and to be a ganerqus with the timber as td amount to an inducement for its pur- chase and settlement. This plan could be adopted as to both school and swamp Jands without the neces- amendment. to _e opening up of roads and other |.Another suggestion is to carry out }public works through them, has pro- vided by constitutional amendment’ adopted in 1881 that they shall be ap- praised and sold in the same manner as school lands; and, by legislative the spirit and purpose of the swamp land grant in good faith by taking away the minimum price restriction and sell a large quantity of these Jands at frequent intervals, at public unjust to the thousands of homeseek-|. required to become an actual set-|as an institution that is managed tler. To so dispose of this land for less than $3.67 am acre, might re- quire a constitutional amendment, but probajbly enough of it could be sold ito accomplish the results desired at this price and more, thus leaving the matter to legislative enactment. Some method, at least approximating these suggestions can be devised and en- acted iinto laws, which will bring set- tlers into this section in sufficient numbers, so that, with a liberal state policy ta aid im the construction) of roads, the now unoccupied, untaxed Sthitel lands ‘wil be the homes of thrifty settlers, the state will add many thousand of families to its pop- l@ion and the public wealth wili be enormously enhanced. “Agitation is what is needed. There is work for this and similar organiza- bors in Missouri, they will insist up- The people of Minnesota are not ac- quainted with the facts. You must see that they are informed. That is all that is needed, The people are fair and want the right thing to be done always. But, like our neigh- bors in Missouri, they will assist up- lon being shown, and it is our duty to show them. Begin and continue an earnest, enthusiastic campaign and your lefforts will not be un- rewarded.” 80,000 ACRES Will Be Offered for Sale at Court House By State Auditor on May 14th. The annual sale of school and other state lands will be held at the court house, Saturday, May 14, and 30,000 acres, a large part of which dbounds in timber, at least a suffi- cient amount to keep the settler in fire wood, and in a larger number of instances there is plenty of tim- ber suitable for poles, ties, pulp wood d cord wood and they are always saleable. The appraised price of these lands is $5 per acre and they cannot be sqld for less than that amount, but only fifteen per cent of the purchase price is required down and the pbal- ance can run for a period of forty years at four per cent imterest. The mineral rights are reserved by the fstatie) In order to obtain lands at this ridiculously low price and rate of interest, however, the settler must Mo one of three things. He must fdnce |twenty five per cent and con- five per cent of the tract; build a house and actually reside on the tract for a period of twelve months. OF STATE LAND| vert it inte pasture; cultivate at least} with skill and conscientuous care front the baskment ita the garret. The main building is 78x80 feet, three stories high. It contains thirty-five rooms, imcluding the wards, for the gxclusive use of patients. There is now in course of construction an ad- dition 62x32 feet in dimensions, three stories high, which will add twenty-four private rooms and ‘hree additional wards. The increase of room was madd necessary by the in- creased business which overtaxed the capacity of the building during the past winter. As one of the Sisters remarked, it became imperative to either build or to disposa o§ Mr< Logan’s services, and the Order con- cluded to build. Over sixteen hundred patients were cared for at St. An- thony’s hospital during the past year, most of them being brought in during the logging season. Every room’ in the building is well lighted, of good size and has a clean and cheerful appearance. Sister Benedict-has had charge of.the institution during the past six years, and the large patronage which it re- ceives and which is constantly in- creasing is ample evidence of her executive ability and good judgment in handling so large a business. MORE CHANGES IN BUILDING LINE Store Building Occupied By Lieb- erman Bros. Sold to G. C. Smith. A deal was consummated Friday whereby M. McAlpine sold the store building occupied by Lieberman brothers to G. C. Smith. Mr, Smith has also purchased the site occupied by Robert Lyon’s blacksmith shop and the buildgin ds now being moved to its mew Jocattiion. | Mr. Lyons has moved his tools and equipment to the Mississippi river | bridgq shop and the old shop has been torn down. Lieberman Brothers will still continue to rent the building sold to Mr. Smith and will occupy it in its mew docation until the Mc- Alpine block is finished. It is under- stood that Mr. Smith will start a con- fectionary store in the pbuilding la- teq in the season. le eye sala 2 a PERHAPS HE MAY BE A CANDIDATE A. J. McGuire Is Not Fully De- | cided, But Perhaps He May File portunity ‘to purchaise land is one nf the great opportunities that will soon be a thing of the past. In order that all may ‘have a chance to purchase, the state has stipulated that no one person can purchase more than 220 acres. This is done to elimimate the speculator. INSTITUTION IS GROWING FAMOUS Ranks Among First in Minnesota. A representative of the Herald- Review had business in Bemidji last week, and per chance met Henry Logan, our townsman, who is the traveling representative of St. An- thony’s hospital of that city. As everybody knows, who knows Mr. Logan, when he endorses, he does it in full measure—when he condemns, ditto and then some. He regards the Sister’s hospitals, and especially St. Anthony’s as one of the really great institutions of all morthern Minnesota, and he is possessed of the rare faculty of causing those who listen to his discussions of that famous home for the unfortunate sick and maimed, to believe ¢hat he ‘means every word of it and more, too. He imvited the Herald-Review man to visit the hospital with him and look through the big building and note the extensive addition that is now in course of construction. The invitation was accepted and the visitor was amply repaid for the time spent. It is really a great in- stitution and a decided credit to the hustling city in which it is located. St. Anthony’s is one of a line of hospitals in northern Minnesota,those outside of Duluth, being pranches of St. Mary’s of that city. There are now five, the one at Cass Lake hav- ing recently b:«n razed and the lum- ber taken to Bemidji.Those under the direption of the good Sisters are: St. Mary’s, Duluth; St. Benedict’s, Grand Rapids; St. Anthony’s,Bemidji; St. Vincent’s, Crookston; St. Joseph’s Brainerd. Much of this land is delightfully 1o-| cated on beautiful lakes and this op- | St. Anthony’s Hospital at Bemidji) for Senatorial Toga. Supt. A. J. McGuire of the Grand Rapids Experiment farm, was seen |this week by a Herald-Review rep- resentative and interviewed on the | report that has been circulated with |reference to his senatorial candidacy. Mr. McGuire was very modest in his {remarks on the subject. He assured |the Herald4Review man that he had |not announcéd his candidacy for the j state senate or for any other of- |fice, and that he had authorized no jone to make such an announcement for him. He admitted, however, that he had received a great deal of en- |couragement from all sections of the j district to filé for the nomination and he had some reason to believe that should he do so a very creditable vote would be given him at the fall election. “But I thave not seriously considered the matter.There is ample time ta decide, and should such a | thing come to pass that I should be induced to file for the nomination,and should my election.follow it would be through no effort: of mine. I cer- tainly would not make a fight for the office.Nevertheless 1 highly appreciate the expressions of confidence from so many friends. It has a tendency to make one feel that he has not been laboring in vain,” He Liked Grand Rapids. One of our observant citizens re- cently visited our neighboring village to the north, Grand Rapids, and en his return here told the Independent that he could not help wishing that the business men of this town would adopt the plan of street lighting which so impressed him at Grand Rapids, this being ‘what has come to ba known as the “way of light” sys- tem now being adopted in most pro- gressive villages, says the Aitkin Independent. iThis system does away with the arc lamps swinging across the street intersections and installs instead a series of sidewalk iron lamp posts holding a cluster of tungsen lamps to be placed at intervals of 100 feet on each side of the street. Through this arrangement there will be four standards on each side of the street in a block, furnishing illumination enough to make the street almost The hospital at Bemidji impresses enactment, it fs provided that the |sale to the highest ibidder, who will] one iwho visits ‘it for the first time "ae as light as day, and giving it a most beautiful appearance.