Minnesota as a Field for Farmers 



427 



was 13,255 ; while those who went to the 

 States were 161,000, and still the great ma- 

 jority manifest the same preference. It is 

 very mean of the Canadians to try to pull down 

 their neighbour's house because it happens 

 to be larger and better furnished than theirs. 

 I was quite struck, in passing along the rivers 

 and lakes wiiicH divide the two countries in 

 certain places, especially with the appearance 

 of the villages and scattered settlements on 

 the opposite shores ; there was such a con- 

 trast between them in regard to all the out- 

 ward signs of industry and energy, of taste 

 and tidiness, and general prosperity, and the 

 contrast was all in favour of the American side. 



In spite of that pamphlet and the preju- 

 dice which it was fitted to excite in the mind 

 ■of a British stranger, I persisted in my pur- 

 pose to visit and survey the land which it 

 so savagely denounced, being convinced, on 

 reflection, that the author had overdone him- 

 self and his work \ and that some key would 

 be found to explain the bitterness of his 

 spirit, and the rabidness of his style. That 

 key did turn up, and before I close I may 

 present it to your readers. The reading of 

 his production, however, deepened the im- 

 pression already felt, that in giving my 

 humble testimony on such a subject I should 

 incur a heavy responsibility, 1 shall endea- 

 vour, therefore, to give a simple, honest state- 

 ment of my own observations, and of the 

 opinions of several very competent and reli- 

 able witnesses with whom I conversed, neither 

 embellishing on the one hand, nor disparag- 

 ing on the other, so that your readers may 

 have a fair view of both sides of the picture, 

 and thus be in some measure enabled to form 

 an intelligent opinion of their own. Three 

 Scotch farmers who went over with me in the 

 ship, after a summer trip to their native land, 

 •one of whom had been in Illinois for seven- 

 teen years, and two of whom had been in 

 Wisconsin for thirty years, unitedly expressed 

 their conviction that I w-as sure to return 

 with a good report of Minnesota ; and on 

 the whole I think that such is the case. 



In regard to Duluth, I confess that at first 

 sight, as I landed from the steamer, I felt 

 somewhat disappointed ; but as I drove all 



over the city and viewed its plan and propor- 

 tions, its evident signs of enterprise and pros- 

 perity, its many fine shops and stores, and 

 its nine churches ; and looked down from 

 the hill side on which it stands commanding 

 one of the noblest views of a beautiful bay 

 and the far-stretching lake, the disappoint- 

 ment vanished, and surprise and admiration 

 took its place. I can hardly imagine a finer 

 site for a city; and have seldom if ever 

 witnessed such a beautiful scene as that which 

 lay before me when I stood on the height 

 above the city. It is a well-planned city, and 

 its main street extends two miles in length, 

 and is already well studded with buildings. 

 Its piers and docks are great works of art ; 

 and a large shipping trade chiefly in grain, 

 is already being carried on ; and it is expected 

 that ere long in this respect, as well as others, 

 Duluth will prove a formidable rival to 

 Chicago. I was proud to find that it was a 

 IMr Hunter, a countryman, from Perth, who 

 built the first store there ; and though he 

 was laughed at for his folly, he was a far- 

 seeing man, and the fact that such a city 

 with a population of 5000 has sprung up 

 around him in three years proves it. He is 

 evidently making a fortune, and lives in a 

 very handsome villa called " Lome House." 

 The foreman of a dredging machine at 

 Duluth told me that he earned 150 dollars a 

 month and his board ; and that the ordinary 

 labourers get 2 ^^ dollars a-day. On Satur- 

 day night I was in a store when several 

 mechanics came in, apparently to get their 

 week's wages. The employer asked one how 

 much money he wanted, and he answered, 

 "10 dollars," which appeared to be only a 

 portion of what was due to him. He asked 

 another how much he wanted, and he said 

 he wanted none ; seemingly he had plenty 

 on hand, and allowed his employer to retain 

 his wages for that week. From this and 

 other incidents I inferred that the workmen 

 of all classes were very flush of money. 



On viewing the position of Duluth, I had 

 a feeling that, because it has no agricultural 

 land behind it for a distance of 160 miles, 

 because its lake navigation is frozen up for 

 six months, and thac during that time the 



