518 



MINNESOTA. 



ford, of St. Anthony ; for Attorney-General, 

 U. F. Sargent, of Plainview ; for Justices of 

 Supreme Court, Judge O. E. Hamlin, of St. 

 Cloud, and A. P. Jewell, of Lake City. After- 

 ward, Judge Lewis declining to serve, the 

 State Central Committee substituted the name 

 of Samuel Mayall at the head of the ticket. 

 A vigorous platform was adopted, and also the 

 following resolution : 



Resolved, That we look upon the enfranchisement 

 of woman as an important stepping-stone to the 

 success of our prospects. 



The election was held on Tuesday, Novem- 

 ber 3d. The Republican ticket was elected 

 by a large majority. For Governor, Horace 

 Austin, Republican, had 45,833 votes; Win- 

 throp Young, Democratic, 30,092 ; and Samuel 

 Mayall, Temperance, 846 ; Austin's majority, 

 14,895. The majority of William H. Yale, for 

 Lieutenant-Governor, was 16,738; Samuel P. 

 Jennison, Secretary of State, 12,372 ; William 

 Seeger, State Treasurer, 16,193 ; F. R. E. Cor- 

 nell, Attorney-General, 16,196; James M. 

 Berry, Justice of Supreme Court, 15,653; and 

 S. J. R. McMillan, Associate Justice, 14,947. 

 To the Legislature the Republicans elected 29 

 Senators and 72 Representatives, a majority 

 of 17 in the upper branch and 38 in the lower. 

 At the same election the people of the State 

 voted on two proposed amendments to the 

 State constitution : one prohibiting the Legis- 

 lature from relieving any railroad from the tax 

 upon its gross earnings ; and the other author- 

 izing an increase of the State indebtedness, for 

 the purpose of erecting buildings for the deaf, 

 dumb, and blind, and for the State-prison, to 

 the amount of two hundred and fifty thousand 

 dollars, in excess of the quarter of a million 

 dollars already authorized. On the first the 

 vote was: yeas, 41,814; nays, 9,215; majority 

 in favor of the amendment, 32,598. On the 

 second : yeas, 6,742 ; nays, 40,797 ; majority 

 against the amendment, 34,073. 



During 1871 there was 45 7^ miles of railroad 

 completed and put in operation in the State, 

 which, added to the number previously con- 

 structed, makes a total length of railroad, com- 

 pleted and in operation at the close of the 

 year, of 1,550 miles. 



The grading on what is known as the Brain- 

 ard branch of the Northern Pacific Railroad, 

 connecting St. Paul with the main line, has 

 been completed, and that of the Sioux City & 

 St. Paul Railroad to some considerable dis- 

 tance beyond the State line. The reports of the 

 various railroad companies, made to the Rail- 

 road Commissioner, whose office was created 

 by the Legislature of 1871, show the follow- 

 ing statistics : 



Number of passengers carried during year. . . 641,711 



Average number of miles carried 36)^ 



Average amouut received of each 1 61 



Average rate per mile 04? cent*. 



Total gross earnings for the year $3,430,414 33 



Total operating expenses 2,564,435 10 



Net earnings (reported) 847,523 04 



Total amount paid State Treasurer in lieu of 

 taxes for last fiscal year 56,454 13 



The following table shows the amounts and 

 conditions of grants of public lands by the 

 State to railroads : 



COMPANY 

 RECEIVING GRANT. 



St. Paul & Pacific.. 

 Winona & St. Peter 

 St. Paul & Pacific.. 

 Southern Minnesota 

 Minnesota Central.. 

 Lake Superior & 

 Mississippi 



Total... 



s " 



922,411.31 

 375,155.85 

 387,864.87 

 123,833.00 

 167,665.34 



484,984.97 

 3,021,885.34 



S 8 -3 2 



140,835.79 

 81,281.98 



98,541.42 

 23.362.54 

 38,342.75 



8,178.49 

 340,543.07 



wr 



s> s 



I . a - 



18.6 

 8.6 

 14.0 

 13.0 

 22.8 



1.6 

 12.8 



The work of building the Northern Pacific 

 Railroad and its branches has been vigorously 

 pushed during the year. The main line is to 

 run from Duluth, at the head of Lake Superior, 

 and 1,200 miles of lake navigation, to Puget 

 Sound on the Pacific coast, and its branches 

 are to connect with the chief lines of water 

 communication, and with the great railroad 

 systems of the Atlantic and Pacific States. By 

 the purchase of the St. Paul & Pacific road, 

 a line of about 300 miles of finished road in 

 Minnesota, in successful operation, has been 

 secured, and St. Paul, at the head of navigation 

 on the Mississippi, and connecting with the 

 railroads of the Central and Eastern States, 

 concentrating at Chicago, is made a valuable 

 terminal point. The lines from St. Paul and 

 Duluth unite in Western Minnesota. From 

 this point of the junction a branch will extend 

 to Pembina on the British border, and the 

 trunk-line will traverse Central Dakota, and 

 follow the now famous Yellowstone Valley 

 through Montana. Near the boundary of Idaho, 

 the road will again branch one arm following 

 down the valley of the Columbia to tide- water 

 at Portland, Oregon; the other striking directly 

 across the Cascade Range to the main terminus 

 of Puget Sound. A north and south branch 

 will also connect the Puget Sound terminus 

 with that at Portland ; and, at the latter point, 

 connection will be made with the coast-lines 

 of road now building southward through Ore- 

 gon and California. Both at Portland and 

 Puget Sound the road will tap the important 

 lines of the Pacific. The road is fortunate in 

 its pathway across the two ranges of moun- 

 tains which tested so severely the Pacific Rail- 

 roads built on the central line. At the Deer 

 Lodge Pass, in Montana, Avhere it crosses the 

 Rocky Mountains, its altitude above the sea is 

 3,500 feet less than the Union Pacific Railroad 

 at Sherman, which is said to be the highest 

 point at which a locomotive can be found in 

 the world. And, on the Pacific side, it follows 

 the Columbia, the only river which has torn 

 its way through that mighty range which, in 

 California, is known as the Sierras, but which 

 in Oregon changes its name to the Cascades. 

 The land-grants of the United States to the 



