MINNESOTA. 



061 





Superior; while tho former city will huvo 

 diiv.-t cniMUTtiiiri with the Northern i'acilic 

 Kailnmil l.v tin- two divisions of the St. i'uul 

 & I'ucitiir, which aro now in [ir-n-css nt r<m- 

 r-tnirtimi. extending from St. Anthony to 

 i<-rd, and the other from St. Cloud to St. 

 Vincent, on the north western border of the 

 State, a distance of 815 miles, crossing tho 

 Northern Puritio at Glyndon, 18 miles east 

 of (In- K.il Kivcr. This road is now in opera- 

 lion in. m St. Chxid to Melrose, 85 tnik-H from 

 St. Vincent; it is to be continued to Fort 

 (iarry, in tho province of Manitoba, 61 miles 

 from the Minnesota border. The State also 

 has connection with the Union Pacific Railroad 

 I iy means of the St. Paul & Sioux City and 

 Sioux Uity & St. Paul Railroads. Furthermore, 

 the completion of the contemplated improve- 

 ments in the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers will 

 give to Minnesota a continuous water-channel 

 from the Mississippi River to Lake Michigan. 

 In Minnesota a grant of six sections per mile of 

 the public lands was made to aid in the construc- 

 tion of railroads, which was increased to ten sec- 

 tions per mile in 1865. Thus not less than 13,- 

 200,000 acres of land, or more than one-fourth 

 of the entire area of the State, have been granted 

 to railroad corporations, either by the General 

 < lovi-rnment or that of the State. These grants 

 comprise 11,250,000 acres by Congress and 

 1,950,000 by the State; and 5,515,007 acres 



have already been conveyed to the companies 

 'I In- railroad companies in the State organized 

 under special chart en* are required to pay to 



:.ttc, in lifii of all other taxes, 1 \>< >. 

 of their grows earnings for the firat three 

 years, 2 per cent, during the next -e\,-n yean, 

 and 8 per cent, thereafter. Other railroad 

 companies can acquire the same privileges by 

 <-omplying with the provisions of the 4aw. 

 The gross earnings of the companies subject 

 to this law in 1872 were reported at $5,999,518, 

 on which the tax amounted to $106,876. The 

 gross earnings during the year ending Septem- 

 ber 1, 1878, were $5,586,104, including $1,- 

 885,272 from passengers and $3,811,603 from 

 freight. The total expenses of all the com- 

 panies amounted to $4,140,885. A commis- 

 sioner is appointed by the State, whose duty is 

 to report to the Legislature annually concerning 

 the finances, business, and general condition 

 of every railroad company in the State. Min- 

 nesota had 81 miles of railroad in 1863, 298 in 

 1866, and 1,092 in 1870. In 1874 there were 

 1,821 miles of main track and branches, exclu- 

 sive of side-track, etc. The railroads com- 

 pleted in the State, and their termini, in 1874, 

 with the capital stock issued, the latter items 

 being reported by the State Commissioners, for 

 the year ending September 1, 1873, and the 

 number of acres of land granted by Congress, 

 are shown in the following statement: 



Among the many natural advantages with 

 which this State is endowed is the remark- 

 able convergence of the shores of Lake Supe- 

 rior at its western end, forming a harbor of 

 great extent and perfect safety. These advan- 

 tages are shared by the State of Wisconsin. 

 The efforts of the people to utilize their har- 

 bor facilities efforts which the terminus of 

 two railroads in this State at that point and 

 the existence of the most important city on 

 that lake have rendered imperative were 

 impeded in their inception by some embarrass- 



ments which were fairly and legally sur- 

 mounted. 



A brief statement of facts is necessary to 

 an understanding of the present condition of 

 this important interest. In 1870, the city of 

 Duluth began to excavate a ship-canal across 

 Minnesota Point, near its base. While this 

 work was in progress the United States com- 

 menced a suit in the Federal courts to restrain 

 the prosecution of the improvement, on the 

 ground, among others, that such a canal, when 

 opened, would tend to deflect the current of 



