MINNESOTA. 



507 



nual yield than a like amount of land culti- 

 vated with its usual products. Both white-fish 

 and lake-trout are natives of our waters, hut 

 those with which the trade is supplied here 

 have been brought to us from outside of our 

 own State, and might just as well have been 

 produced and harvested in our own waters, 

 giving employment to many of our own citi- 

 zens, and being a source of considerable rev- 

 enue." 



White-fish is regarded as one of the best 

 kinds^with which to stock the lakes. This fish 

 is a native in Minnesota waters, north of a line 

 drawn through Lake Osakis in Douglas County; 

 all the lakes and ponds of Michigan are stocked 

 with it. It can be domesticated in all the 

 lakes of Minnesota, where a depth of fifty or 

 seventy-five feet can be found. Salmon is also 

 an excellent fish for cultivation. Experiments 

 with lake herring, fresh-water smelts, eels, and 

 many other fish, are recommended. The plan 

 proposed by the commissioners contemplates 

 an expenditure of $5,000 a year for three or 

 four years. After the waters have become 

 stocked, it will require about $1,500 or $2,000 

 a year to protect them. 



By an act of the Legislature, approved March 

 9, 1875, a Board of Commissioners was consti- 

 tuted and named in the act for the following 

 purposes: 1. To examine the country, rivers, 

 and lakes, lying between the head of steam- 

 boat navigation on the St. Croix River and 

 the waters of Lake Superior at the head of 

 that lake, to determine the most feasible route 

 for a canal connecting those points. 2. To 

 make a careful and correct survey of the route 

 which promises most for the future develop- 

 ment of the country. 3. To make to the Legis- 

 lature a report accompanied with maps and 

 drawings, showing as nearly as practicable 

 the features of the country over which such 

 survey may pass, and a careful estimate of the 

 cost for the construction of such water-channel 

 or canal. They were also required to extend 

 their survey so as to be able to include in their 

 report a correct statement regarding the feasi- 

 bility of a canal from Duluth to some point on 

 the Mississippi River near Sandy Lake in Min- 

 nesota. In making their first report the com- 

 missioners stated that they had not had time 

 or sufficient means to make a survey, and that 

 they had performed only the first of the duties 

 prescribed by the Legislature, viz., that of 

 making a preliminary examination. 



Three routes were examined, and the con- 

 clusion at which the board arrived is that the 

 preferable one is ma the Bois Brule and St. 

 Croix Rivers, noting as the greatest and only 

 objection to this route the fact that there is no 

 natural harbor at the mouth of the Brule River 

 an objection which, without explanation, 

 would seem decisive against the conclusion of 

 the board the report stating that this stream 

 enters the lake where it has a straight line of 

 shore for many miles, affording no natural 

 harbor whatever. 



Another route examined was from the 

 Dalles, at Taylor's Falls, to the mouth of theNa- 

 meogon River, thence up that river and across 

 the summit to the waters of White River, or 

 some stream to be ascertained to be most fea- 

 sible to connect with the waters of Lake Su- 

 perior. This line is two hundred and fifty 

 miles long. The report does not state expli- 

 citly how many miles of canal excavation will 

 be required. It does state that it will involve 

 the construction of nineteen dams and nine- 

 teen locks, and indeterminately speaks of 

 "several more." 



The third route examined lies via the St. 

 Croix,Kettle,Black Hoof, and Left Hand Rivers, 

 a distance of about two hundre'd miles. There 

 is a fall of forty-five feet in nine miles above 

 the mouth of Kettle River, to overcome which 

 dams will be manifestly necessary, though how 

 many the report does not state. The falls of 

 Kettle River make a descent of nearly eighteen 

 feet, and from the head of Lower Falls, so called, 

 to the head of Upper Falls, a distance of four 

 and one-half miles, the river falls a distance of 

 twenty-five feet. How many dams or locks 

 will be found necessary to overcome these ob- 

 stacles is not stated. 



"It is to be regretted," says the Governor, 

 " that the board had not time and means to 

 come to more explicit results. It is for the 

 Legislature to consider whether the conclusions 

 of the commission warrant further appropria- 

 tions." 



The finances of the State are reported to be 

 in a sound condition. The Auditor states the 

 actual value of taxable property to be at least 

 $300,000,000, making allowance for all ex- 

 emptions. Finding that the special State tax 

 of one-half mill, imposed by the act of last 

 winter, would probably be unnecessary, he as- 

 sumed the responsibility, with the approval 

 of the Governor, of certifying to the county 

 auditors two and one-tenth mills only. The 

 amount which this will yield will be found 

 sufficient, with delinquent taxes to be collect- 

 ed, and other sources of revenue, to meet all 

 deferred appropriations, the expenses of the 

 State government, and all other necessary pub- 

 lic disbursements. 



The question relating to the financial obli- 

 gations of the State, arising out of the " Minne- 

 sota State railroad bonds," has been brought 

 prominently before the public by the extended 

 discussion of this subject in the recent mes- 

 sages to the Legislature of the retiring and the 

 incoming Governor. " This subject," said Gov- 

 ernor Davis, " has been a topic of reproach by 

 our creditors, and recrimination, excuse, and 

 defense, by many of our citizens, for more than 

 fifteen years." The amount of the bonds out- 

 standing against the State, the validity ' of 

 which has been disputed, is about $2,275,000. 

 They are held by persons in all parts of the 

 country, who are debarred from the ordinary 

 remedy provided by the courts of justice, and 

 are forced to rely wholly upon the power of 



