Duluth's Opportunity 



THE approach to most of the large cities of the United 

 States is, to put it mildly, depressing. In the country 

 the train rolls between cultivated farms, well-kept 

 homes and through wide-awake communities. A village 

 breaks in upon the edge of a well-groomed farm and as sud- 

 denly gives way on the other side to the productive fields. 

 The effect is always pleasing. But let the train approach 

 within the influence of a large city and everything is changed. 

 In the outer environment, there may indeed be a few fancy 

 farms which lend color to the landscape, but their prosperity 

 is obviously artificial and is recognized as a mere reflection 

 of the wealth of the city. The impression is pleasing, but 

 unfortunately is very soon wiped out by the scenes that follow. 



Instead of the neat truck garden, dairy farms and wood- 

 land which the market facilities of the city should gather 

 closely around it, there are miles of unsightly waste lands, 

 idle, unkempt, unproductive, awaiting the growth of the city, 

 ese lands languishing in tin cans and ashes for the lack of 

 ittle labor to put them to work, next to them the crowded 

 slums, thousands of miserable people languishing for the 

 chance to get some decent work. Each is longing for what 

 the other would gladly give. Surely these could be combined 

 in some way for the good of the city. It is certainly hard for 

 the traveller passing through such environment to realize the 

 industry, prosperity and wealth of the city before him; even 

 after he has seen the best the city has to offer, it is difficult 

 for him to shake off that first impression. These things could 

 be made so different that it seems little short of a crime that 

 they should be left as they are. 



Imagine the the traveller approaching Duluth from Carl- 

 ton, twenty-five years ago. Traversing the rim of the beau- 

 tiful St. Louis valley, he looks down the steep hillsides cov- 

 ered with magnificent pine forests, forests which flaunt be- 

 fore his face the impression of thrift, the ability to produce 

 endless wealth so long as they are taken care of. No idleness 



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