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'■■ . ;

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EMIGRATION,

^-fr'

H-S7J

;■>'■

WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE

MINNESOTA, U.S.,

AND

BRITISH COLUMBIA.

»*". ■'H

THOMAS RAWLINGS.

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-^,

tLAYTON & CO., PRINTERS, BOUVERIE STREET.

*«•■» -,

^^-^1

TO THE PUBLIC.

-♦ —

The following pages tire presented to the public in the
hope that they may obtain a clearer and more compre-
hensive knowledge of the rich and extensive countries of
Minnesota and British Columbia.

The Pamphlet has been written hastily, and perhaps
carelessly ; still, with all its faults, it is commended to
the attention of those seeking a new sphere of action.

Gresham House, London,

February 20, 18G4.

EMiaR^TION,

WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE
TO

MINNESOTA, U.S., AND BRITISH COLUMBIA

-n

It may seem somewhat inopportune, at this time, to address the
public (through the medium of a pamphlet) upon the subject of
emigration, especially when the claims and superior advantages of
America will form the leading subject for consideration. Our
apology is explainable in a few sentences. Europe is overcrowded,
and demands iiu outlet and a refuge for her superabundant popula-
tion, and that country where facilities of access are the most direct
and convenient, and which offers iJic most superior inducements,
not simply for temporary relief, but for future welfare and success,
must, of necessity, become the chosen asylum of the expatriated.

Unemployed labour is rapidly increasing and accumulating,
while misery and starvation, " like twin beasts of prey," go hand in
hand, " hunting their victims to gloom and despair." Painful indeed
is the picture presented "to the traveller who visits many of the
manufacturing and agricultural districts in the United Kingdom
and the Continent. The misery and distress ,which dwells there
may not be the fault of Governments, but result from the surplus
supply of labour over the demand, the limited capacity of the soil
for productive purposes, and the cumulative pressure of the popu-
lation upon the means of subsistence.

No one who peruses the reports which have been published
from time to time by the various Associations of Relief in Great
Britain can do so without a feeling of intense pain and commisera-
tion ; and none can reflect upon the dreadful tales of misery related
with such power by the calculating statistician without being desirous
of suggesting relief, or of offering some plan whereby the cause
may be removed, and healthy action restored to the disorganized
system of labour so suddenly prostrated. The noble charities of a
generous people (and which have been so heavily taxed) may and
have done much towards a temporary alleviation of these calamities
which have overtaken an honest, frugal, and industrious class of the
labouring community; but the root of the evil is not eradicated, the
cancer is still gnawing at the vitals ; punishment still pursues those
whose only crime is misfortune. The labourer perceives the circle
of opportunity narrowing around him day by day ; employment is

A 2

102630' Pwifle N. W. Histc-' ^-rf

PROVINCIAL LIBRARY

vicTimiA, a c.

>f->

becoming more limited to the number qualified and capable ; for
labour is not only a surplus but a drug in, the market. Surveying
the field of agriculture, he beholds every acre claimed and occupied,
and irrevocably beyond his reach ; there is no elbow room ; he
longs for independence, for an opportunity of obtaining a compe-
tence ; he would labour honestly and earnestly to effect his object,
but there is no opportunity, and he is not agrarian. All openings
by which he might advance his condition are closed, all prospect of
relief from the incubus that weighs heavily upon him seems to have
vanished. Perhaps a family is looking to him as their protector,
and the agent to supply their daily wants ; his sons are fast ap-
proaching manhood's estate ; they are strong, vigorous, and willing,
but the prizes of employment arc limited. Under such unfavour-
able omens, is it surprising if he should gladly seize upon any
fortuitous circumstance, or any practical means of bettering his
condition ? He has battled long and bravely against adverse cir-
cumstances at home ; he has calmly and philosophically met and en-
dured all the calamities which Fortune has thrust in his path j but,
when at last his conviction has forced him to believe that the future
prospect in store for him seemed ominous enough, his mental eye
could perceive no way out of ^c dark labyrinthian wilderness of
his travels, no coming brightness of success seemed ready to cheer
the dark despair and gloomy surroundings that oppressed him. Is
it to be wondered at, we ask, if he finally decides to venture forth
into the broad world of chance, determines to cease a hopeless
conflict, and resolves to erect the altar of his love — his home — in a
new land, and a new clime, where the soil awaits his coming, and
only needs his helping hand to provide him at once with the neces-
sities of life, and perhaps very soon with comforts, luxury, and opu-
lence, with the sweet attendants of peace of mind, a happy present,
and the prospects of a splendid future? To such as these this
pamphlet is addressed.

A residence of nearly a quarter of a century m the United
States and British Provinces, with, perhaps, more than ordinary
advantages afforded us by association with their public men, together
with constant and extensive travel through every portion of that
wonderful continent, close students and observers of the growth
and unexampled development of her resources (which find no
parallel in the history of any nation, ancient or modern), a know-
ledge of her rich and varied productions, and a continued social
relationship during half a lifetime — these opportunities may, per-
haps, enable us to elucidate the superior claims which that conti-
nent possesses for the careful study and consideration of the
emigrant who proposes to select a new field for labour, and a home
and country for himself, his family, and his descendants.

We are all aware that the subject of emigration has long at-
tracted the attention, not only of Governments, but of societies and
individuals. Various and intricate projects have been conceived ;

splendidly worded prospectuses have been issued, to catch the eye
cf the general reader ; learned and philosophical essays have been
M'litten, but so severely profound in their nature, that the generality
of mankind are more confused thjin enlightened by their perusal.
Instructive and eloquent lectures (with flowery descriptions of
bright lands and marvellous scenery) have been delivered to audi-
ences who were desirous of receiving information, but who merely
had the ear tickled by nicely rounded sentences and brilliant analo-
gies ; they lacked the great desideratum — practical information.

Hungry men do not appease their appetites with perfumed
violets or rosebuds ; and the humble mechanic and labourer, seek-
ing for the knowledge and counsel which will enable him to rise
above his difficulties, and improve his condition, desires that know-
ledge imparted to him in plain Anglo-Saxon, and not in ambiguous
or classical rhapsodies. Many projects are formed and societies are
established which aim at the peopling of a colony, or improving a
specified locality. In the earnest endeavour to accomplish the
results desired, it often unfortunately happens that the promoters,
being over-zealous, are led to disparage the claims of other regions
equally advantageous.

A merchant engaged in trading with other countries is always
careful to ship goods to a market where they are in demand, and to
have an appointed agent who will receive those goods, and dispose
of them to the best advantage ; and unwise, indeed, would that
trader be who should ship goods promiscuously to any port, not
knowing whether they were in demand, or whether the venture
would result in profit or loss ; or, worse still, they were allowed
to be landed on the dock, exposed to the elements, which soon
destroyed whatever value they possessed. Vet, how constantly we
read accounts of human freight being shipped thousands of miles,
to colonies, where they are landed upon a shore among strangers.
Perhaps, far in the interior, there may be vast tracts of uncultivated
soil, which only need labour to produce wealth ; but there is no
one to direct his footsteps — no friend in the expected elysium to
guide him to a haven of rest — ^he is left alone. The mission of the
projector is accomplished ; he has been transported to this land,
ready to teem with wealth, and without cost ; but he has no facili-
ties \o reach the interior — no means of subsistence at his disposal —
and the broad wild sea rolls between him and the far-off land he
had voluntarily left behind.

Another class of people which we wish to address arc the
middle class — those who are comfortably settled in life, but who are
desirous of assisting their sons to a chance in Life's drama. There is
hardly a'tourist from England, who has passed through the Western
States, but has been induced to invest some of his surplus funds in
lands for the benefit of his children. It has always happened in
such cases, where the selection has been made judiciously, that the
increase in value and the profit on the investment has more than

«i'

reached the most sanguine expectations. Less than one-half the
money which is paid for the rental of lands in this country will
purchase, in fee simple, the property in the United States, Canada,
or British Columbia. What an incciitivc to labour must it be
when it is known that every penny expended in cultivation,
improvement, or adornment, is spent upon your own property ; and
the consciousness is very sweet of being a landowner, independent
of landlord who ever makes his appearance on quarter day. If
young men would visit these regions and examine the lands with
care, it might prove to them a lucky day in their after career. It is
lamentable to read the history of the various Colonial Societies ; for,
what with mistaken judgment and maladministration, the results
have been simply deplorable. The use of high-sounding names
and lordly titles for the purpose of aiding such schemes is sim])ly
useless. In their proper sphere we grant their utility ; but nothing
can be accomplished successfully in the sphere of emigration except
by those who have had practical experience, .and those who are
willing and able to labour. Emigration, to be successfully carried
out, requires matured plans, to be judiciously determined on and
followed, from the hour when the emigrant leaves his native land to
that of his arrival at the chosen locality for his future home — and
afterwards. AVithout this, disappointment and failure will certainly
ensue. Merc charitable deportation, as already intimated, can bo
sure of effecting nothing beneficial, even when tens of thousands
of pounds arc svrx\^ and shipload after shipload of human beings
conveyed to ah hores. It behoves the intending emigrant,
therefore, to consiu^i well the relative advantages of the new lands
inviting his selection.

The claims of Australia wo shall dismiss with a quotation from
the work of that popular writer, William Howitt. Leaving out of
the question the loss of time occupied by the voyage, the immense
cost, 5ind the innumerable aggravations consequent upon a confine-
ment extending over a period of three or four and often six months
on shipboard, he remarks : — " Providence has given vast new lands
on which the overflowing population may settle ; but selfish and
purblind Governments immediately lay hold on that which was
meant to be a free gift of God, and dole it out in such modicums
that the pressing necessities of arriving immigrants compel them to
bid up at auction against each other, till the land of these new
countries, lying with millions of miles of unoccupied soil, becomes
far dearer than the dearest of that which they have left." As to
the demand for labour, in one department there is already a glut.

We now speak of others, which are attainable at a comparatively
moderate expenditure of time and money. Wc allude to the Great
Western Continent of America. To it at least three -fourths of the
bulk of European emigration is naturally directed, whether to
Canada, British Columbia, or the United States. It is our in-
tention to indicate moXG especially the coQtingent advantages of a,

»v

(

certain portion of the lattci — the great State of Minnesota, lying
west of Wisconsin and the great Lakes — which now presents, as we
are enabled to show, inducements exceeding all other localities.
But, first, a preliminary word respecting those recently mentioned.

Canada, as most people know, is an immense and prosperous
country, the progress and population of which has not, however, at
all kept pace with that of its powerful rival, the Great Republic.
Like most of Great Britain's Colonies, it might have been better
governed ; and the more intelligent of the inhabitants, especially in
Canada West, are very dissatisfied with a partial Legislature. As
regards emigration, not too much encouragement is held out to the
settler. Whatever schemes have emanated from the Colonial
Office for that object have been sorely hampered with " red tape,"
and public philanthropy has unfortunately fettered itself from
effecting any large results by Governmental precedent. The
acquisition of land, too, is susceptible of much improvement, and it
should be cheaper. But for these artificial drawbacks, and the
natural one of climate, the condition of Canada might have been as
flouiishing and attractive to the emigrant as that of the United
States. Everybody is aware that this is not so ; and all persons
familiar with both countries are at no loss to assign the reason.
That England has not fully appreciated the importance of her
Colonies, the history of those Colonies can testify. America was
partially lost through the blind ignorance and stubbornness of the
Ministry of one of the Georges ; and even at this time, there is
simply a lukewarm interest felt towards Canada and British
Columbia. The press of London too often complain of the want
of patriotism on the part of the Canadian people, and plainly hint
that the time is coming when Canada may be expected to take care
of herself. If such a policy is pursued towards Canada, it will
prove most suicidal. The accomplished correspondent of the
Daily Telegraph — George Augustus Sala — in one of his late
letters, most forcibly puts the case ; and in language earnest and
eloquent he forewarns the Colonial Department of the result of the
neglect and want of sympathy v/hich is being manifested on the part
of the parent Government. The North American Colonies of
Great Britain are but in their infimcy ; their undeveloped strength
is still dormant ; their marvellous wealth is still hidden j a mighty
empire is at some future day destined to rise upon the broad
uncultivated acres that stretch to the Pacific Ocean. It devolves
upon the Home Government to foster the loyalty of the people, to
strengthen the bonds of relationship by every tie of commerce, and
by every evidence of sympathy and protection.

The undeveloped territory of British Columbia is nearly equal,
in extent, to the whole of the United States ; and who can say
whether the gold-mines of that region may not surpass, in extent,
those of either Australia or California. But to reach it, the emi-
grant has to crpss Minnesota — a distfiftce inconsiderable when

compared to what ho has already traversed in journeying from
Europe to the West, but still over three degrees of longitude —
and that State offers every desirable indticement to the emigrant,
fully equalling, if not exceeding, those of l^ritish Columbia.

Before speaking of these, let us answer a possible objection —
that Minnesota is in the United States, and, though distant from
the scene of conflict, still involved in the destinies of a countr) at
present the scene of a civil war, unexampled for its extent and for
the interests involved.

No one can witness with more profound emotion than ourselves
the continuation of a contest, which has beggared hearts of joy ;
devastated regions of productive country ; swept away the strong
and the youthful ere their time ; and brought misery and sorrow to
an unparalleled extent to almost every home on that continent.

It is not our province to touch upon the political aspects which
it presents. Our mission is not the sword ; our purpose u not war,
but pe.ice. To see the rich corn and wheat waving over vast
plains that now offer wild fioAvcrs to greet the explorer is the object
of writing this pamphlet.

America is a giant, young, strong, vigorous, and active; she can
bear blows and reverses commensurate with that strength. The war
may paralyze her strength for a time ; her energies may be tempo-
rarily exhausted ; but when the angel of love shall plant the olive
branch of peace in her heart, when the weapons of death and war
shall be laid aside, and the soldier shall become the civilian, and,
like the ancient Roman, turn the sword into a plough- share, the
innate strength remaining will soon bring about recuperation. The
wealth of America is in her soil, and imbedded in her rocks. "War
may destroy life, depopulate cities, play havoc with flocks and herds,
smite the cotton and corn from the surface of the earth, and sweep
the ocean of commerce. These things may retard progress ; it can
only be for a time, while, with renewed strength, she is collecting
her energies to continue her march in the career of progress. The
fertile soil, to produce, and the great rivers, to transport from every
inland acre, still remain.

And now let us answer another objection. In the first place,
be it remarked that no alien is in the United States liable to either
conscription or the payment of any sum to secure his immunity
from serving as a soldier in the army. The taking up of the
responsibility of citizenship, being entirely a voluntary matter, may
be delayed for many years or never consummated. In the mean-
time, the foreigner enjoys all the privileges possessed by the native,
except such as the not particularly desirable ones of serving on
juries, performing militia duty, &c. ; also of holding office. His
position is indeed, in some respects just now, better than that of.
the native-born citizen. This paragraph has only been admitted
in consideration of the very general ignorance and, what is still
worse, misrepresentation prevailing in Europe on the subject. Not

^J'

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long ago, the leading English journal actually assumed, in the
beginnin«v of an editorial, that the moment nn emigrant set foot
upon lae quays of New York he might be subjected to involuntary
impressment as a U. S. soldier ! A greater mistake could hardly
be promulgated. That the United States have supplied, and will
continue to supply, the deficiencies in the crops of Europe is unde-
niable; all that she requires is labour. If it bo true that the present
war has absorbed much of the labouring population, and compelled
the manufacturers and agriculturists to offer increased inducements
for labour, it follows that the advantages in fiivour of the emigrant
arc increased.

Look one moment at the prosperity of America ; observe how
pidly lands have been brought under cultivation, how they

have increased in value, and how soon the enterprising pioneers
have become prosperous and even wealthy. The Western States —
such as Illinois, Ohio, Iowa, Micliiufan, and Indiana — were but
slightly peopled twenty years ago, and Innd could be purchased at
that time as low as 1| dollar an acre. Now on these very spots
villages, towns, and even cities have arisen ; while the surrounding
land brings from 20 dollars to ~00 dollars lui acre. In fact, the
history of the Western States, as exhibited by thy statistical tables
published in the census, sounds more like a fiction than a reality.

It is well known that nations find a necessity to seek the sea as
a medium of communication. This is the reason why the seats of
civilization have always been upon the shores of the continents of
the old world ; why Asia, with its few and stormy seas and limited
coast-line, is locked up in a haughty and unprogressive isolation ;
and why Africa, with still less maritime border, has been doomed
to eternal barbarism; why, before commerce dared to penetrate the
mystery of the ocean, the centres of power moved with the widening
circle of civilization along the shores and peninsulas of the JMedi-
terranean ; why, when navigation extended to the borders of the
ocean, the sceptre passed to Spain ; and finally, when the circle of
commerce embraced the globe, why England, the most central of
all to the exterior lines of the continental land masses, became
" mistress of the seas."

But here we have a continent at last, on which it is no longer
necessary to seek the sea as the sole medium of communication.
But this is not all. Upon this new theatre, a new and wc .Jerful
agency is introduced, which for ever emancipates man from the
dominion of the sea. The groove and the wheel are not more
expressly contrived for the pulley, than the broad plains and rivers
of that continent are made for the railroad and the steamboats.
By the application of steam to inland locomotion, the interior of
North America is even more accessible, more pcrtneabie, than the
exterior of Europe. The tendency of development then, here, is
inland ; as there, it is towards the ocean. If Europe is the seat of
maritime commerce and maritime civilization, America is no less

conspicuously the theatre of inland commerce and continental
development.

This new system of inland distribution is by so much the more
effective means of progress than maritime intercourse, as it brings
a greater number and variety of physical districts into reciprocal
relation, as these relations arc more intimate and complete, and
their interchanges more rapid, frequent, and energetic. The ocean,
even in the deeply indented coast of Europe, touches only a few
points of deportation in its contour. Its mountainous surface makes
railroad transit difficult and expensive. Its rivers afford but short
reaches of steam navigation. On the other hand, by the application
of steam to inland locomotion on the rivers and plains of North
America, the points of commercial contact, the centres of relation,
are susceptible of infinite multiplication. The rivers and lakes
alone, of this interior plain, afford a greater extent of shore-line than
the sea-coast of all the other continents combined. These inland
waters form a vast system of ducts and arteries ramifying through
the whole body of the continent, touching and vitalizing every part
of its immense surface, and uniting all its diverse climates and belts
of production. Now, Minnesota is the centre of this inland civiliza-
tion, even as London is of the maritime — if it be true that the
age of maritime ascendency is passed, and the age of internal
development is succeeding.

The contiguous basins of the St. Lawrence, the Mississippi, and
of Lake Winnipeg, form an immense triangular plain, throughout
which every diversity of soil and vegetation covers an uniform
geology of sedimentary rocks. This vast interior basin, enclosed
by the mountain chains of the ocean coasts, with an area of
2,500,000 square miles, culminates in Minnesota, as the apex from
which its great divergent valleys slope to their ocean outlets — the
common source and centre from which these three great rivers
radiate to the ocean.

The Mississippi River, originating in Northern Minnesota, gives
900 miles of its waters to its mother State, of which 400 miles are
navigable, with only two interruptions, before it reaches the head
of continuous navigation, below the Falls of St. Anthony ; whence,
starting at a more majestic pace, and gathering in its bosom the
commerce of fifteen States, it empties into the Gulf of Mexico, at a
distance, by its course, of 2,187 miles from St. Paul, embracing in
its basin an area of 1,217,502 square miles, a population of
13,000,000, and an aggregate shore-line of 35,644, of which seven-
eighths belong to its navigable tributaries.

Thus we turn fr(3m the United States in general to the particular
one already indicated, as affording the finest and most inviting field
for emigration in the world ; and, in so doing, we cannot do better
than quote the folloAving passage from a speech delivered by the
Honourable William H. Seward, Secretary of State for the Unite4
States, in Saint Paul, Minnesota :—

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" I find myself now, for the first time, upon tlic highlands in the
centre of the continent of North America, cqui-disttant from the waters of
Hudson's Biiy and the Gulf of Mexico — from the Atlantic Ocean to the
ocean in which the sun sets. Here upon the spot where spring up almost
side by side, so that they may kiss each other, the two great rivers, the
one of which, pursuing its strange, capricious, majestic, vivacious career
tlirough lake, cascade, and river rapid, and lake after lake, and river after
river, cataract and bay, and lake and rapids, finally, alter a course of
2,000 miles, brings your commerce half way to Europe; the other,
after passing through highlands and prairie, a distance of 2,000 miles,
taking tributary after tributary from the east to the Avest, bringing toge-
ther waters from the western declivity of the Allcghanies, and from thoso
which trickle down the eastern sides of the llocky Mountains, finds its
way into the Gulf of Mexico.

" Here is the place — the central place — where the agricultui'c of the
richest region of North America must pour out its tributes to the whole
Avorlfl. On the cast, all along the shore of Lake Superior, and west,
stretching in one broad plain, in a belt quite across the continent, is a
country where State after State is yet to arise, and Avhere the productions
for the support of human society in other old crowded States must be
brought forth.

*' This is, then, a commanding field ; but it is as commanding in regard
to the destinies of this country, and of this continent, as it is in regard to
their commercial future ; for power is not permanently to reside on the
eastern slope of the Alleghany Mountains, nor in the seaports. Seaports
have always been overrun and controlled by the people of the interior, and
the power that shall communicate and express the will of men on this con-
tinent is to bo located in the Mississippi Valley, and at the sources of the
Mississippi and St. Lawrence.

" In our day, studying perhaps what might have seemed to others
trilling or visionary, I had cast about for the future and ultimate central
seat of the power of the Nprth American people. I had looked at Quebec,
New Orleans, at Washington and San Francisco, and Cincinnati and St.
Louis, and it had been the result of my conjecture that the seat oi" power
for North America would yet be found in the valley of Mexico, and the
glories of the Aztec capital would be surrendered, in its becoming ulti-
mately and at last the capital of the United States of America. But I
have corrected that view; I now believe that the ultimate last scat of
government on this (ji'cat continent icill he found somewhere within a circle or
radius not very far from the spot on which I stand, at the head of navigation
on the Mississippi liiver.^^

Testimony of such a character, from a statesman of such eminence,
cannot be lightly passed over ; and he says truly that Minnesota
sits queen at the head of the Mississippi. Minnesota, with her
immense interior plains, and her magnificent watercourses which
permeate them in their length and breadth, afford the utmost
possible capacity of interior communication. By the Mississippi,
Minnesota can draw from the extreme south, cotton, sugar, and
rice ; from the Middle States, corn, tobacco, and fruits ; from the
Northern region?, furs of every variety; by the Mississippi, she can

transmit her produce to New Orleans, and from thence io Europe ;
or she can send her productions by the Lakes and the St. Lawrence
Kiver to the Atlantic, or else by the grand system of railroads that
pursue their arterial course from the cast. But her sister States
will consume her productions for years to come.

Lender the Homestead Law, passed by Congress in 1862,
Minnesota offers to free settlement a much larger area of public
lands, and better adapted to successful agriculture in soil, climate,
and situation relatively to the great avenues of inland commerce,
than any other Western State.

Minnesota contains nearly 54,000,000 acres of land. Of this,
the whole area appropriated by settlement or purchase is only about
7,000,000 acres, and some 10,000,000 acres have been granted for
schools, railroads, &c., leaving nearly 37,000,000 acres — an area little
less than that of all New England — still ojjen to free settlement
under the operation of the Homestead Law.

Three quarters of this surface consists of rolling prairie, inter-
spersed with frequent groves, oak openings, and belts of hard-wood
timber, Avatered by numberless lakes and streams, and covered with
a warm, dark soil, of great fertility. The rest, embracing the ele-
vated district north of Lake Superior and west to the sources of the
Mississippi, is chiefly valuable for the rich mineral ranges on the
shores of the former, and for the jrine forests which clothe the head
waters of the latter, affording inexhaustible supplies of lumber.

The climate is beautiful, and one of the most healthful and
productive on the continent. Though the winter is cold — its mean
temperature being that of New Hampshire — its severity is very
much mitigated by the extreme dryness of air, the whole average
fall of moisture being but one-sixth that of New England.

The summers, on the other hand, are very warm, their mean
temperature being that of Southern Pennsylcaniay and the rains at
this season are abundant and never failing, though the air continues
comparatively dry. Professor Maury pronounces it the best
watered of all the Western States. It is alike exempt from the
severe droughts of Kansas, and the frosts and diseases incident to
moister atmospheres and heavier and less thoroughly drained soils.

The following facts are collated from the official statistics of
Minnesota : —

Rapid as has been the growth of the new AVestern States,
Minnesota has surpassed them all in the rapidity of its progress.
Its Population in 1850 was 5,330 ; in I860, 172,022. Its Agri-
cultural DEVELOPMENT has been even more remarkable.

The number of acres of plowed land in 1850 was 1,900 ; in
1854, 15,000 ; in 1860, 433,267— having increased nearly thirty-
fold in six years.

The number of bushels of wheat produced in 1850 was 1,401 ; in
1854, 7,000; in 1860, 5,001,432 bushels, being nearly thirty

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bushels to each inhabitant, or four times as much as the whole
wheat crop of New England in 1850.

The whole amount of grain and potatoes produced in Minnesota
in 1850 was 71,709 bushels; in 1860 it was 14,093,517 bushels—
mostly in the small grains. What a progress for ten years !

This rapid agricultural growth has been achieved chiefly since
the collapse of land speculation in 1857. In 1858, Minnesota im-
ported bread and provisions. In 1861, she exported 3,000,000
bushels of wheat alone.

Minnesota is probably the best wheat State in the Union, with
the exception perhaps of California. The statistics of her wheat
crops show an average yield in 18()0 of 22 bushels per acre, and
in 1859 of 19 bushels— these results being from 50 to 300 per cent,
greater than that of the principal wheat States, with the exceptions
noted. In 1859, for example, the average yield of Iowa was 4-]-
bushels per acre ; of Ohio, 7-^- bushels. TUinois, according to a
high local authority, produces from year to year not more than
8 bushels per acre, and 15 bushels is considered an unusually large
average for the best wheat States. The comparative exemption of
Minnesota from the diseases and insects Avhich ravage the wheat
crops of other States, gives it great advantage in the cultivation of
this most valuable staple.

Minnesota is often supposed to be too far north for corn. This
is a great mistake, founded on the popular fallacy that the latitude
governs climate. But climates grow warmer towards the west
coasts of continents ; and, although its winters are cold, the sum-
mers of Minnesota are as warm as those of Southern Ohio. It may
surprise some readers to know that the mea)i summer heat of St.
Paul is precisely that of Philadelphia^ five degrees further south,
and that it is considerably warmer during the whole six months of
the growing season than Chicago, three degrees further south.
The products of the soil confirm the indications of the Army
Meteorological Register.

The average yield of corn in 1 860 was 35^ bushels per acre ;
and, in 1859 — a bad year — 26 bushels. By comparison, in the
latter year, Iowa produced but 22-^ bushels per acre, and Ohio, the
queen of the corn States, but 29 bushels. In Illinois — of which
corn is the chief staple — Mr. Lincoln, now President of the United
States, in the course of an agricultural address in 1859, stated, that
" the average crop from year to year does not exceed 20 bushels
per acre."

These results so favourable to Minnesota, as a corn growing as
well as wheat growing State, will surprise no one who is familiar
with the fact established by climatologists, that " the cultivated
plants yield the greatest products near the northernmost limits at
which they will grow."

In southern latitudes, the warm spring developes the juices of
the plant too rapidly. They run into the stalk and leaf to the

neglect of the seed. Corn, for example, rises thirty feet high in
the West Indies, but it produces only a few grains at the bottom of
a spongy cob, too coarse for human lood. In the Southern States,
the corn-stalk is fifteen feet high, but the product is much less than
in the Northern States, where the stalk is ten or seven feet, high ;
and so of all plants Avhich can be grown at all at the north. The
cool, late springs of northern climates restrain the undue luxuriance
of the stem or leaf, and throw the chief development of the plant
into the ripening period. With the summer heat of Southern Ohio,
Minnesota yields a greater product of a given plant, and of a richer
quality, because its cooler springs check the expenditure of the vital
juices on the stalk and leaf to lavish them on the fruit. On the
other hand, with the same springs as Massachusetts, Minnesota
produces more abundant harvests, because it has a warmer summer.
It thus combines the most favourable conditions of quantity and
quality in its products — and the remark applies equally to all the
cereals, the esculent roots, and the wild grasses of the country,
which are as rich as the cultivated species in lower latitudes. Its
wheat, barley, potatoes, &c., are in high favour throughout the
Mississippi Valley.

Its distance from market, which absorbs much of the profit of
wheat culture in the cost of transportation, is forcing attention to its
peculiar advantages for stock raising and "wool orowino Pro-
minent among these are : — 1. The richness and luxuriance of the
native grasses. The statistics of the hay crop of 18G0 show a total
product of 300,000 tons, with an average of over two tons per acre,
being 60 per cent, more than the average of Ohio. The grass is
mainly cut on the meadows which everywhere chequer the rolling
prairies or fringe the countless streams and lakes. 2. The great
extent of unoccupied land, aflfording for many years to come a wide
range of free pasturage. 3. The remarkable dryness and health-
fulness of the winter. The sleet, slush, mud, and the train of
diseases which the damp and variable winters of eastern or southern
climates inflict upon animals and men, are here nearly unknown.
Sheep prefer to live and sleep in the open air all winter. The
cold, dry air sharpens the appetite, and promotes a rapid secretion
of fat and a vigorous muscular development. The wool grows
finer and heavier, and mutton, beef, and pork sweeter and more
juicy. The effect of climate and the rich herbage is seen in the
DAIRY PRODUCTS. In the census year, I860, over 3,000,000 pounds
of butter and cheese were made from 38,938 cows, or 77*6 pounds
per head, against 52 pounds per head in Iowa, 46'8 in Illinois, and
62 in Wisconsin.

To the dryness of the air, even under the abundant rains of
summer, the healtiifulness of the climate is attributed. It is
the sanatarium of consumptives, and is exempt from the fevers and
agues incident to the damp, malarious atmospheres of the lower
States of the Mississippi Valley. To this, too, is largely due the

exemption of Minnesota summer from the destructive frosts which
prevail in moister latitudes. At the same time its position in the
system of atmospheric circulatioi:, and the great extent of water-
surface presented by its numerous lakes, protects it cofnpletcly from
the severe drouyhts which desolate Kansas,

jNlinnesota possesses a f/rcat abundance of water-poiver, some
of its mill seats — that of St. Anthony Falls, for instance — being
among tlie finest in the world. Its principal manufactures are
flour and lumber, for the latter of which the extensive tine
FORESTS which cover tho north-eastern portion of the State afford
inexhaustible supplies c f material.

The commercial position of Mitmcsota is one of the most im-
portant on the continent. The Great Lakes connect it with the
Atlantic on the cast, the Mississippi witli the Gulf of Mexico on
the south, and the Ecd River and Saskatchewan, interlocking in
Lake Winnipeg, carry the chain of navigation through their fertile
valleys 1 ,400 miles to the north-west, to the gold-bearing slopes of
the Rocky Mountains. A considerable emigration is already pass-
ing through this channe^ to the gold-fields of British Columbia.
Minnesota is the only State on the tvcst bank of the Mississippi
which has any yreat ayricultural region tributary to it from the
west, the whole country west of the ninety-eighth parallel and
south of the Saskatchewan being a rainless waste. This level belt
of arable areas, with its chain of navigable rivers, is the natural
projection across the west half of the continent of the line of over-
land transit formed by the St. Lawrence and the Great Lakes across
the cast half, and has suggested itself irresistibly as the natural
route for a Pacific Railroad, with its terminus on the splendid har-
bourage of Pugets Sound. This project, which has many warm
advocates in England and America, makes Minnesota the centre of
the inter-oceanic commerce of the continent.

Congress has granted the State about four and a half million
acres of land for the construction of railroads, som" of which are
in process of construction. The completion of a few hundred miles
of railroad will connect the heads of navigation on the three great
water-lines of the continent, and place Minnesota virtually as near
New York as Pittsburg.

We may, perhaps, be excused if we transfer a letter which we
addressed to the Editor of the London Times, upon our first arrival
in England, after an absence of nearly a quarter of a century, and
which was courteously inserted in that journal in March, 1863 : —

" SfR, — From tlio sorics of articles which have appeared at various
dates in the Times, referring to the continent of America, I have ventured
to solicit a small space for the purpose of pointing out the vast improve-
ments which are being carried on in the State of Minnesota, and bordering
on the British settlements, or British Columbia, as they are now called.

" A railroad is at present being constructed, under special Act of the
State Legislature, from St. Paul to a point between the foot of Big Stone

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Lake and tho mouth of tho Sioux Wood River, and via St. Cloud and
Crow Wing to tho nuvigoblc waters of tho lied Uivor of tho Nortli.

" A land grant has been made on each side of said lines, being 3,H10
acres per mile in length of road, and amounts in tho aggregate to 2,457,600
acreH.

"The trains have been running 10 miles, from St. Paul to St.
Anthony, I'or over six months.

" Tho great oliject, as I understood, when at St. Paul, is to connect by
railroad the navigation of tho ISIissiswippi Kiver and its tributaries at St.
Paul, near tho Falls of St. Anthony, and at Stillwater, on the river St.
Croix, with tho lied llivcr of the North, and otlie- navigable streams of
North-West British America. Perhaps nowhere on tho American conti-
nent will such important commercial nsults follow as will be witnessed when
0,000 miles of steamboat navigation on the Mississippi and St. Lawrence
rivers, and .'J,000 miles of similar navigation on the rivers of Central
British America are joined together mostly by tho proposed routes of th«
St. Paul and Pacific liailroad. The freights, &c., through Minnesota to the
English settlement of Selkirk and the Saskatchewan constitute an equally
important fact.

" Selkirk settlement is a commmiity of over 10,000 souls, and which
it is expected will soon be the seat of Government for a new colony of
England extending between Canada and British Columbia.

" For the present. Fort Garry, in this settlement, is the North American
head-quarters of the Hudson's Bay Company. Tho posts of this company,
more than 50 in number, occui)y a very commanding situation over the
immense area bounded by Hudson's Bay and Lake Superior on the cast,
the Rocky Mountains on the west, and the Arctic Ocean on the north.
The fur trade of this immense territory concentrates its annual product on
the Red River of the North at Fort Garry, from which point, by the
annual voyages of brigades of bateaux, merchandize and supplies are
distributed to the most distant posts. Prior to 1858 the imports and
exports of the Hudson's Bay Company were principally transported by the
difticult and dangerous route of Hudson's Bay and Nelson's River, or over
the numerous obstacles intervening from Lake Superior to Red River, on
the British side of the international line. In 1858, however, materials
were transported to construct a steamer on the Red River, and in 1862
two such vessels navigated that stream. This was done by enterprising
citizens of Minnesota. The trade previously exi=tirig between St. Paul and
Selkirk has been greatly increased in consequenoe.

" When it is considered, what no intelligent man now denies, that,
north-west of Minnesota, the country reaching from the Selkirk settlements
to the Rocky Mountains, and from latitudes 49° to 55°, is as favourable to
grain and animal production as any of tho Northern States ; that the mean
temperature for spring, summer, and autumn observed on the 42nd and 43rd
parallel, in New York, Ohio, and Michigan, has been accurately traced,
through Fort SncUing and the valley of Saskatchewan, to latitude 55° on
the Pacific coast; and that from the north-west boundary of Minnesota
this whole district of British America is threaded in all directions by the
navigable water-lines which converge from the south and west to Lake
Winnipeg; no reasonable doubt can remain that the colonization of the
continent, even in its ordinary progress of agricultural settlement, will
extend over the region now delineated.

" A new event— a new and most influential clement — lias lately occurred
to hantou progress, which might otherwise seem remote and spoculiitive.
The discovery of gold upon the Frazer River and its tributaries was
followed by the organization of British Columbia; and the fart is now fully
ascertained that the richest and most extensive gold-fields of north-west
British America — the Cariboo mines — arc so far within the Kocky Moun-
tains, so far up to the utmost sources of Frazer Kivcr, as to be i)ractically
more accessible from Selkirk than from the coast of Puget's Sound. A
propeller upon Lake Winnipeg and two small river steamers on the Saskat-
chewan, combining with the steamboats now navigating the Ked Kiver,
would constitute a line from Quebec by way of St. PjuiI, which would
accomplisli the journey to the Cariboo district in 'M) days. Coupled with
the fact that I have received a letter from St. Paul, by way of Portland, to
Liverpool, within 18 days, a distance of 5,000 miles, the district of Cariboo
can thus bo reached from Liverpool, via Quebec and St. Paul, in 28 days,
and Selkirk in less than 20 days, when the St. Paul and Pacific Kailroad
is completed. This summer will, doubtless, witness the establishment of
such a line of continental transit; once in successful operation, an overland
emigration from England and the British Provinces alone would reach
thousands annually. During the month of May, 1802, 300 Canadians
])a8sed through St. Paul to Fort Garry, expecting thence to make the
journey overland to the Cariboo mines, prospecting at the sources of the
Saskatchewan, where rumour indicates a counterpart of the surface diggings
which have brought the Cariboo region, immediately over the dividing
summits of the Kocky Mountains, so prominently before the world.

" The Hudson's Bay Company, with great sagacity, declines any
struggle with such a march of events. It would not bo surprising if the
additional steamers required in the speedy transmission of mails, freight,
and passengers to British Columbia Avcre immediately constructed under
the direction of the Hudson's iiay Company. Their transportation on
Lake Winnipeg and the Saskatchewan has reached a bulk which fully
justifies the necessary investment. Having but recently returned from
travelling through the State of Minnesota, 1 have ventured to give you my
views as gathered from personal observation."

Since the publication of that letter, the St. Paul and Pacific
Kailroad has been pi .hed forward with commendable enterprise.
Already 30 miles arc completed, 50 miles more graded, and the
iron is now on the way for its completion. Not only has this been
accomplished in a time of extraordinary financial depression, but
the energetic contractors for the road, it is expected, will finish it
to Pembina and Breckenridge, a further distance of nearly 500
miles, the terminus being the boundary-line of the United States
and British Columbia. The footsteps of the cohorts of civilization
are pushing rapidly forward to the Pacific Ocean.

" I hear the tread of pioneers
Of nations yet to be ;
The first low wash of waves, where soon
Shall roll a human sea."

Think of the immensity of such a space opened to the world ;

for by this new arm of the extended iron system upwards of 5fty
millions of acres of land will be rendered accessible to the
emigrant, who may journey direct, by ship and railway, from
European seaport to the soil that invites his occupancy.

How many and various are the routes by which he can reach
this Eden-like spot. Is speed his object? A line of steamers
takes him to New York, and from thence he can rail over the New
York Central, through the State of New York, and onward to
Chicago, the Great Central D6p6t; or he may take the Erie
Railway from New York, which will convey him through a lovely
region of country, and by that route reach Chicago; or he
may journey on the Pennsylvanian Central, and pass over one of
the most picturesque and romantic routes in the States, and yet
reach Chicago. He may* leave Liverpool by steamship for Port-
land, Quebec, or Montreal, and, by the agency of the Grand Tunk
Railway and the Great Western, reach either Milwaukee or
Chicago ; and from Chicago he can journey direct by rail to St.
Paul. Or he may steam up the St. Lawrence a great portion of
the distance. The Hudson River invites him with her magnificent
scenery. The Lakes — those inland oceans — are ready to bear him
on their bosom forward to his destination.* Or he may sail from
the white-cliffed shores of England to the mouth of the Mississippi,
and, landing in New Orleans — the key of the sunny South — he
may triumphantly steam up that Queen of Waters, the Mississippi,
until he reaches St. Paul and the enchanting Minnehaha Falls.
There he will find agents to counsel him, to advise him, and to
guide him. If he desire to cross into British Columbia, the route
is before him. Would he reach the ancient and honourable pos-
sessions of the Hudson's Bay Company, the means will be provided
for him. Or, if still more adventurous, and his mind is filled with
auriferous ^^sions, he can speed onward to the mines where daily
is brought to light the basis of the world's currency, the emblem of
her wealth ; for her

" Gold is the strength, the sinews of the world."

As an evidence of the enterprise which is being displayed in
the regions beyond Minnesota, and of the important political and
social results which may ensue from thvi opening uj) of these
regions, we transfer an article which recently appeared in the
editorial columris of the Neiv York Herald : —

" BRITISH PROG.ni'.SS I ST THE NOUTH-WEST.

" Month afcjr month wc struggle on, earnestly and grandly, in our
fight for national existence, and for the integrity of our soil, ar.d the whole
world v/atches lis, intent on the problem whether a great nation shall
stand jr fall. Yet it is but a short time since that a power,. Avhosc terri-

• A line of steamers ij also under contemplation to run betwccr some port in
Englaiid to Baltimore, Md., there to c; inectwith the Baltimore l" I Ohio Ilail-
road, "whi'ih has its connexion with the Pennsylvania llailroad, via Pittsburg and
the Cincinuati and Ohio Railroad, wliich crosses the Mississippi opposite St. Louis.

I '

tory on this continent ranked in extent second only to tliat of the United
States, passed entirely out of existence as quietly as the dead leaves fall to
the earth. Not only was this power second to none other but us in the
extent of its territory on this continent, but it was not fav behind us ; for,
of the eiglit million square miles that are called North America, wo hold
but two millions nine hundred thousand, and that power held two millions
four hundred thousand. It was only the extent of half a dozen European
States behind ; and, if the State of Texas and the territory of Nebraska
were left out of oiu* account, that power would have been absolute, almost
despotic, over a greater extent of the earth's surface than these great
United States. But it has passed out of existence, as Ave luivc said,
quietly, stealthily even. No earthquakes tolled bells in their shaken
towers ; there was no social convulsion anywhere, and no

•• • Wail of nations o'er its sacred walls.'

It has gone out of existence, and its two millions and over of square miles
have passed under the control of the British Government. Here is matter
for the supporters of the Munroe doctrine to think over. Added to tha
four hundred thousand sc^uare miles that were before Britidli territory,
they constitute the present actual British North Amei-ica, and leave the
United States only one hundred thousand scpiare miles a-hcad. This
would be a piece of land only about the size of the territory of Kansas, or
of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales together.

" We allude to the Hudson's Bay Company, one of those grand mono-
polies of the past age. Belonging to a past age, it could not live in this.
It died of the railroad and steamboat. All its extensive political power
reverted to the British Government, aud its other eifects have fallen by
purchase into the hands of a company whose Avealth is said to have no
limit, and who intend the development, to its full capacity, of the whole
country of Hudson's Bay 'and the land it drains.' Already we begin to see
the cha]ige that has thus been wrought. Emigration, settlement, develop-
ment in every way, were discouraged by th-^ Hudson's Bay Company,
which used it:5 whole power to keep the laud in its primitive condition, as
an immense preserve for the production of fur. Thus, while the United
States, side by side with it, have grown to their pi'cscnt condition, that
whole coimtry has stood still. Now, however, different ideas pr<;vail, and
the movement of progress, that stirs everywhere I'lsc in *he world, has
penetrated that remote region. Thrown complctfly open to emigration
and settlement — to all the various enterprises of capital, and to the
enlightenment of a semi-weekly mail — it promises to rival our own growth,
and to give lis on the north, with British assistance, just such a balance as
France and Spain Avish to establish at the other side of us. It may be part
of a nice European scheme to that effect ; but there can be no doubt what-
ever that this whole change in British North Ann.ric.a lias been fostered,
if not brought about, by the iiitcnsc desire of the British Government to
rival the development of this country,

" Great Britain, Avhose capital builds Hus.sian railroads, Oriental
packets, and even American locomotives, will s]iend its mojiey freely in
such a cause as this, and has begun well. Scarcely has John Bull looked
over this new country, and he projects a Pac'.lic railroad. We L.ve a
railroad in progress that is to run from St. Paul, in IMinuesota, to Pem-
bina, north-west from St. Paul, and almost on the British line. English

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ciipital contemplates our line with favour, and proposes to continue it from
Pttmbina to th(! ocean, passing the Rocky jNIountains near the head waters
of the Saskatchewan River. Such a line would be less than two-thirds the
length of a line from Cairo to the Pacific. John Bull may make the rail-
road, but a telegraph to the Pacific he certainly will make. It is to run
to "Vancouver's Island, and an American line will connect with it at a
station on the Red River of the north, and so bring it into the United
States. But at the other end, it is not jiroposed to let it stop at Van-
couver's Island ; it is to go on thence, and connect, in Russian America,
with a telegraph across Behring's Straits, and so to Europe ; and, if the
Atlantic cable is not hurried up, it Nvill find its value anticipated."

Referring again to the State of Minnesota, where will centre all
the lines of railway, and from whence they will converge to the
various sections now so rapidly developing, and also the importance
of a wise and liberal legislation on the part of the British Home
Government, wo append certain letters and papers : —

Letter from the Governor of Minnesota to Thomas
Rawlings, Esq., Gresham House, Old Broad Street,

London.

'* State of Minnesota, Executive Department^

''St. Paul, Nov. 28, 1802.
" * * * I regard the '-oad in question as a central outlet to
these extensive and fertile districts of Northern Minnesota, and the lands
in its vif^'nity must materially appreciate as its construction extends. I
enclose you documents indicating my estimation of the futare progress of
the region with which the St. Paul and Pacific Railrrnd is cijsely connected.
I also forward a memorial of the last Minnesota J^egislature bearing on
the same subject, of which I have recorded my official approval."

Extract of a Memorial presented to the Congress of the

United States.

" It is now well known that north of latitude forty-nine degrees (49°),
and west of longitude ninety-four degrees (94°), there extends to the
Rooky Mountains a district which may be properly styled Central British
Aiuerica.

" This region, at least to latitude filly-four (54°) — five degrees of
latitude in width and eleven degrees of longitude in length — is connected
witli Minnesota by internal river and lake navigation, and is capable of
sustaining as dense a population as the States of Michigan, Wisconsin, and
Minnesota.

" The climate and soil invite a similar agriculture. Selkirk Settlement,
with a pojiulation of ten thousand souls, immediately joins Minnesota, and
is the key to the future occupation f.ud development of the fertile valleys
and navigable rivers which converge to Lake Winnipeg. One of these
streams, the Red River of the North, is navigable for four hundred miles
by its course within the United States, forming the north-west boundary
of Minnesota.

'* It was a favourite policy of the Derby Ministry, and especially of Sir
Edward Bulwer Lytton, Colonial Secretary, to organize a Crown Colony
of Central British America, with the seat of Government at Selkirk.

! 4

»■■■ I ;,

^ .

" A draft of a bill for that purpose has not been pressed during the
Palmerstor Administration, greatly to the dissatisfaction of the people
most interested.

" Meanwhile tlie revenue and postal system of the United States has
been extended to Pembina, and beyond ; and, with ihe aid of steamboat
navigation (transferred to the Red River from the adjacent sources of the
Mississippi, by the enterprise of the citizens of Minnesota), has rapidly
removed former prejudices to conimeicial, and even political association
with the United States. It is not too much to say, that if England
shall not immediately take .neasures in behalf of the Red River and
Saskatchewan districts, by a political organization, and effective measures
of colonization, that the Americanization of a grain region as large as six
States of the size of Ohio, cannot long be postponed. Hitherto the people
of Minnesota have desired no other relations with their northern neigh-
bours than the concord of international treaties. They still seek no other,
satisfied with the political frontier entrusted to their keeping, although
claiming to be central to a vast division of physical geography."

From Hon. Henry M. Rice, U. S. Senator, to E. B. Litchfield,

Esq,, New York.

'■^Senate Chamber, Washington, D.C.,
"Dear Sir, "Nov.'27, 1802.

" The lands belonging to the St. Paul and Pacific Railroad,
ori the main line from Stillwater to Breckenridgo, are among the most
valuable in the State ; and, since the grant was made by Congress, and
the route surveyed and selected, the country through which the line passes
has been densely settled by industrious furmcrs. Many communities, vil-
lages, and towns have sprung up. * * » * 'pjie railroad lands will
average (so soon as the road is built) at public sale 2() dollars, equal to
£4 sterling, per acre. * * * * It is seldom that a line of only ten
miles in length pays, but such is the case with the road between St. Paul
imd St. Anthony ; the business upon it will astonish all who are not per-
sonally acquainted with the resources of the valleys of the Upper Missis-
sippi, Lank, and Red Rivers.

" Owing to the troubles in the border States, North and South, thou-
sands will leave in the spring for Minnesota. I am just in receipt of a
letter from the Hon. B. B. Meeker, then in Kentucky, saying that a large
number of his acquaintances in that State, among the wealthiest inhabi-
tants, would do so. " Very truly yours,

" Henuy M. Rice."

From J. W, Taylor, Esq., to Thomas Rawlings, Esq.

" ,S'/. Paul, Nov. 21, 18G2.
c{ # # * # J consider that railroad enterprise as having the
same prospects before it which the first railroad north-west of Chicago had
in 1852.

*' What ten years have accomplished for the Cliicago and Galena Rail-
road, both in business and the value of lands near the road, I anticipate
for the railroad north-west of St. Paul ;n 1872. * * * * The north-
west, beyond St. Paul, and extenduig through liritish America to the
Rocky Mountains, is destined to a development, which is my warrant for
the foregoing opinion. # ♦ * *

iil

" Lord Duniuoro, Avho spent ilw sunuuLT of 1862 in llritisli territory,
nortli-wcst of [Minncsotii, lately passed through St. Paiil's on his way to
London. Here he fully confirmed the intelligence of gold discoveries on
the Saskatchewan River, east of the Koeky Moiintains. In his own
language, *A rush may be expected A'om England and Canada next
summer (ISO .'!).'

" An overland emigration in that direction has already commenced, and
will ])ass I'rom St. Paul to Red River, over the route of the St. Paul and
Pacific Railroad."

Fro?u the CoMMissioNEii of the State of Minnesota Land
OrFici5 to Edmund Rice, Esq., President of the St. Paul
and Pacific Railroad Office.

" St. Paul, Jan. 24, 1863.
"I have the honour to inform you, under the Act of the
Legislature of March 10, 1862, that not less than 100,000 acres of school
lands shall be appraised and oifered for sale at public auction, on or before
the 1st day of November, 1862; '.h^y seven thousand eight hundred and
thirty-two and 93/100 (87,832^^^^,;, were offered for sale, of which

thirty-eight thousand one hundred anti ty-seven and 13/100 (38,147Jo?n)
acres, sold for two hundred and forty-two thousand five hiuidred and thirty-
one, and 60/100 dollars (2-12,531-/!,,"^ dollars); the average price i)er acre
being over six and 35/100 dollars (6yYo dollars). The average distance
of the lands from any public conveyance to market is not less than twenty-
five miles.

" I would also state that the demand for these lands is such that the
State will liavc another general sale as early as May in the present year."

Fro7n the Hon. Edmund Rice, President of the St. Paul and
Pacific llailroad, to Thomas Rawlings, Esq., of London.

St. Paul, Jan. 30, 1863.
" I have the honour to send you herewith a map of the State of
Minnesota, with the lands cet-tificd to this Comjiany indicated thereon.
These are the 307,200 acres mortgaged to trustees to secure the payment
of 1,200,000 dollars, of 7 per cent, bonds, dated June 2, 1862.

*' You will observe their proximity to the railroad and to the Missis-
sippi River, none of them l)eing more than fifteen miles therefrom.

" Their identity is certified under the seal of the Department of the
Interior.

" I enclose also an official description of the lands embraced in each
township, as returned by the Surveyor-General's Oflice by the Govern-
ment Surveyors, who are sworn officers. I also enclose an official state-
ment of the Commissioner of the State Land Office, showing the amount
realized for school lands sold by him at public auction in October last.

" These lands were granted by the United States for the purpose of
maintaining schools, and consist of the 1 6th and 36th sections in each
township.

" Of course, they can lie no better than the railroad lands, and in one
respect they are not so valuable, because they extend to all parts of the
State, whereas the railroad lands are all within fifteen miles of the

1 1 »IP *■ ^^ -ifr 1^ .

" You must be aware that tlierc is a thriving popuhitiou all along tho
Valley of the Mississippi, from St. Paul's to Crow Wing, and that thereby
the Company's lands are rendered altogether more A'aluable and moru
desirable to emigrants and others than they otherwise would be."

In confirmation of the value of the lands as in comparison with
the school 1 ids, we have received the following from the Senators
of Minnesota : — • •

^^ Senate Chamher, Wrn?hinffton, JD.C.,
''Feb. 19, 186i].
" From personal knowledge, we arc satisfied that the lands belonging
to the St. Paul and Pacific liailroad are as valuable and as well located as
the school lands, and some of them more valuable, in consequence of their
proximity to the road and the numerous depots or stations upon the line,

" M. S. AViLKiNsoN, U.S. Senator.
.. '. . . " Henrv M. lliCE, U.S. Senator."

To which corroborative evidence wc shall add a few farther
remarks on the relations of Morth British America to the State in
question. In 1858, Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton proclaims, in the
name of the Government, the policy of continuous colonies from
Lake Superior to the Pacific, and a highway across British America,
as the most direct route from London to Pekin and Jeddo.

Central British America, with its immense capacity for the pro-
duction of grain and cattle, has hitherto been approached by three
routes — through Pludson's Bay, by Lake Superior, and over the
plains north-west of St. Paul, Minnesota. The last named is now
universally admitted to be the most convenient route.

The communication through Hudson's Bay is of dangerous
navigation, limited to a brief season of the year, and obstructed by
the necessity of numerous and difficult portages. The same remark
applies, although not so fully, to the route through Lake Superior,
thence by Fort Garry.

By the Minnesota route, soon to consist of railway to the Eed
Kiver, and steamers by Lake "Winnipeg and the Saskatchewan to
the Rocky Mountains, a great natural highway exists, so advan-
tageous in all respects as to have excited considerable apprehension
among English writers that the destiny of that district tends in-
evitably to coalesce with that of the Mississippi States.

The great Hudson's Bay Company has mostly relinquished the
two former for the latter route. At a comparative early period, it
began to avail itself of the manifest advantages of a cheap, speedy,
and direct transit to the far west. In 1858, before the introduction
of steam upon the Red Kiver, the Company sent (50 packages by
it. In 1859, over 50 tons weight of goods were forwarded through
the same channel, and formed a part of the first freight carried by
the little steamer on the Red River. Satisfied with the results of
these experiments, the Company then made arrangements with
Messrs. Burbank and Co., of St. Paul, to forward their entire
supplies for the Red River trade, amounting to from 250 to 500

■^»>-w

tons annually. The development of a steam communication on
Lake "Winnipeg will transfer the - hole transportation of the trade
to Minnesota.

In 1862, the railway system of the United States terminated at
La Crosse, in the State of Wisconsin. Thence steam navigation
to St. Paul, land transportation for 250 miles to Georgetown, on
the Red River, and steam navigation to Fort Garry, were the
improved modes of transit. Beyond the Selkirk settlements the
oared bateau and the wooden cart of the fur-trader are the rude
resources of the inhabitants. But, with the gold discoveries at the
sources of the Saskatchewan, a new state of things is at hand.
Steamers once placed on Lake Winnipeg and the Saskatchewan,
an emigrant can make the journey from Toronto, in Canada, to the
Cariboo Mines of British Columbia in thirty days, and at less
expense than is now required for the journey on land from the
mouth of the Frozen River to the Cariboo country.

Thus, in conclusion, quoting the words of an eminent writer
from whose volume on Mmnesota we have gathered much useful
information : " Through Minnesota, the sole pathway of westward
emigration, must flow the great exodus now dashing itself in vain
^gainst the shores of Europe through the passes of the Caucasus.
Every advancing wave of population lifts higher and higher this
gathering flood of American life, which, the moment that it begins
to press upon the means of subsistence, must pour all its vast tide
through this narrow channel into the inland basins of the north-
west — till the Atlantic and Pacific are united in a living chain of
populous States. Behold, then, the geographical circle of American
development completed ! Henceforth, the energies thinly dispersed
in the vast movemeiit of territorial expansion are concentrated in
the upward career of civilization and social growth. This is but
the outline, faintly limned upon the canvas, of the empire into
which is to be wrought the glory and the grace of all historic civi-
lizations. Progress is no longer a superficial diffusion, but an
inward growth, of which not width but depth is the measure. The
movement of life is turned from the circumference to the centre.
The reciprocal dualism of the east and west, of the north and south
— their action and re-action — becomes a continental economy. The
social life of the new world ceases to be a fragment — a broken echo
of old-world tradititions — and becomes a complete and rounded
continental organism, at once independent and supreme, of which
lyiinnesota is the vital centre — the heart from which all its arteries
pulsate to the majestic systole and diastole of the commerce of
the world."

Clayton & Co.. Printere, Bouvcric Stmt, London, B.C.

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