Having said all I can in the brief time allotted me to present the half century's growth of Minnesota, I cannot round out my conclusions better than by slightly paraphrasing the panegyric of Daniel Webster on Massachusetts, pronounced in the Senate of the United States, in 1830. Mr. President, I shall enter on no encomium of Minnesota. She needs none. There she is. Behold her, and judge for yourselves. There are her history, her resources, her enterprise, her intelligence, her growth, as I have related them. Her past is at least secure; her future depends upon the fidelity of her people. I commit her to your keeping, with hope undiminished and confidence unimpaired. Preceding Judge Flandrau's address, Mrs. Jane Huntington Yale, of St. Paul, sang "The Song of the Flag" (by De Koven), with piano accompaniment by Mr. Charles G. Titcomb. Following this address, the afternoon exercises were completed with the singing of "Auld Lang Syne" by the audience, led by Mrs. Yale. AULD LANG SYNE. Should auld acquaintance be forgot, And never brought to mind? Should auld acquaintance be forgot, And days of auld lang syne? For auld lang syne, my dear, For auld lang syne, We'll take a cup of kindness yet We two have paddled o'er the wave We'll have a thought of kindness yet For auld lang syne. For auld lang syne, etc. EVENING SESSION. Captain Russell Blakeley, the senior vice president of the society, presided in the evening session, which began shortly after eight o'clock. In taking the chair, Captain Blakeley said: Ladies and Gentlemen: It is unpleasant to me to announce that it is very doubtful whether Governor Ramsey will be here this evening. He left word that he wishes me to preside if he does not come, and we have waited now somewhat longer than was expected. It will not be my purpose to consume a moment of the time of the audience this evening, except to render my unfeigned thanks on behalf of the Historical Society for the interest that you all have manifested in attending these meetings. An audience of about five hundred people was present in the afternoon, and fully seven hundred in the evening. The several addresses in this session were as follows. OPENING ADDRESS. BY HON. JOHN S. PILLSBURY. It is certainly very pleasant to meet so many pioneer settlers of this state who are members of this Historical Society, and who have always taken so much interest in the work which this institution has accomplished. The members and officers are entitled to the thanks of the people of this state, for the preservation of the records of the early events of Minnesota as a Territory and as a State. These historic records will be of great value to the future generations, who will consult this society's library for matters of importance which cannot be found elsewhere, and which in after years will be invaluable. It is said that fifty years is but a small period in the life of a state. There are several members, however, of this society here tonight, who were here before the state or even the territory was organized. The character of these early settlers, many of them members of this institution, gave shape largely to the affairs and reputation which the state now enjoys. Had it not been for the sterling character of these early pioneers, I am sure that this great commonwealth would not have reached the high standing which she now occupies among the other states of the Union. The early settlement of Minnesota was slow. It had to contend with many drawbacks, because the state was on the extreme frontier of the country and was considered almost worthless for agricultural purposes. General Hazen, while stationed at Fort Buford, in his report to the United States government, represented this country to be a portion of the great American desert, ill adapted for settlement. The geographies used in the common schools also represented this section to be a part of the great American desert. Horace Greeley and other editors advised settlers to go to Kansas and Nebraska, saying that Minnesota was too far north. During the contest which raged at this time as to whether Kansas and Nebraska should be made free or slave states, they advised settlers to go to these territories instead of Minnesota, which was reputed to be a cold and barren country. Some Consequently settlement for many years was slow; but there was a class of settlers who believed in Minnesota. of those men are members of this Society, and are here tonight. They were frontier settlers of Wisconsin Territory, while that included a part of what is now Minnesota, and were also residents of the Territory of Minnesota before it was organized into a state. What is more wonderful, these men have lived to see that territory developed into the states of Minnesota and North and South Dakota, with increase of population from less than five thousand in 1849 to over two millions today. What is more remarkable still, they have lived to witness the growth, in Minnesota, of two great cities of about 200,000 population each. So much cannot be said of Kansas or Nebraska, or of any other state at the end of the first fifty years from its admission to the Union, or, I should say, from the beginning of its existence as a territory. General Sibley told me, before his death, that he held jurisdiction, as a Justice of the Peace, over more territory than any other living man. While a resident of Mendota, in 1838, he held jurisdiction over a portion of the present states of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, and North and South Dakota. In 1854 there were only five or six school districts in our territory, and not more than a half dozen log schoolhouses, of very little value, with no organized public school system. Then we had no public school fund. Today there are upwards of seven thousand school districts, with over ten thousand school teachers, to whom we pay more than $3,500,000 in salaries annually. Our school buildings at this day are valued at more than fifteen million dollars. Our public schools have an enrollment of more than four hundred thousand pupils; and our school system is among the very best in the country, with a permanent school fund which now reaches the magnificent sum of thirteen million dollars. We have in addition a State University at the head of our public school system, ranking second only among the state universities in the country, with an enrollment at the present time of upwards of thirty-two hundred students. Today Minnesota is one of the best agricultural and stockraising states in the Union. It produces more and better wheat than any other state; and, what is more remarkable, it manufactures more flour than is manufactured in any other state or province on the globe, the product for the year ending September 1st, 1899, being twenty-five million barrels, of which fifteen million were made in Minneapolis. These facts give the state a wide reputation throughout the world; and this all has been attained within the memory of those here tonight. All this we have from a country which was pronounced by eastern editors worthless for settlers. The development of our resources has been rapid, not only in the production of wheat and the manufacturing of flour, but in our mineral products. In 1884 we produced 62,124 tons of iron ore. We shall supply the markets this year with more than 12,000,000 tons of the very best of iron ore. To show how rapidly the iron industry has developed, I have only to relate an instance of what I witnessed a few years since at West Superior, in Wisconsin, adjoining our city of Duluth. Two whaleback steamers were to be launched, and a large number of our citizens were to witness the launching of these great steamers. A special train of cars took us to West Superior, a place which but a few years before was the roving ground for the Indians. We found there fine public buildings, elegant schoolhouses, nice churches, paved streets, good hotels, and some 10,000 enterprising people. A large rolling-mill had been erected and was manufacturing 125 tons of steel daily, used for the plating of these large whaleback vessels. To our great astonishment, we were informed that the ore from which the steel was manufactured was lying in its native soil, in the part of Minnesota north of lake Superior, some six months before. Not until 1864 did we have a mile of railroad within the limits of this state; today we have thirteen trunk lines of railroad reaching St. Paul and Minneapolis, over which two hundred and fifty-five trains of cars arrive and depart every twentyfour hours. A person can now take a seat in the cars on the Atlantic coast and cross the continent by the way of Minnesota to the Pacific coast with but one change of cars, and with but two changes can reach China or Japan. Consider also the growth of the mail service. In 1850 the government asked for proposals to carry the mails leaving St. Paul once a week, on Sunday, to reach Prairie du Chien, 270 miles distant, the Sunday following, and to come back by the next Sunday. The notice contained the significant statement, that "more frequent supply will be considered." Compare that service with the service of today and how wonderful is the change! The number of vessels that passed through the Sault Ste. Marie canal in 1855 was less than 100, with a tonnage of 106,296, the valuation of which was less than one million dollars. The number of vessels that passed through the canal in 1898 was 17,761, with a tonnage of 21,234,661, of the value of $233,069,739. The volume of business through the Sault Ste. Marie canal in 1899 will be four times that of the business through the Suez canal. Minnesota as a producer of wealth during the half century past has forged ahead so rapidly that today she outranks those states which came into the Union about the time she was admitted. Her valuation of property did not exceed fifteen millions in 1850; today her valuation is upwards of $600,000,000, and as a wealth-producing state she ranks well up with the |