The patronage which the government bestows
on new territories is one of the sources of their growth which ought
not to be overlooked. Instead of making the territory a dependency and
drawing from it a tax, the government pays its political expenses,
builds its roads, and gives it a fair start in the world.
Another cause of the successful growth of our territories in general,
and of Minnesota in particular, is the ready market which is found in
the limits of the territory for everything which can be raised from a
generous soil or wrought by industrious hands. The farmer has a ready
market for everything that is good to eat or to wear; the artisan is
driven by unceasing demands upon his skill. This arises from extensive
emigration. Another reason, also, for the rapid growth of the
territory, is, that the farmer is not delayed by forests, but finds,
outside of pleasant groves of woodland, a smooth, unencumbered soil,
ready for the plough the first day he arrives.
But if a salubrious climate, a fertile soil, clear and copious
streams, and other material elements, can be reckoned among its
physical resources, there are other elements of empire connected with
its moral and political welfare which are indispensable.
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