"A thriving trade has sprung up between the southern counties of Minnesota, and Galena and Dubuque. During the greater portion of the summer, the War Eagle and Tishimingo run regularly to Winona.
"On the Upper Mississippi there are now three steamers, the Gov. Ramsay, H. M. Rice, and North Star (new). Daring the season these boats ran between St. Anthony and Sauk Rapids.">[
It may be well to pause here a moment and inquire into the causes which contribute so wonderfully to build up empire in our north-western domain. The territorial system of the United States has some analogy, it is true, to the colonial system of Great Britain— not the colonial system which existed in the days of the stamp act— but that which a wiser statesmanship has more recently inaugurated. The relation between the general government and our territories is like that of guardian and ward— the relation of a protector, not that of a master. Nor can we find in the history of antiquity any such relationship between colonies and the mother country, whether we consider the system of Phoenicia, where first was exhibited the doctrine of non-intervention, or the tribute-paying colonies of Carthage. That system which was peculiar to Greece, "resting not on state contrivances and economical theories, but on religious sympathies and ancestral associations," came as near perhaps in spirit to ours as any on record. 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. Why is it that Italy is not great? Why is it the South American republics are rusting into abject decay? Is it because they have not enough physical resources, or because their climate is not healthy? Certainly not. It is because their political institutions are rotten and oppressive; because ignorance prevents the growth of a wholesome public opinion. It is the want of the right sort of men and institutions that there is
"Sloth in the mart and schism within the temple."
"Let states that aim at greatness," says Lord Bacon, "take heed how their nobility and gentlemen do multiply too fast; for that maketh the common subject to be a peasant and base swain, driven out of heart, and, in effect, but a gentleman's laborer." He who seeks for the true cause of the greatness and thrift of our northwestern states will find it not less in the influence of just laws and the education of all classes of men, than in the existence of productive fields and in the means of physical wealth.
"What constitutes a state?
Not high raised battlement, or labored mound,
Thick wall, or moated gate;
Not cities proud, with spires and turrets crowned;
Not bays and broad armed ports,
Where, laughing at the storm, proud navies ride;
But men, high minded men.