“ This combination of natural and artificial highways of commerce derives an additional importance from the character of the regions thus provided with transport facilities, which renders its cities the principal distributing centres both for the entire Northwest for coal shipped via the Great Lakes, and also for the eastern and middle Western states for the great staples, wheat and lumber, derived either from Minnesota itself or by means of its great transcontinental railways from the neighbouring Northwestern states and Canadian provinces. ”

“ In case the owner is married the homestead cannot be sold or mortgaged, except for an unpaid portion of the purchase money, without the joinder of husband and wife, and if the owner dies leaving a spouse or minor children, the homestead with its exemptions descends to the surviving member or members of the family. If the owner is a husband and he deserts his family, the wife and minor children may retain the homestead. Under the laws of the state the legal existence and legal personality of a woman are not affected by marriage, and the property rights of a husband and wife are nearly equal. ”

“ For the revision of the constitution it is necessary that two-thirds of the members elected to each house of the legislature vote for the call of a constitutional convention, that a majority of all electors voting at the next general election approve the call for the convention, and that the convention consist of as many members as the house of representatives, who shall be chosen in the same manner, and shall meet within three months after the general election at which it is voted. ”

“ For an inland state Minnesota is exceptionally well situated to play a chief part in the commercial life of the country, and various causes combine to make it important in respect to its interstate and foreign trade. It is the natural terminal of three great northern transcontinental railway lines—the Northern Pacific, the Great Northern, and the Chicago, Milwaukee & Puget Sound (the extension of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St Paul system) ”

“ A homestead which is owned and occupied by a debtor as his dwelling place is exempt from seizure or sale for debts other than taxes, those secured by a mortgage on it, or those incurred for its improvement or repair, or for services performed by labourers or servants. But a homestead so exempted may not be larger than one-fourth of an acre if it is in an incorporated place having a population of 5000 or more, than half an acre if it is in an incorporated place having a population of less than 5000, or than eighty acres if it is outside an incorporated place. ”

“ This soil prevails throughout the southern counties and the Minnesota and Red River valleys, in which sections cereal crops predominate. Toward the east central part of the state there is a somewhat less fertile sandy soil, which is devoted more largely to potatoes and similar crops. The non-arable north-east portion of the state is covered with a coarse granite drift. Underneath the surface are beds of sand, gravel and clays, the last affording material for the manufacture of brick, tiles and pottery. The rock formations of the state furnish building stones of great value. ”

“ The state was admitted to the Union with its present boundaries on the 12th of May 1858, and the federal census of 1860 showed that the population had increased to 172,023, despite the fact that the financial panic of 1857 had severely checked the state’s growth. Minnesota furnished more than 25,000 troops for the Federal armies during the Civil War. But even more pressing than the call of the nation was the need of defending her own homes against the uprisings of the Indians within her borders. ”

“ The fisheries, which are of great value, are carefully supervised and systematically replenished from, the State Fish Hatchery at St Paul, and the Federal Fish Hatchery maintained at Duluth, in which particular attention is devoted to the fish of Lake Superior. Minnesota ranked third among the states of the Union in 1900 in the production of lumber, but in 1905 was fifth, the supply having diminished and the industry having been developed in the states of Washington and Louisiana. ”

“ The Mississippi river, which flows for about 800 m. within or along the borders of the state, has its principal sources in and near Lake Itasca. It affords facilities for the transport of logs by means of booms above Minneapolis, and is navigable below St Paul; being half a mile broad where it reaches the border of the state at Hastings. At the Falls of St Anthony, St Cloud, Little Falls and other places, it provides ample water-power for manufacturing purposes. Its two principal tributaries are the St Croix and the Minnesota. ”

“ In all sections about as much, or even more, rain falls in summer as in both autumn and winter, and the summer rains, together with the long summer days, are very favourable to a rapid growth and early maturity of crops. ”

“ The absence of a large proportion of the able-bodied young settlers in the northern armies was taken advantage of by the Indians, and in the summer of 1862 there was delay in paying them their yearly allowance. ”

“ Agriculture.—The principal industry of Minnesota is agriculture. Large areas of swamp lands in the central and north central parts of the state once counted non-arable have been drained and reclaimed. There were in 1900 154,659 farms aggregating 26,248,498 acres, of which 70·3% was improved land ”

“ The university is one of the largest in the country. In 1907 there were twenty-three buildings valued at more than $1,475,000. The university library of 110,000 volumes is supplemented by the libraries of Minneapolis and St Paul. In 1908–1909 the faculty numbered about 325 and the total enrolment of students was 4421. Other higher educational institutions in Minnesota are Hamline University (Methodist Episcopal) , with a college of liberal arts at St Paul, and a college of medicine at Minneapolis; Macalester College (Presbyterian) at St Paul ”

“ Of the 14,358 coloured inhabitants, 4959 were negroes and 9182 Indians, 8457 of whom lived on reservations. The urban population (i.e. inhabitants of cities of 8000 or over) was 26·8% of the total population, as compared with 28·2% in 1890. By the state census of 1905 the population of the principal cities was as follows: Minneapolis, 261,954; St Paul, 197,023; Duluth, 64,942; Winona, 20,334; Stillwater, 12,435; and Mankato, 10,996; by the same census four other cities, all in the mining region in the north-east, had passed the 5000 limit, viz. ”