Speech #480024286

That than double that of Great Britain aiid Ireland. and thirtytwo times the size of vast region has since become the home of civilization. Out of it havebeen carved States and Territories. The wave of immigration has swept across the continent. the Pacific Northwest is the last territory to be thus occupied. and the Pacific Ocean will for the present mark the limits of the westward movement. Notwithstanding the difficulties of reaching that region. its great advantages. although but imperfectly known. have hitherto attracted a large immigration. and there is no room for doubt but that over the new line of travel but recently opened will throng to Oregon. Washington. and Idaho in the near future a great multitude of intelligent and enterprising people. By means of its trunkline nearly 2.000 miles in length. traversing a belt of fertile country. and half as many miles more of branches penetrating rich mineral and agricultural regions. the Northern Pacific Railroad has brought an empire vast in extent and almost unlimited in resources into contact with the commercial world. opened it up to settlement and development. and furnished the means of transportation whereby the products of the soil. the mines. and the forests will find an outlet to market.