Anoka County, Minnesota - Chapter 6: Prosperity in "fifty-Five., 1905

Chapter 6: Prosperity in "fifty-Five.

November 30th a special election was held in St. Anthony, Manomin ( h'ridlev ) and Anoka, on account of a tie vote at the general election between M. W. Getchell and A. M. Fridley, who were rival candidates for representative in the territorial legislature. At the special election twenty-six votes were cast in Anoka - twenty-one for Fridley and five for Getchell.

The flour mill was completed about Feb. ist. 1855. It was located just north of the east end of the bridge. When it started to grind there was nothing like wheat enough in the territory to keep it running. Francis Peteler, John Hunter and John West hauled 6000 bushels of wheat from St. Paul to Anoka to supply the mill. The wheat came up by steamboat from southern Iowa and Wisconsin. February 24th, 1855, the mill was totally destroyed by fire, entailing a loss of about $12,000. This was the heaviest loss by fire which had ever occurred in Minnesota territory, and as there were as yet no insurance companies doing business in this region, the loss fell entirely upon the owners (Caleb and William H. Woodbury and A. P. Lane). Nevertheless, preparations were immediately made for rebuilding.

In March, 1855, E. P. Shaw sold his stock of goods and leased the store building to R. Ball, a merchant of St. Anthony, and the latter sent Samuel McCray to take charsre of the Anoka store.

1855 was a very prosperous year in Minnesota. The crops gave early promise of an abundant harvest and immigration into the territory was large beyond all precedent. During the spring months every steamboat from down the Mississippi brought all the passengers it could accommodate to St. Paul. Five hundred was not an uncommon number and some brought as high as eight hundred persons. Citizens of St. Paul used to wonder what would become of the crowds which swarmed up from the steamboat landing, and the problem of beds and provisions sometimes threatened to become serious. But the crowds melted away almost as rapidly as they came - hastening in every kind of conveyance and often on foot, up the Minnesota river or the' Mississippi to the opening opportunities for work and investment. A gentleman traveling from Sauk Rapids to St. Paul in April counted seventy immigrant teams on the way. In April Thurber started a tri-weekly stage between St. Anthony and Monticello. About the same time Joseph B. Holt opened a store at Elm creek, and Warren Sampson started another at Bottineau Prairie (Osseo). On the 8th of May Silas C. Robbins was sent by Mr. Ball tO' assist and ultimately to supersede Samuel IMcCray in the Anoka store.

The old trading post gave temporary shelter to many of the early settlers. When Elder Twitchell moved otit to take a claim just over the line of Grow, A. P. Lane moved into it. and when Lane's house was up D. Y. Smith took possession, sharing it during the following winter with Daniel Robbins, and taking S. C. Robbins as a boarder. In 1855 came John S. McGlaufhn, who conducted a blacksmith shop in the town for many years.

notices posted up by claimants who made little or no pretense of living on their claims. But rather than waste time in law suits the settlers pushed farther on. About 1854 Joseph Trott settled in Ramsey beside the brookto which his name was given, and a little later came A. [. M'cKinnev and Sanuicl Littlcficld. Francis retcler and John (ilynn settled in (irow, and the former persuaded Jacob Milliman. whose farm had laecn largely flooded when the d?m was built, to locate near him. He also ponitcd cut desirable locations to D. Y. Smith, John Mayall and S. C. Rol)bins in the same town, which they took. Rnlibins still managed the store, but contrived to stay on his claim enough to hold it. Nathaniel Small also settled in Grow in 1855. I" May, 1855. Moses S. Seelye, Sr., with his son, H. E. Seelye, Jarvis Nutter and John McKenzie made claims in the northern part of what is now Oak Grove. In June David Rogers also settled in Oak Grove. Joseph Sausen took a claim in the southeast corner of Linwood in 1855, and J. H. Batzle made a claim near by m the northeast corner of Columbus the same year. The following year Yost Yost settled in Columbus.

The water in the rivers was low and logs for the St. Anthony mills were hung up in Rum river and at Coon rapids all summer. There were plenty of logs at Anoka, however, and the demand for lumber taxed the capacity of the saw mill to the utmost. In June a second up-anddown saw was placed in position, but still the demand for lumber exceeded the output. The steamer H. M. Rice lay tied up at Anoka all summer on account of low water, and the citizens turned it into a temporary church, holding religious services on board every Sunday. When the rains came late in September and the steamer went into active service, the new flour mill was utilized for a like purpose.

The First Fourth Of July Celebration

"Fifty-fivers" relate with pleasure the events attending the first celebration of the Fourth of July in their new home. A picnic dinner was spread under the shadt of a little grove on the bank of the Mississippi a block or more west of Ferry street. Dr. Giddings owned the only horse and buggy in town, and in this equipage he drove to the residence of Deacon J. F. Wheeler, and took Mrs. Wheeler to the groye. where she directed the arrangemciit of the tables. "Elder" Twitchell. as he was universally called, was the owner of a wagon, which served tolerably well for hauling hay and wood, but was hardly fitted for passenger service, and on this occasion it was not used. Thomas B. Richards, a recent arrival, had a yoke of oxen, and these he hitched to a sled, upon which kitchen chairs had been placed for seats, and by driving on the grass he brought to the scene of festivities a considerable party of the more favored ones in a style which doubtless aroused the envy of all beholders.

Settlers about Elm creek crossed the Mississippi in row boats and took an active part in the proceedings. Joseph B. Holt, the Elm creek merchant, read the Declaration of Independence, and Rev. Winthrop Hayden delivered the address. In the midst of his speech Mr. Havden was interrupted by the firing of an anvil, which son.c enthusiastic patriot had set off.

"\\'e had hoped," said the speaker when he could be heard again, "that we had gotten far enough west so that we could celebrate the Fourth of July without the aid of rum or gunpowder."

His auditors laughed at this sally, and Mr. Hayden continued his speech without further interruption, dwelling chiefly upon temperance and slavery - the two topics which were then u]^permost in the ]niblic mind.

The same week an unusually long Red river train made its appearance from tl-.e north. There were 300 carts in the train and twenty-six days had been consumed in making the trip.

to this time all the merchants had located on the west side of Rum river, hut having looked over the situation with some care, and noting the strong trend of settlement toward the lands afterward included in the town of Round Lake (Grow). Mr. Ticknor came to the conclu- sion that the east side would eventually be more favorable for trading ])urposes, and accordingly made overtures to the town site proprietors for the purchase of twenty-five feet on the corner of Main street and First avenue, now occupied bv the grocery of McCauley Broth- ers. The spot was still covered with its primitive growth of hazel brush. A high price was named, and Mr. Ticknor declined to pay the amount, securing an inner lot, upon which a building was erected. Some years later Mr. Ticknor bought the lo't where the Goodrich & Jennings drug store stands, and put up another building, into which he moved his stock.

During the summer of 1855 ^^""^ "Elm Creek and Anoka Ferry Company," organized by J- B. Holt, James W. Groat and others, prepared to make use of the franchise which was granted to them by the county commissioners of Benton and Hennepin counties. Mr. Groat built the ferry boat and it made its first trip across the Mississippi Sept. 11, 1855.

In November the first school house was built. It stood on Third avenue just south of where the new Library building now stands at a point about opposite the front door of the court house. Besides being used for school purposes, this building was utilized as a place of worship by all denominations that held religious services.

November 22, 1855, a description of the town of Anoka appeared in the St. Anthony Republican, from which a very fair idea of the place as it then existed may be gathered. Doubtless some allowances should be made for the evident desire on the part of the writer to make a favorable showing, both as to the size of the town and the capacity of the various mills and factories. The essential parts of the article are as follows :

"The first blow was struck here in the summer of 1853; but in consequence of a break in the dam the work was not completed nor the saw mill running until August, 1854, from which time the town with propriety might

"On aperture No. i Messrs F. B. Dunn & Co. have in operation an upright saw cutting from 6,000 tO' 8,000 feet of lumber daily. A siding and flooring mill with all its equipments, a lath mill, a shingle mill, and a w'ell arranged rotary saw for fitting materials for lath mill and cutting the blocks for the shingle mill while all refuse timber is cut into stove wood.

"On aperture No. 2 the Messrs Woodburys have an upright saw, which manufactures from 6,000 to 8,000 feet of lumber per day, and a lath mill for working their slabs into laths.

"On aperture No. 4 Mr. J. P. Woodbury has erecied a saw mill frame which will be finished and put in running order as soon as possible and will aid in supplying the demand at this place for lumber, which during the low stage of water the past summer has been very great, from St. Anthony, Minneapolis, and the settlers in the northern part of Hennepin county, as well as those in and around Anoka.

"Aperture No. 5 supplies a race twenty feet in width and several hundred feet long, which will ultimately be lined with the various kinds of machinery, which the accessibility of both pine and hardwood timber must induce.

makes a shing;le nearly as smooth as if planed, and to all appearances as good as the common shaved shingle. Next is the establishment of t). Smith & Co.. with its turning lathe, bedstead machine, planing mill and manufactory of sash, doors and blinds.

"At the lower end of the race is located the new flouring mill of W'oodburys and Lane, which in appearance and the thoroughness of its construction and finish would do no discredit to any town in the Northwest. Less than nine months ago a flouring mill was burned to the ground, subjecting the owners to a loss of some $12,000. besides being no inconsiderable loss to the place and the surrounding countr\-. On the ruins the present mill is erected .and in all its appointments is full hit)- per cent better than its ill fated predecessor, whose short existence had enabled it to secure a reputation second to none in the territory. * * *

"On the west side of the river stands the Farnham House, a large and commodious hotel ; also the postoffice, three stores - dry goods and groceries by J. Foster, groceries and provisions by E. P. Shaw, and dry goods

Shuler, which with one physician's, two shoemakers' and one tailor's signs, greet the hungry, the naked, the weary and the sick. Here twenty-one buildings in a town of scarcely fifteen months' age, enliven the western banks of Rum river. * * *

"On the east side of the river are located the mill, the Anoka House, kept by Mr. Lufkin - and formerly presided over by W. B. Fairbanks - ^the hardware store of E. H. Davis & Co., the dry goods and grocery of H. L. Ticknor & Co., which with dAvellings, &c., swell the number of buildings to fiftv and over in the town. * * started but not yet surveyed or named, at "Rum river rapids." After a time the name "Otona" was applied to it, but the place was more commonly referred to as "St. Jonathan." It was several years later that St. Francis was finally fixed upon as the official name.

A Period Of Sfeculatiox

Notwithstanding the abundant crops, it began to be apparent early in the winter (1855-56) that there would be a scarcity of provisions in the territory. After navigation closed in the fall no further supplies could lie obtained from without, and the population had so largely increased that what to the dealers in those days seemed large stocks melted away with astonishing rapidity. Corn at Anoka brought $1 to $1.50 i^er bushel and salt pork $25 to $30 a barrel. At Ball's store Dwight Woodbury bought from S. C. Robbins seven bushels of beans at $7 per bushel, for the use of his men w^ho were at work on the new mill at "St. Jonathan," and was u.- clined to be angry because he could not buy all there was in the store at that price, until Mr. Robbins explained to him that he had promised to keep some beans for his customers.

The large profits which had accrued to those who had put in crops in 1855, arising from the unusual combination of bountiful harvests and very high prices, presaged a great increase in farming operations for 1856. Many farmers hastened to put their last season's profits into horses and machinery, and the new comers bid eagerly for chances to get at the land. Prices of farm lands rose by leaps and bounds, and the high prices which had been demanded for town lots were marked up another notch. For example, George W. Branch held the five lots on Branch street between Park and Main streets, where John S. McGlauflin afterward built his home, at $500 each.

The country generally had been enjoying a decade of prosperous times. Railroad l)uilding had been very extensive, and it frequently happened that more money was made by those who bought the land along a proposed route and held it for sale until the railroad brought population and consequently purchasers of the land, than by those operating the road after it was built. This fact had a tendency to induce the building of railroads for the purpose of increasing land values, with little reference to the actual demands of trade. Heavy mortgages must usually be given both on the lands and on the railroads, and the prompt payment of interest in such cases depended on an immediate influx of population. Sometimes immigrants were capricious and chose to go elsewhere. In such cases adroit financiering must be resorted to in order to ward off bankruptcy until population could be attracted.

Speculation in farming lands went on with increasing intensity as population advanced. An old device which consisted in hiring men to take up land and theti buying their rights was extensively practiced. After 1854, when the laying out of town sites was seen to be a profitable speculation, towns with and without inhabitants multiplied with surprising rapidity.

In 1855 Captain James Starkey of St. Paul undertook the task of building up the village of Columbus. It was situated in the southern part of the present town of that name. A saw mill was built, and also a commodious hotel. In 1857 the place was large enough to poll 69 votes. Twenty years later only a few decaying logs in the brush and a cellar full of rubbish served to mark the spot.

Much less of a reality was the town of "Glencarey," "Glen Carie" or "Glen Garey," as it- was variously written, which was located in the southern part of what is now Ham Lake on land now owned bv Rersfer Titterud.

A Period Of Speculation

A few houses were erected, and elegantly engraved lithographs proclaiming the names of streets and numbers of blocks circulated in the cities ; and titles to lots and mortgages on lots were offered for sale, and no doubt found purchasers. A bill to remove the county seat to Glencarie was introduced in the legislature, but was killed by the timely opposition of a delegation of citizens of Anoka.

This is but a sample of tendencies w^hich were at work throughout the West. Mortgages based on inflated values, and often on practically no values at all, drifted eastward into the hands of trust companies and private investors, and across the ocean. For a time interest charges might be met by making bigger mortgages, but there could be but one ending to such a state of affairs - a financial panic.

During 1857 grasshoppers spread over the greater part of the state and Anoka county settlers were among the worst sufferers. The insects flew over in such numbers as to hide the sun from view. In a single day they would strip a wheat field bare of kernels, and while a few billions, more or less, lingered to cut up and lunch on the straw, the rest invaded the farmer's garden and door yard in search of dessert. Corn fields were left with bare straight stalks standing. Pumpkin, squash, melon and potato vines disappeared like magic, and cabbages were devoured down to tne stem. Where the farmer's wife threw out dish water they crawled over each other two inches deep to get a taste. Matched lumber being an unknown luxury, the walls of many cabins had been covered with old newspapers, pasted on to cover the cracks. The grasshoppers ate the cracks out clean again to get the jjaste, and thus let in their brother pests, the mosciuitoes. The grasshoppers even attacked articles of wood in some cases, and boards were often found with edges rounded off. In 1858 they disappeared as suddenly as they came, reappearing to some extent in states farther south.

Charier Vii

Before the settlers had l)eguii to recover from the effects of the grasshopper raid, the financial panic of 1857 was upon them. A recent writer thus describes the beginning of the panic in the East :

"In August the suspended blow fell : on the 24th the Ohio Life Insurance and Trust Company of Cincinnati and New York failed, with reported liabilities of $7,000,000. The announcement of the failure on the New York Stock Exchange caused a panic ; stocks fell ; many bankers and brokers were unable to meet their engagements. Money rose to three, four and five per cent a month. * * *

"All eyes were on New York. During the first part of October the Illinois Central Railroad company made an assignment, the notes of the New York and Erie Railroad went to protest and the Michigan Central Railroad company suspended payment on its floating (lcl)t. Amid wild excitement, a heavy run began on all of the New York banks, it was impossible for them to stand the drain. October 13. at half past ten in the evening, the New York Cily banks resolved to suspend specie payments on the following day."

A contributing cause of the panic lay in the unsatisfactory condition of the currency. A great part of the circulating medium of the country consisted of bank notes, secured onlv bv the assets of the bank itself, and

The panic did not reach Minnesota immediately. But the first week in October two banks in St. Paul suspended, and a meeting of the merchants of that city was held to devise means of relieving the financial difficulties. In Minneapolis and St. Anthony, where an attempt was made to keep the bank notes in circulation, "wildcat" money drove all other forms of currency nearly out of circulation.

Under the pre-emption law settlers had to pay for their claims at the rate of $1.25 per acre within a certain time or forfeit their rights. Interest rates had risen to three per cent, a month and more. An Anoka county farmer living on Cedar creek found it necessary to raise some money to make a payment to the government, and is said to have gone to a money lender in St. Paul, a

"Financial. - There are no new failures reported in to-day's papers. We judge things are more 'quiet/ as we met a man on the street to-day who had half a dollar in cash - all in twenty-five cent pieces. They looked very lonely, were round, and about the color of silver spoons. We heard of another eccentric genius yesterday who paid his note when it became due. Probably a case of mental aberration. With these exceptions the market is without any change."

"Never since Alinnesota was 'discovered' was current money so scarce as now. Almost everybody has a pile of bills, but the banks which issued them have suspended or failed, and the paper pictures no longer represent the 'tin.' The West w-as sound, Minnesota sounder, and St. Anthony and Minneapolis soundest until the great banks of the East slammed their iron doors in the long faces of creditors, but now confidence has gone down and the whole country is afloat like the deck-lumber of the Central America. Every man is overboard, struggling manfully with the waves, and though one of the wrecked may succeed in getting upon a larger plank than his fellows, yet all are straining their eyes for a light at the foretop of some rescue ship ahead. The United States of America has suspended payment. Thousands arc thrown out of employment throughout the country, and many will go to bed supperless before another April. Men chase each other up and down the streets to collect 'bills payable,' and honest debtors who own $50,000 worth of land, cannot raise money enough to pay foot-toll at the bridge. What we are coming to we are unable to say, but one thing is evident - however unpalatable the aggrafian fact may be, 'Tight Times,' is mowing the financial acres East and West with a keen scythe, and the beggar and thf broker will change coats before Spring without either losing his respectabilitv."

"Gosport," "Tekama," "Omaha City," "Platte Valley," "Florence," De Soto," "Lyons City Scrip," and "Western Exchange Fire and Marine Insurance Co.," were some of the bank notes which circulated largely in the territory.

But banks were failing in all directions, and as soon as the failures became known notes of these banks were refused. Notes of banks that were under suspicion circulated at discounts which often increased with alarming rapidity. Smiley & Woodbury, who operated the flour mill at Anoka, sent three ten-dollar bank notes one after the other to St. Anthony for the purpose of making some small purchase. The messenger was unable to pass any of them at par, and on the third trip was ordered to take what he could get. He finally succeeded in passing the last bill for $8.50.

In the spring of 1858 Frank Zahler worked with a surveying party in the Sauk Valley and received for his services $84 in state bank notes. He paid his hotel bill and stage fare to Anoka out of the amount and a few days later went into a store in Anoka to make some purchases. He picked out some shoes and wearing apparel tO' quite an amount, and the proprietor asked about the pay.

A "bank detector" was issued frequently from New York, showing which bank notes were worth their face, which notes were at a discount and how much, and which notes were worthless. But the quotations fluctuated more and more violently, and merchants received daily reports whenever possible.

Sylvanus Stockwell bought a yoke of oxen from a man named Nicholls, paying him $110 in "Glencoe money." Nicholls succeeded in passing the money, but very soon after the "Bank of Glencoe," which had issued it, was reported to be wholly without assets, and its bills became worthless. Harvey F. Blodgett bought a cow of Jacob Milliman for $35 or $40, and before Milliman could get to town to spend the money the bank had failed, and he could not buy his dinner with the entire amount.

S. C. Robbins taught school in the town of Grow in the winter of 1857-8, and in the spring got his entire winter's pay in money which was only valuable for kindling a fire. Matthew F. Taylor worked several months for Staples & Hersey at Stillwater in the spring of 1858, for fifty cents a day and board. Plenty of men out of work were eager to take the places of any who were dissatisfied with these wages. Fie received his pay in state bank notes. He succeded in purchasing a pair of boots from Daniel Robbins on the basis of $4 of good money, and Mr. Robbins took some of these state bank notes for the amount at about sixty per cent, discount. That was all Taylor ever got for his money, as the notes soon after became worthless.

WH6se i^otes wefe refused ' by merchants. People were afraid to go to bed at night with money in their pockets, for fear it might be worthless next day. The oiily safety w^^Ho deposit it in a solvent 'bank, 'if biiie'^could be found, oi^'tidnvert it into merchandise of some sort at the earliest opportunity. Some Canadian iiioney circulated at twenty per cent, premium. jai bun .nhijiui/ t>ij.a .*:

In December, 1857, the Qiicago TrtWh^ said: "St/' Anthoily and Minneapolis appear to be the headquarters ol'fhfe^'Uiicurrent 'monei^r in -Miririesota. Largfe quantities ' of the broken 'Farmers- Bank of Noi-'th Ca:ro1ina,' quoted' in Chicago at 75 per cent, discount, circulate at par up % 'b^if'^tefl-^^T^k^hi^^ 6i Nebraska',* which is a swindle ; and ' Flbre'nce, which is little better; together with Fontenelle, constitute about all the currency' in ^'circulation north 5f St, P'^ul The same villainous trash has spread over many of the western counties, and driven out every dollar of current " moneyi^C) io a :ri ioorlDa JrigufiJ

-* 'An attenipt was made on the paft of certain brokers td' bo3'cott the St. Anthony Republican, which had the temerity to repi'int the above paragraph. But the' nia- ' jofityof people soon came to the conclusion that the wretcli^d substitute for mdney would reach zero sooner or later- ' and that those who clung to it longest would be the greatest sufferers. l^^ii^i^--'^' -^'^^// Having paid out the "wikc^'^"Jhd{iB)^^ ^s'^fong ai'^ anybiody could be found who wouM' receive it, the people were lett practically withbut A circulating medium. Trade toc^k the form of barter. The merchants traded their goods for farm products'', ' and the wholesale merchants were obliged to takelheir pay iri'thfeSe' of m^ke no" sales. But^' wholesale grocers foiind it inipossible 'to 'sto<^k up

The Tamc Of Fiftv-Seven

Ammi Cutter, who was operating a tub and pail fac tory on the east side of Rum river at Anoka, near where the railroad bridges now are, made strenuous eflforts to keep his factory going. He also had a general store, and paid his men chiefly in store orders, whereat some of them grumbled. But nothing better could be done. On one occasion when the men complained that they were without meat he traded goods out of the store for a hog and having cut it up. divided the pork among them.

Business men were often driven to the greatest strait.-> for a little cash. A man came down from Elk River to get some lumber planed at Frank Blodgett's planing mill at Anoka. Blodgett told him that if he would advance sixty-five cents to buy machine oil for the mill he would do the work - otherwise it would be impossible. Another man who had considerable property borrowed ten cents on one occasion from S. Stockwell to buy some crackers for a meal for himself and wife. One of the Woodbury brothers, a man with large property interests, said one day to a friend :

When such was the condition of the well-to-do. the situation of the poor may be imagined. Happy the man who could get together cash enough to buy a pound or two of brown sugar, a little salt and a box of matches. Corr' spondence between relatives lingered for months for want of postage stamps. Wheat was browned as a substitute for coffee. As for tea, it might as well have stayed in China.

Ten thousand dollars in citv and countv scrip was issued in St. Anthony and Minneapolis ; but it disappeared like rain in the ocean. The state of IMinnesota was admitted to the Union in 1858, and immediately found itself without funds and unable to pay orders on the treasury. State orders went down to twenty-eight cents on the dollar. Unpaid orders on the Anoka town treasurv were quoted at thirtv-two cents. The o-overnor of Minnesota refused to call the legislature together, and the session of 1859 was accordingly missed because there was no money to pay the salaries of members and officials.

Slowly a little coined money began to appear. French five-franc pieces circulated at eighty- four or eighty-five cents. A little Mexican silver began also to be seen, Ammi Cutter finally succeeded in making some arrangements for coin, and paid approximately fifty cents a bushel in gold for wheat at Anoka during the winter of 1857-8. For wheat sown by hand and cut with a cradle, this price was very low, but there was no danger that the farmer would find his money on the list of "rejected" the next time he came to town.

Ginseng

About 1858 the discovery was made that the Big Woods contained in considerable quantities a plant known as ginseng. Moreover, this wonderful plant could be traded for groceries and even sold for good coined money. Boys whose time had heretofore been counted nearly worthless had been known to make as much as two dollars a day digging "sang," as it was popularly called. There was a grand exodus to the woods, and a knowledge of the appearance of the plant having been acquired, sacks were brought into service and the tall timber scoured in all directions.

The next year digging ginseng became a regular business, and in consequence gold found its way into many a home where it had long been a stranger. Boys and women became very successful diggers. Agencies for the purchase of the plant were establishd at Minnetonka in Hennepin county, Rockford in Wright county, and

Watertown in Carver county. Considerable quantities of the root were also purchased in Anoka. The price sank to eight cents a pound for washed "sang" and six cents for unwashed, but even at these rates boys and women made what seemed to them excellent wages, and even men often found the work a very convenient thing to fall back on. In the spring of i860 the "sang" hunters were once more out in force, and there was reported to be abundance of money at hand to pay for all the roots they might find. The fall of that year P. Sheitlin of Minneapolis shipped forty tons of ginseng to New York. Up to 1863 ginseng digging held its place as a valuable industry.