THE IRRIGATION AGE 



VOL. VIII. 



CHICAGO, FEBRUARY, 1895. 



No. 2", 



THE PROGRESS OF WESTERN AMERICA. 



A Plan, of We are beginning to see the dawn ior 

 Campaign. i rr j gat i on anc } Arid America. Both in 

 the East and in the West our friends are in the 

 saddle. The opportunity is ripe, and there is much 

 reason to confidently predict that the utmost advant- 

 age will be taken of it. The two subjects of interest 

 this month are the plans for an eastern campaign of 

 education and enlistment, and the irrigation bills 

 that are being introduced into the legislatures of 

 eight western states. If only a fair degree of success 

 shall be realized along these two lines, the first three 

 months of 1895 will be the brightest period in the 

 history of irrigation progress. We are beginning to 

 see the fruition of the work that has been done in the 

 past. As for the eastern campaign, that is quite fully 

 explained in another part of this number of THE AGE 

 by extracts from a public circular issued by the 

 chairman of the National Committee. It may be 

 thought that the plan is somewhat audacious. That 

 is not necessarily a fauh. * On the other hand, it may 

 turn out to be its chief virtue. The man who raises 

 his voice for irrigation and Arid America against the 

 dead wall of national indifference will very quickly 

 learn that he must resort to audacious plans. Meek- 

 ness has its uses, but it is not of much value in arous- 

 ing nations to their opportunities and organizing the 

 forces required for continental conquests. The plans 

 outlined in the public circular are the outcome of 

 systematic studies pursued for years in all parts of 

 the country and among all classes of people. They 

 aim both to relieve the immediate pressure and to 

 prepare the way for enduring movements of popu- 

 lation. 



^ke plan of using the unemployed 



labor of the country to construct 



. , , _ , 

 canals under the Carey law is one that 



will quickly attract public attention and support. It 

 is a contribution to the solution of a difficulty that is 



Utilizing 



*^e 

 Unemployed. 



urgent and pressing. Nobody knows the number of 

 the unemployed, nor can any one analyze its charac- 

 ter. Not until the lists have been opened to appli- 

 cants, and the individuals applying have been 

 scrutinized, will it be possible to answer the dozen 

 questions that occur to every mind upon the sugges- 

 tion of this plan. The writer has talked with all sorts 

 of eastern people during the past few weeks jour- 

 nalists, statesmen, philanthropists, social reformers, 

 labor leaders and finds that all concur in the opin- 

 ion that merely to present this opportunity to the 

 country at this time is an important public service. 

 If the result shall prove that thousands of men now 

 idle are willing to become industrious and produc- 

 tive, then there is absolutely no question about the 

 ability of the arid region to absorb them. They can 

 be furnished with labor first and afterwards with 

 homes. There is little real danger that men who are 

 not willing to work for a chance to live, and finally 

 to become independent, will respond to this call. 

 Those who are idle from choice and vicious by dis- 

 position gather by a natural instinct in the purlieus 

 of great cities. They will find nothing to attract 

 them on the voiceless desert. On the other hand, 

 those who are willing to accept an opportunity to 

 work at hard labor, and then create homes on arid 

 lands, are needed in the West. The more that this 

 class responds, the better. It is this class which, 

 settled to a large degree the States of the Mississippi 

 Valley. They have made good citizens in the past 

 and will again. 



But while the portion of the pro- 

 Tie Colony . . , , . . , , 



Home gramme which deals with the unem- 



Clubs. ployed will very likely attract the first 

 and largest attention, because it touches a problem 

 which is immediately pressing and carries a certain 

 element of dramatic interest, this is by no means the 

 most important feature of the general plan. There 



53 



