38 



THE IRRIGATION AGK. 



ping play a prominent part. So Thanks- 

 giving which to the Pilgrim Fathers 

 meant literally a day upon which to give 

 especial thanks to the Creator is now as- 

 sociated inseparably with turkey, cran- 

 berry-sauce, and a family gathering at 

 which the family skeleton gets such a 

 thorough outing from his closet as he has 

 not had for many a day. We cannot go 

 back to the simple pleasures of long ago, 

 'we cannot feel the same solemnity regard- 

 ing this day, but we can and ought, each 

 of us, to snatch at least a few moments on 

 Thanksgiving Day to think of our "mar- 

 cies" :>nd in heart, at least, be thankful 

 for the happiness that may have come to 

 us individually and for the prosperity 

 which has come to our country. 



Every now and then we read 

 Consciejce of instances wherein donations 

 Fund. are ma( j e to the "conscience 



fund" at Washington, D. C. Recently 

 $200 was sent to Treasurer Roberts with 

 the followine letter: 



"Enclosed find $200. This is for money 

 just the amount taken from the Govern- 

 ment through the Commissary Depart- 

 ment at time of war of rebellion. It is 

 herein returned." 



Tois is only one of a large number of 

 persons who, after many years, are induced 

 through some means, to send to the ''con- 

 science fund" amounts of which they have . 

 defrauded the government. When a man 

 thus tries to right a wrong that is un- 

 known to all save him, it shows that there 

 is such a thing as conscience. 



Under this title the New York 



TTViC 



iSew South. Commercial has the following 



to say editorially: 



"There is no more gratifying or signifi- 

 cant sign of the times than the South's 

 seeming determination to become a manu- 

 facturing as well as an agricultural section. 

 Only recently the Commercial printed an 

 editorial from the Nashville American 

 which seemed to voice a sentiment now 

 prevalent throughout the cotton belt. A 

 few years ago newspapers in the old slave 

 States devoted themselves almost exclu- 

 sively to politics. An industrial article, 

 if it appeared at all, was printed merely 

 as a news item without comment. Henry 

 W. Grady, of the Atlanta Constitution, 



was the first among Southern journalists 

 to recognize a new order of things, and 

 during his lifetime he wrote ably and 

 pointedly in iavor of a new South. To- 

 day such representative newspapers as the 

 New Orleans Times-Democrat and Pica- 

 une, Atlanta Constitution, Nashville 

 American, Savannah Morning News, 

 Memphis Commercial and the Charleston 

 News and Courier are eschewing politics 

 and devoting themselves to urging mate- 

 rial development in their respective com- 

 munities. This is a gratifying change and 

 its influence is already being keenly felt. 

 One cotton manufacturing concern in 

 Georgia last year paid dividends amount- 

 ing to 97 per cent, on its investment. 

 Capital will certainly be attracted into 

 such a community, and we hope the good 

 work will continue." 



A 



Good Idea. 



The Philadelphia Board of 

 Trade has recommended to 

 the International Commercial 

 Congress the establishment of a bureau for 

 the collection and dissemination of agri- 

 cultural statistics throughout the world. 

 Such a bureau would be of almost infinite 

 value to both producing and consuming 

 nations. It would give the American 

 farmer, for instance, information as to the 

 visible supply of wheat, corn, cotton and 

 other products and enable him to sell to 

 the best advantage at the most favorable 

 time. International statistics are now col- 

 lected, but not by governments for the 

 benefit of all alike. Wealthy spectators 

 secure the information and use it to their 

 own profit, buying when a commodity is 

 cheap and selling at an advance when 

 scarcity becomes apparent. Another 

 thing, snch a bureau would bring the 

 countries establishing it into closer touch 

 with each other would stimulate their 

 commercial relations by fostering recip- 

 rocal trade. The worlJ. would become 

 better acquainted. 



Prosperity Investigations of the records 

 Versus of the Joliet state penitentiary 

 Crime. tend to show that crime, in a 



large number of instances, is due to abso- 

 lute want. As "good times" commence 

 the number of convicts sent to prison each 

 month decrease, proving the assertion of 

 the Times: Hera Id that "bi sy cluys for the 



