THE NEW EARTH 



best, among childish peoples is only a sorry 

 makeshift tending toward flaccid mental mus- 

 cles ; while paternalism in a free republic like 

 our own is a national sin. These fifty millions 

 of acres of arid land will be reclaimed by 

 means of money derived from the sale of the 

 government lands in the thirteen states and 

 three territories in which the irrigation will 

 be introduced — Arizona, California, Colorado, 

 Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, 

 New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Ore- 

 gon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wy- 

 oming. To begin with, there was a fund 

 already accumulated of thirty million dollars, 

 soon to reach fifty million dollars. The gov- 

 ernment is taking this money, finding out just 

 where it may be spent to do the most good to 

 the largest number of people, is constructing 

 reservoirs and digging canals and distributing 

 the water over the desert places. It is believed 

 that by the time the fifty million dollars is 

 expended this Great American Desert will 

 afford homes for fully five hundred thousand 

 people, — homes where there will be ever at 

 hand in soil and climate and water the means 

 for a comfortable living. Still further to avoid 



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