FARMERS TO THE FRONT 19 



be passed along to the innocent consumers as I will 

 show. 



The Harper's Weekly writer speaks of the ex- 

 pense incurred by the general government for irriga- 

 tion as something wholly for the benefit of the 

 farmer. Surely it is for the benefit of all — of the 

 whole country. Every foot of new territory opened 

 up adds just so much to the wealth of all, and brings 

 down the cost of food. This certainly is not to the 

 special advantage of the farmers as a class. They 

 are precisely the people that would be least benefited 

 by it. Every new farm created out of the present 

 arid region means just so much additional compe- 

 tition for the farmers already engaged in operating 

 farms. 



I have opposed this irrigation scheme at every 

 opportunity and claim that if the government really 

 is desirous of doing something for the farmers it 

 can accomplish much more at less expense by help- 

 ing the present farmers to irrigate their lands. Our 

 present farms are not producing a third as much as 

 they can and must in a comparatively few years 

 when the population of the world has doubled again. 

 Our averages of thirteen bushels of wheat, twenty- 

 seven of corn, and other crops in proportion are 

 distressingly low. Consumption has fully caught 

 up with production, in fact in some lines is ahead 

 of production. If the flow of the farm products to 

 market was not hampered and restricted by the self- 

 ish interests of speculators and gamblers, and the 



