FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



443 



Almost every acre of these lands 

 which the nation is about to prepare for 

 the swarming of a home-building popu- 

 lation may, under existing laws, be 

 stolen and used as the basis of a profit- 

 able speculation. And those who desire 

 to secure these lands for speculative 

 purposes are strong enough to tie the 

 hands of Congress until the deed shall 

 have been done. This, too, in spite of 

 the fact that the President of the United 

 States has urged the repeal of these in- 

 iquitous land laws as something which 

 is vital to the success of the national 

 irrigation policy. 



us all a farm, and an irrigated farm at 

 that. It is not a dream, but a fact, that 

 the present population of the United 

 States can be duplicated on the arid 

 public domain in the West. 



This can be done without making 

 new competitors for those already en- 

 gaged in agricultural pursuits in the 

 east and in the south. On the other 

 hand, this wonderful act of planting a 

 new nation in what is now all but an 

 unbroken wilderness will confer enor- 

 mous benefits on those sections which 

 are already covered with farms, facto- 

 ries, and towns. 



The subjugation and set- 

 tlement of the great empire T 

 of public lands means- that 

 every factory wheel in the 

 United States must whirl 

 faster, that every banking 

 house must handle more 

 money, and that every rail- 

 road must transport more 

 passengers and freight. 

 This, in turn, means a 

 larger and busier popula- 

 tion in every eastern and 

 southern town, and that, 

 of course, will quicken and 

 enlarge the demand for all 

 the products of the soil in 

 the older sections of the 

 country. 



In the meantime, that 

 which is grown from the 

 soil to be conquered by irri- 

 gation in the West will go A BIT OF DESERT LAND BEFORE THE APPLICATION OF WATER. 

 almost exclusively to the 



feeding of new home markets to be ere- Shall the nation's land, then, and the 

 ated within the arid region itself and to nation's money be used to enrich a com- 

 the satisfaction of unlimited demands in paratively few greedy individuals, or 

 the Orient and in the frozen north. 



Congress has decreed that the great 

 policy of national irrigation shall be 

 entered upon without delay. Already 

 the engineers and surveyors are doing 

 their work, and five great projects have 

 been reported favorably to the Interior 

 Department. Only about $7,000,000 

 are required to carry all five to comple- Washington. No power on earth ex- 

 tion, and the money is in the Treasury cept the power of an aroused and indig- 

 awaiting the call. But upon the thresh- nant public opinion can save the arid 

 old of the greatest constructive policy to region from falling prey to the specu- 

 which this nation ever set its hand a new lators who are alive to their opportunity 

 and appalling obstacle is encountered. while the people are asleep. 



shall they be used to furnish security 

 and happiness for millions of men, 

 women, and children ? 



This is the question which must be 

 answered when Congress meets again. 

 The answer depends absolutely upon 

 the will of the people as it shall be 

 made known to their representatives at 



