1 903 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



445 



there is no peril to the peace of a coun- pie the making of something out of 



nothing, the creation of a multitude of 

 homes where the desert now exists. 

 Gratifying evidence of the fact is found 

 on every hand ; but there is another side 

 to the matter. How many people know 

 anything about the details of the under- 

 taking ? How many actually appreciate 

 the value of the imperial domain of the 

 west which is still the property of the 

 United States ? Probably not more than 

 one in ten thousand. And of those who 

 do, a considerable proportion belong to 

 the class of speculators and adventurers 



try like the peril of land monopoly. 



Land monopoly robs men of a large 

 portion of the products of their labor. 

 It nullifies the spirit of constitutional 

 guarantees which seek to give assurance 

 of political freedom. No man is free 

 in the true sense of the term who is be- 

 holden to another for the means of his 

 existence, and land monopoly makes 

 rebels instead of patriots. In the case 

 of Ireland it drove more than half the 

 population away from the native soil. 

 It filled their hearts with bitterness, 

 and even sent some of 

 her children into the * 

 ranksof England's ene- 

 mies in the hour when 

 her life was at stake. 



On the other hand, 

 it is a well recognized 

 truth that no nation can 

 have a better bulwark 

 than millions of men 

 who own their own 

 homes. It has been 

 well said that ' ' no man 

 ever went to war in de- 

 fense of his boarding- 

 house." 



All these things are 

 familiar enough to 

 thoughtful people. 

 Why say them again ? 

 For this reason : the 

 crushing burden which 

 Ireland is now prepar- 

 ing to slip from her 

 shoulders the Ameri- 

 can people are pro- 

 ceeding, by means of a 

 subtle and silent pro- 

 cess, to take upon their own. There who know too well how to acquire valu- 

 is danger, very grave danger, that one able parts of this property for them- 

 of the most beneficent acts of national selves and who are proceeding to do so 

 legislation ever framed and passed may with startling rapidity in all sections of 

 miscarry ; that instead of making homes the West. 



Some day the full story of the looting 

 of the people's heritage will be told. 

 When it is, the average American citi- 

 zen will open his eyes with amazement ; 

 and he will pass from amazement to in- 

 dignation. The question is, Will he do 

 so in time to avail anything, or will he 



SCENE SHOWING THE RESULT OF IRRIGATION. 



for millions of small proprietors, we 

 shall make vast stock ranches and lordly 

 private estates for a comparatively few 

 great proprietors. 



AN ENTRANCING VISION. 



The scheme for the reclamation of the 

 arid public domain undoubtedly delights only lock the door after the horse is 

 the imagination of the American peo- stolen ? 



