44 THE AGRICULTURAL BLOC 



life. I cannot help but think if the hun- 

 dreds of millions of dollars paid for irriga- 

 tion schemes had been paid the wheat and 

 cotton grower and the foreign going ship 

 owner in bounties, we should now be worth' 

 at least 200 billions of dollars in actual 

 wealth we do not now own, and have a 

 happy, contented, prosperous nation of at 

 least 200 millions of people. We have lost 

 more fertility which has run into our rivers 

 from our cultivated lands than have been 

 taken out of our irrigation lands, because 

 the price received by the American farmer 

 has been entirely too low to keep our agri- 

 culture up to the proper standard. Then we 

 should have all the mass of latent wealth in 

 our arid lands in a perfect state of con- 

 servation for our future generations. When- 

 ever things come to an equitable basis in 

 the farm with the city and the status of the 

 farm is lifted 300 per cent higher, then these 

 irrigation schemes are going to clash be- 

 cause they are going to make the cost of 

 production entirely out of proportion. We 

 have enough abandoned lands when brought 

 back by placing the farmer in his right fi- 

 nancial condition to supply this nation and 

 leave a lot for export for the next 100 years 

 without touching and drawing on our arid 

 land's fertile wealth. 



I learned from two New York gentlemen 

 in one week in the First Congregational 

 Church, Portland, Oregon. One, the Rev. 



