THE MIRACLE OF IRRIGATION 



nitics which have grown up in conformity with these 

 conditions. 



The essence of the industrial life which springs from 

 irrigation is its democracy. The first great law which 

 irrigation lays down is this : There shall be no monopoly 

 of land. This edict it enforces by the remorseless opera- 

 tion of its own economy. Canals must be built before 

 water can be conducted upon the land. This entails ex- 

 pense, either of money or of labor. What is expensive 

 cannot be had for naught. Where water is the founda- 

 tion of prosperity it becomes a precious thing, to be 

 neither cheaply acquired not wantonly wasted. Like a 

 city's provisions in a siege, it is a thing to be carefully 

 husbanded, to be fairly distributed according to men's 

 needs, to be wisely expended by those who receive it. 

 For these reasons men cannot acquire as much irrigated 

 land, even from the public domain, as they could acquire 

 where irrigation was unnecessary. It is not only more 

 difficult to acquire in large bodies, but yet more difficult 

 to retain. A large farm under irrigation is a misfortune; 

 a great farm, a calamity. Only the small farm pays. 

 But this small farm blesses its proprietor with industrial 

 independence and crowns him with social equality. That 

 is democracy. 



Industrial independence is, in simplest terms, the guar- 

 antee of subsistence from one's own labors. It is the 

 ability to earn a living under conditions which admit of 

 the smallest possible element of doubt with the least 

 possible dependence upon others. Irrigation fully satis- 

 fies this definition. 



The canal is an insurance policy against loss of crops 

 by drought, while aridity is a substantial guarantee 



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