CO-OPERATIVE CAPITAL 



Here is a field which stands ready and waiting. The 

 costly work of preparation was done during a speculative 

 era, when it was believed that it was only necessary to 

 build reservoirs and canals in order to induce a stampede 

 of settlers to the newly reclaimed regions comparable to 

 that which peopled a State in Oklahoma almost in a 

 night. But those who reckoned thus did not understand 

 certain fundamental differences between the humid and 

 arid regions, and how these differences affected not 

 merely the process of colonization, but the habits, cus- 

 toms, and institutions of the people engaged in the work. 

 As the irrigation speculation of the early nineties turned 

 out, it seems almost as if a special Providence had pro- 

 vided a field for co-operative colonization, and then per- 

 mitted it to lie fallow until men should see the light. 



There are plenty of surplus people who would gladly 

 occupy these surplus lands. The missing link is the 

 necessary capital. Supposing this be supplied and the 

 willing people sent forth upon their task, what are the 

 elements of security and the sources of profit for the 

 capital which must be employed ? 



First, there is security in the land and water sup- 

 ply. This is of the most permanent and stable charac- 

 ter. It cannot burn up, nor blow away, nor be stolen, 

 nor does it deteriorate with use. It grows more valua- 

 ble with the passing years, with development, with the 

 increasing pressure of population. The improvements 

 made upon it are likewise fixed in character. Every 

 dollar of money and every hour of labor expended upon 

 the land remain there, permanent and inalienable addi- 

 tions to the value of the property. 



There is a second element of security not inferior to 

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