THE CONQUEST OF ARID AMERICA 



the land itself. It is the element of human labor. This 

 is the soul of the security, as land and water are its physi- 

 cal body. Labor is the creative force which alone gives 

 value to any form of security. Behind government and 

 municipal bonds is the labor of bodies politic. Behind 

 railroad and other industrial stocks and bonds is the labor 

 of an army of employes. Behind co-operative coloniza- 

 tion bonds would be the labor of earnest men and women, 

 selected for their intelligence, industry, and ambition 

 of men and women working under competent leadership 

 to make homes and achieve independence for themselves 

 and their children. There can be no better security than 

 good irrigated land occupied by industrious people under 

 these conditions. 



The foregoing statements apply with equal force to 

 the question of earning capacity. There is no failure of 

 crops upon irrigated lands when cultivated. There never 

 will or can bo such failure until water forgets to run 

 down hill and the earth forgets to yield her increase. 

 The productive capacity of irrigated lands, under the 

 conditions of soil and climate obtaining in the arid 

 regions, is superior to that of any other lands. Under 

 the industrial plan outlined in the following chapter it 

 is impossible for the colonists to fail of a living. Under 

 that plan it is likewise impossible for them to fail of 

 a surplus above a living, sufficient to earn interest and 

 make regular contributions to the sinking fund upon the 

 basis of such a capitalization as is ample for the under- 

 taking. 



We have here, then, in the irrigated but idle valleys of 

 the West, all the elements of a first-class security, includ- 

 ing the capacity to earn profits and pay off the principal. 



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