THE CONQUEST OF ARID AMERICA 



dolence or incompetence of other men, or ask others to 

 pay the penalty of his own shortcomings. The individ- 

 ual home, family, and farm constitute the unit of indus- 

 try and society in the colony. But there is a sphere be- 

 yond the reach of the individual. 



It is impossible for each small capitalist and proprietor 

 to maintain his own store, so that he may purchase sup- 

 plies to the best advantage ; to operate his own selling 

 agency, so that he may dispose of surplus products 'in 

 the best markets and on the best terms ; to erect and 

 conduct his own industrial plants, so that he may con- 

 dense and manufacture raw products into the most mar- 

 ketable form ; to purchase and manage a large stock- 

 ranch, so that he may pasture and fatten a small herd of 

 cattle or flock of sheep. All these things require capital, 

 special knowledge, and an amount and kind of labor which 

 the individual and his family do not usually possess. 



We have passed from the sphere of the single man or 

 family to that of associated man. It demands the use 

 of the aggregate capital of the community and the wise 

 organization of labor. We must now have either com- 

 petition or co-operation competition, in which the few 

 of large capital shall employ and exploit the many ; or co- 

 operation, in which the many shall organize their capital 

 and their labor for mutual advantage and protection. 



We may now apply the larger lessons learned from the 

 Mormon system of stock companies, from the fruit ex- 

 changes of California, and from the co-operative societies 

 of Europe. The modern corporation, and even the mod- 

 ern trust, point the way to prosperity for the army of 

 producers who will occupy the now vacant West in the 

 coming century. These are simply :i moans of combin- 



