THE CONQUEST OF ARID AMERICA 



operated upon industrial plans thoroughly vindicated by 

 the experience of the arid region during the past half- 

 century. The financial plan does not differ materially 

 from that of building and loan associations, nor the plan 

 of conducting stores and industries from that of the suc- 

 cessful co-operative institutions of Great Britain. There 

 is nothing novel or experimental in the plan as a whole, 

 except the application of old and proved principles to 

 new conditions. 



The project of co-operative colonization sometimes 

 incurs the criticism of Socialists, on the ground that it 

 does not provide a sure method of preserving equality 

 in men's possessions. The fear is expressed that the abler, 

 thriftier, and more grasping among the settlers will grad- 

 ually acquire large means and make their fellows pay 

 tribute to them. Such a result would be theoretically 

 possible, but is hardly a practical danger. Though the 

 twenty -acre irrigated farm has never yet produced a 

 pauper, neither has it grown a millionaire, nor any- 

 thing approaching a capitalist of ominous proportions. 

 The tendency in colonies where irrigation is used, as we 

 saw in an early chapter of this book, is towards the di- 

 vision of lands rather than in the direction of acquiring 

 more. It is difficult to see how Socialism would give to 

 an agricultural population any important advantages 

 over this plan of co-operation, which preserves individ- 

 ual independence while providing for the solidarity of 

 the community. 



We come now to the social side of colony institutions. 

 We have seen how the isolation of country life has 

 driven multitudes to the already crowded cities. In the 

 history of the most successful settlements ever made on 



