THE CONQUEST OF ARID AMERICA 



to the colonies. It would intrnst the work of adminis- 

 tration to men of great ability and experience, who 

 would systematically direct the labor to the highest im- 

 provement of the land and the speediest repayment of 

 the capital. In a previous chapter we have seen the in- 

 dustrial and social organization of the colony, the man- 

 agement of the labor, the sources of profit, and the method 

 of paying interest and gradually providing for the sink- 

 ing fund from wages and profits. 



This plan meets every requirement of the situation, 

 and will solve the problem of bringing together the sur- 

 plus land, labor, and capital, if the writer's deductions 

 from the world's experience arc correct. No other plan 

 seems feasible for this time, this people, and this country. 



It is necessary to say a closing word under this head 

 to those who will object to the feature of a strong con- 

 trol of the colonists on the ground that it is not demo- 

 cratic, and that it violates the true spirit of co-operation. 



The whole history of the past shows that those who 

 set out upon the work of colony -building must make 

 themselves amenable to leadership in order to succeed. 

 The writer regrets that this conclusion has been forced 

 upon him as the result of patient studies of colonial 

 effort in our own and in foreign countries. It would 

 bo far more agreeable to say that all the people need is 

 sufficient capital, then access to the land, and that when 

 these are provided they are perfectly capable of work- 

 ing out their own salvation. But such is not the fact. . 

 They will waste their time and squander their resources 

 in learning how not to do it. They will fall into hope- 

 less dissensions, break up into warring factions, and so 

 defeat their own precious ends. They will set the stamp 



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