CONSERVATION THROUGH ENGINEERING. 27 



can be no assurance of this when the management is left to the 

 electorate of a local district, and without such assurance it is diffi- 

 cult to command the support, first, of the landowners whose con- 

 sent is essential to the formation of the district; next, of the in- 

 vestors who must supply the money; finally, of the settlers who 

 must purchase and develop the land in order that the object of the 

 enterprise may be realized. The Government can give the assur- 

 ance of precisely that quality of unified, centralized, permanent, and 

 responsible control that is required to command the confidence of 

 all the factors in the situation. X 



There is another advantage of Government cooperation that will | 

 inure greatly to the benefit of the settler. The Government may | 

 readily apply the policy it now uses in connection with privately / 

 owned lands within reclamation projects. It requires the owners; 

 to enter into a contract by which they agree to accept a certain' 

 maximum price for their land if sold within a given period of years. 

 This price is based upon the value of the land before reclamation. 

 There are many instances, particularly of swamp and cut-over areas, 

 where land that may be bought for $10 an acre and reclaimed at a\ 

 cost of $25 to $50 per acre, has an actual market value of $100 to i 

 $200 per acre the moment it is put into shape for cultivation. I_ 

 the Government, by means of a contract with the local district, 

 undertakes the work of reclamation and settlement and does this 

 work at actual cost, the settler will generally save enough to pay 

 for all his improvements and equipment. 



The crowning consideration is the fact that, because of all these 

 advantages, the work of reclamation would actually be accomplished, 

 while to-day it is not being done except in the far West, and ac- 

 complished without the aid of Government appropriations. 



SOLDIER-SETTLEMENT LEGISLATION. 



In the foregoing, attention has been called to those things which 

 may be accomplished by the exercise of the Government's powers 

 of supervision and direction with the smallest outlay of money. 

 In all this I have been speaking of reclamation for the sake of rec- 

 lamation. 



The proposed soldier-settlement legislation stands on an entirely 

 different footing. The primary object is not to reclaim land 

 to reward our returned soldiers with the opportunity to obtain 

 employment and larger interest in the proprietorship of the coun- 

 try. The policy is based on a sense of gratitude for heroic service, 

 not on economic considerations. This is the answer to those who 

 have criticized it as class legislation or the proposal to grant spe- 

 cial privileges to one element of our citizenship or as a plunge into 



irely 

 but 



