DRY-FARMING CONGRESS, WICHITA, 1914 



49 



only do something, in a small way, to bring about these results, it will 

 have accomplished a great deal indeed. 



The first thing that is necessary to my mind is the cooperation we 

 must have, a union of effort in these states. We cannot travel along, each 

 one a separate road, not assisting the other and ever accomplish very much. 

 The first thing we need therefore is to get together, to outline a program 

 and then have all these Western states join hands and carry out the pro- 

 gram, for, if they are united, we will be able to carry out almost any 

 terms they may adopt. And so the Western Governors in their meeting a 

 year ago at its second conference adopted a program for the West. They all 

 united in it and this last year those who were there adopted the same pro- 

 gram, adding some things that experience had pointed out. If our Congres- 

 sional delegations should join hands on the same thing, it will be but a short 

 time, with the tremendous power which they hold in the United States 

 Senate and in Congress until we will be able to make more advance and 

 do much more for the upbuilding of the West than we have been able to 

 do in the past, and I want to urge the people here, representing all these 

 countries, all these Western states — and I believe all the Western states 

 are here represented — that this great problem of dry-farming is going to 

 be the problem for the human race to solve if there would be ample food 

 supplies for the future. 



It has been but a few years since the livestock center of this country 

 was back almost on the Atlantic Coast. It has been moving steadily West- 

 ward until it will soon be on the Missouri River and it may even go further- 

 West. People are talking about the high cost of living and what does it 

 all mean ? It means simply that our population has gone to the big cities 

 and the manufacturing districts and that the farm population has not kept 

 pace and the farm production has not kept pace with the growth of the 

 population of this country. The United States census showed for the period 

 of 1910 that the population increased 21 percent, while the population of 

 the farming area increased but 4 X 2 percent. Do you want any more lesson 

 than that? 



We have in the Rocky Mountain district power possibilities beyond 

 comprehension. We have coal enough in the state in which I live to sup- 

 ply the entire world at the present rate of consumption for more than 300 

 years and the state just adjoining us to the north has 50 percent more than 

 we have. We have, in our state alone, power possibilities enough to turn 

 all the wheels of industry in this great empire, and there are states which 

 have more than we. We have here, if we shall be able to master our agri- 

 cultural conditions, good soil enough to increase our agricultural output so 

 many times that I would be afraid to even make a guess as to how much it 

 would be. These are the things we will have to handle and we will be able 

 to handle them from these experience meetings, from such Congresses as 

 this, and given the solution of that problem very soon in the future. 



I wanted to say something of my own state. It seems to be fashion- 

 able in this conference for us to talk about our own states and I may be 

 pardoned for doing so because I know more about that than any other, and, 



