DRY-FARMING CONGRESS, WICHITA, 1914 



173 



products, you want a market for them; help us in reclaiming the great 

 West, by conserving the wasting waters, staying the flood, preventing the. 

 destruction in the lower lands, and we will convey the water on the untold 

 millions of acres of good land and make homes for millions. 



The question of the "Manless Land" being peopled by the "Landless 

 Man" means to unload the congested centers and help them to a home on 

 what was the wilderness of the West. 



Manufacturers and businessmen of the great East saw the point; they 

 used their influence with their respective Congressmen, who in turn joined 

 with the Western Senator from Nevada, and gave us the Reclamation Act. 



On my way here, I attended the Interstate Irrigation Convention in 

 Helena, Montana, called at the instigation of the Secretary of the Interior. 

 Mr. Lane wisely called together a lot of Western Governors and irrigators 

 to discuss the great questions relating to reclamation. 



This Dry-Farming Congress is a factor for good. We can already see 

 results from its deliberations. We are getting together, and thus by con- 

 certed effort through these educational advantages coming from meeting 

 in these National and International conventions, will bring under cultiva- 

 tion millions of acres of land now lying idle, and make homes for hundreds 

 of thousands of our race. 



CHAIRMAN WALKER: 



We have been told that good homes must depend upon good schools, 

 good churches, and good roads, and we are particularly fortunate this 

 afternoon in having with us a man to talk about "Good Roads." This 

 man has been closely related with road problems for a number of years. 

 He has talked good roads, written good roads, and he knows good roads. 

 I take great pleasure in introducing to you Mr. Charles Dillon, managing 

 editor, Capper publications, Topeka, Kansas. 



Address of Mr. Dillon 

 ROADS, GOOD AND BAD 



Good roads shorten the distance to town. They save wear and they 

 add brightness to life. They encourage thrift. They mean a better agri- 

 culture. They make men kinder and women more patient. They take 

 the gloom from schooldays in even the dreariest building, and they give 

 heart and hearers to the country church. 



Good roads make it possible to borrow more money when more is 

 needed by increasing the land's value. They keep boys and girls on the 

 farms and induce friendly visiting which results, in some cases, in happy 

 returns. 



Good roads are a never-failing source of talk, and no one has said 

 anything new about them for ten years. Good roads make human beings 

 glad that they are alive, but not glad enough to show much keen interest 

 in statistics covering the subject. 



Some men — particularly retired farmers who rent their land to others — 



