New-York tribune., 1895-01-20

canoes and pirogues In the oout""c'' WV
gave him some hints about irrigation. Inc ''os'
important fact about their social system from the
civilized point of view Is that they nave IL All
10 unlearn in order to begin lie under Con"-
tjons now forced upon them. and this is d'ihcu''
because their matriarchal notions oi d"sceh''
their divisions by clans and gentes. ana 'ne'r
primeva communism are woven IN Win 'heii
natural instincts and affections. as we'll as with
their religious ideas.
The upshot Of all this is that the white ihNaue's
found continent practically untouched Inc Nd
tives were the least important Of the obstruc'ions
which they had to meet. When they landeu On
the Atlantic Coast they found themselves al once
in the fringe Of vast forest which eXtendeu a.
they learned by experience. almost WITHOUT
break from the ocean TO the MISSISSIPPI III H'ic
North exploration was hampered by dense under
growth; in the South it was rendered almost I'M
nossiblc by vast swamps, which hemmed the
coast But every journey, every axe stroke ahdcd
IN tho certainty that they had entered domain
Of infinite value and fertility. But under the
conditions in which the first colonists found
,boros.,vcs the conquest Of the land would have
,alsep centuries Fortunately for them. the era of
discovery lapsed insensibly into the era OF nven-
tion They had hardly been driven to the neces-
civ. or extending their settlements far 10 the
Voc, bcfore new methods of travel and trans
nortation made the most distant regions accessi-
hle The contrivances for dealing with the crops
which they found suitable to new lands kept pace
with the increase OF the crops. ana indeed f2r
more than kept pace with them The forest was
CONQUERED. and now the danger Is that the process
~ DESTROYING the woodland will be carried so Tar
as to dry u2 the mountain sources OF the rivers
and reduce the land to the steriliy OF Inc eA's'-
ing arid region, which contains propaoiy one
third OF the area Of the United States Inc lana
in this region simply lacks m" moisture neces-
sary for hus5andry. 1t comprises territory
about 1000 miles wide. extending from canaan 10
Mexico and from the pakotas 10 tne COAST
range Of the Pacific Ocean. THIS aria heic 's IN
exten, the fourth among the deserts IN inc "or'h'
being surpassed In extent by those oi Northern
Africa Central Asia and Western Ausifaia Bu'
It's arldity is not due 10 the causes which preVai
T., ,be othar regions named In those countries
,bare * an exceedingly small amount OF rainfall.
.,,io o,.ar the larger par; Of the Cor1,ileran DIS
,r;. .ba amount of precipitaton is sufficient. II
II were we'll distributed. to make some form of
,illagc possible. The difficulty Is tha the depoS'-
ton takes plloc In tho winter season. ana 10 Il
certain extent is Irregular. falling mainly on the
higher mountain peaks in the form oi snow. Ihe
fac; that this region does MT lack for water III a
measure 20 reduce I; 90 its sterile coAdiioh u III
diclted by the numerous rivers oi conHidcIabie
volume. which are mainly ied from the snow
which falls in the cold season. In the Sanara
and various other true deserts ther" are no such
streams \ considerable portion o. the surface oi
this region probably between 1000 and lV'V"
square miles. can nc Won - tilagr ana made 10
,o,,. exceedingly abundant crops by a system OF
10 fff.r hes. =
few wear. ago the Federal Government wisely un-
d.r,ool< 2 systematic survey - this arid district
with reference 60 Is irrigation system. T"pdsh
onIy a small pa. ,. tAe country has yet been
surveyed the rssDits ,nt-.Aei 90 several d.S-
inc. cslts show thc' iac ,r'r OK n'i'n ~ an
.irrip..io, svs'on sun 90 hfs hren insfi,u "d .I
B.,isa India. wegll V - ( .r tie u % az .c'tu
a vas, body - very ;cr;ilc land" No II y prob
lem as this confronted the carly settlers on iht
eastern SIDE % IN, continent. nor nrc'd any oi
that great army Of pioneers who steadily pret'~d
onward. until nov tney demand Tho reclamation
of the desert Hitherto jhcv rad found ia her an
embarrassment II riches In the>wdc range ~
climate over the country which they sought l.
cultivate they were insured an unlimited variety
Of crops from the hardy fruits ana grains oi the
North to ,he products of the tropics. The pants
upon which the European races had thrived Tor
ages and which had gwen them the strength 20
create their civilization could all be cultivated In
the United states. The people had. Therefore. NJ
habits to urlearn nor any new ones 10 tax" up
that would have been a bar to progress. In effect
they renewed In new country every eienen, o'
the culture material social and intellectual 70
which their ancestors had been accustomed. with
this dlfferencc-ihat while the process had been
on lines somewhat divergent In the Ola World II
was on convergen, lines in the New World The
main thread o, civilization Was that Of the so
called Ango-SaXOn. Owing to a wonderful train
of circumstances the English colonlsis. almost
the last TO enter America, became the dominant
factor In It's evolution. The system which they
devised was such that successive incr"mcnts of
population. no matter where they came from.
were with rare exceptions. easily persuaded To-
ADOPT IT, Tho other natonaliiies which contrib
uted TO the millions Of people In the New World
accepted with little hesitation tho language of the
majority and its political and social IDEAS. All
these were enlarged to suit new conditions The
American language contains much that English
men critcise: n H. nevertheless. wonderfully uni
form considering the vast area over which I; ia
spoken and the nnumerable mutitudcs WAC speak
IT, In many details Il is nearer 10 the language
Of Shakespeare than that Of the island whore
Shakespeare born.
The variety of the soil which the Americans
have inherited finds It's counterpart in the char
acter OF the people The first attempts al the
conquest OF the New World attended by
such an awakening Of human energy the
world had never known before. Subsequent ef-
forts to subdue the continent t. its proper use
as the home Of millions " people have kept
Americans up the mark Of enthusiasm set
by their sires. The strain Of creating u novel
political system of unifying their society. of edu
eating themselves to the leisurely standard of
the Old World. Of inventing adapting ma
chinery as necessity or convenience dictated Of
creating an art and literature which they
might call their own. and OF waging more wars
than any other people have had In hand In tho
same period-all these things have made them