The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1895-06-01
A MORMON LESSON.
The Industrial System OF Utah,
Was Founded by a Genius.
The Corner Stone OF Brigham YounR's
State Was IndustrialiS1n What
He Did with the Problem
OF Irrigation.

G10 4|A0 WIN the KEOo4em
OF Irrigation
On the 14th Of July, 1s47, President
Young and his fellcw-pioneers passed
through the picturesque outlet of Emil
grafton canyon into the valley of the
Great Salt lake. Utah was then Next,
can soil, and the leader believed he
could found whatever character of in
situations should suit him and his peo-
pie. In the bitter anti-Mormon cru
sades of the past it has been alleged
that Brigham Young had chains on
mems souls" There is no doubt, writes
William E. Smythe in Century, that
religious superstition, rendered effect
i've by the marvellous machinery of the
church, was partly the source of the
leaders irresistible power with his own
people; but back of the religious SUI
perstition and the church organization
stood the brain of a great and master
full man. He knew that his power, to
be enduring, must rest upon something
material and tangible; and this some
thing he discerned to be the prosperity
of the people themselves.
Brigham Young was an organizeF
of prosperity. This was the real source
of his strength. He did not aim at
mere temporary prosperity. On
the contrary, he fought everything.
that tended to that end, going to the
length of actually forbidding the OPEN
ing of the rich mines in the mountains
near at hand, because he abhorred the
spirit Of speculation. He chose for the
corner stone of his state the principle of
in6ustrialism; and that principle lies
there yet, at the base of a noble edifice
of economic fact, reared by human
toll, and held firmly in place by the
average prosperity of all who had part
in its building. If the great architect,
and the superintendent and foremen
who surrounded him, enjoyed larger
share of the profits than the workmen,
it is also true that the humblest newer of
stone and carrier of mortar was paid in
proportion to the Importance of his
labors. And what fair mind can object
to an Industrial system that yields
these results?
So far as can be learned, Brigham
Young had no previous knowledge of
irrigation when he entered Salt Lake,
valley. He quickly realized that he
had come to an arid country which
would be hopeless for agriculture un-
less artihcially watered. With mar.
velous perception he saw that irriga-l
ton was not a drawback, but an advan-
tage of the most important sort. He re-
allied that it meant freedom alike from
the dangers of the drought and of the
food. He discovered that, having a
rich soil and ample sunshine, and add
ing moisture by the construction of
bitches, it was actually an improve
ment upon nature to be able to turn
the rain" either on or off with equal
facility. And therefore he rightly con-
Guided that he had found IN these con-
ditions the basis of the most certain
worldly prosperity and the most scien-
tifc agriculture.
1t remained for a later genius to re-
mark: Irrigation is not a substitute
for rain. Rain is a substitute for irrig-
ation-and a mighty poor one" But if
the Mormon leader did not say
SO, he evidently felt it. He perceived,
furthermore, that irrigation was much
more than an insurance policy upon
the crops. 1t brought all the processes.
of agriculture within the realm of
known facts, and that is science. It
even rendered possible the control of
the size of vegeta bles, and this became
important many years afterward, when
sugar factory to their Industrial sys-
TEN; for it is important to grow sugar
beets of about a standard size to get,
the best results. Moisture is required
to give the beet vigorous growth at
the beginning; but when it is well
started, weeks of uninterrupted sun
shine are desirable in order to de-
velop the saccharine qualities. Much
Oh Of f1n d7rinc
the crop, while much moisture at the
wrong time produces a beet pleasing
to look upon, but improbable at the
factory.
Brigham Young also realized, almost
| at the frs, that The necessity of care
full irrigation largely increased the labor
| upon an acre of land; but he found that
this labor was generously rewarded by
the increased yield both in quantity
and quality. And from this fact he
I drew the most important principle of
his commonwealth, which was the divi-
sion of land into small holdings. Close
" related to this is the other twin fac
tor in Mormon prosperity-the diversi-
fcation CT farm products to the last
degree.
Natural conditions, even where there
is the most abundant and well-distrib-
uted rainfall, are often favorable to
the production of only few crops
But the Mormons realized that the
skillful application Of water just where
and when needed, and in just the right
quantity, and by the very best method,
rendered possible the widest variety Of
fruits, vegetables and cereals suited to
the temperate zone. Thus Brigham
Young taught the people that no mao
should own more land than he could
! cultivate to it's highest point by his own
and his family's labor, and that no man
should go to store for any article of
food or clothing that could be profit
ably produced on his own small farm.