Chicago eagle., 1897-12-04
territory. England IL the great col.
Onixcr Of the age. and her great naval
power will give her an immense ad.
vantage In the coming struggle.

power will give her an immense ad.
vantage In the coming struggle.
According to the annual report of
the commissioner Of the general land
office ut Washington. the United states
government stlll owns nearly O.OOO..
OOO acres Of land, In addition to tue
hg.OOO,OOO ncres embraced In Alaska.
This land Il In twenty-five States and
Territories. Montana stands ut the
head Of the list with 11.5OO.OOO acres.
There nre still 1.OOO.OOO acres Of public
land In Kansas. 100000 acres In Mis-.
souri, and 1O.5OO.OOO acres In Ncbras.
ka. The greater part of the govern.
ment's possessions consists OF arid
lands and mountain districts. whicl,
are unfit for agricultural uses. Though
without much value ut the present
time, many million acres of this great
public domain Is destined ut some III.
turc time to support large population.
by means Of cultivation with the aid
OF irrigation. ana the present growing
sentiment In favor of experiments In
government operation of Industries
will probably result. before many
years. IN the construction of vast lrrl-
CATION systems In the arid regions, by
the United States government. There
Is an excellent opportunity there to
test some of the popular Sociallstic
theories without u disturbance OF the
existing Industrial and social cOndl.
tlOns, ana without any chance of se-
rlOus loss 10 the government. There
are many people In the United States
who are inclined 10 approve II good
many features OF the single tax idea,
for example, but who are too conscr-
vatlvc to advocate an application of
the theory TO lands already controlled
by individuals. Such persons would
welcome some experiments with the
theory In the regions now owned by
the government. which can be made
arabic by Irrigation, ana 1t Is not at all
unlikely that Il we'll considered plan for
developing these lands ana putting
u great landed proprietor and the peO-
pie rs lessecs, or renters, may be adopt
cd by Congress before many years. In
times these lands will be u source of
great wealth to someone. ana as they
are now owned by the government ana
there Is Il strong sentiment In favor of
launching the nation into an expert
ment of that sort, there seems to be no
good reason why the government
should not undertake, by irrigation, to
put large bodies of arid lands in condl.
ton to yield the treasury substantial
revenue, and at the same time make q
test of the effects of such an enter
prise on the social conditions, the In.
dustry ana the enterprise OF people
who are anxious to take part In such
an experiment.
The Belgian Government, observing
that advertisements are being placed
on rocks and other public places, has
notified the municipalities that "the
nuisance must stop" Belgium Is u
thrifty land. More thrifty still Is
Switzerland. Yet when the st. Goth
ard rocks were covered with advertise
ments the government ordered them
cleared Off, saying: I'VE would as
soon have them on the white cross of
our flag" But here, In the United
States--just look anywhere.
The official order forbldding soldiers
stationed at Atlanta to engage in games
OF football Is timely and wise pre-.
caution. Our standing army Is too
small already. Why should 1t be
slaughtered In time of peace! Suppose
the entire army should get into the foot
ball habit, and some day, Just after a
game, Spain or Japan should declare