, 1897-11-09
THE ARID REGION.
SENATOR WARREN CONTRIBUTES
AN ARTICLE UPON ITS
POSSIBILITIES.

POSSIBILITIES.
Seven Hundred Million Acres II the
Public Domain Remain Unclaimed,
50 to so per cent of Which Could be
Made Fertile by the Magic Touch
of Irrigation-Storage Reservoirs.
Senator Francis E. Warren has con-
tributed an article to the open Con-
gress'' of the Illustrated American up
on The Splendid Riches of Our Arid
Lands" The article is accompanied by
a brief biographical sketch of the sena>
does him justice. Senator Warreu's
productions are always logical, clear
cut and to the point. and therefore the
article just written upon his pet subject
will be read with interest by his thou-
sands of friends throughout the arid
region. 1t is as follows: s
During the last year of his brilliant
career. Lord Macauiay, writing from
his quiet home to a friend in New York,
made a prophesy covering the United
States. His correspondent was Henry
S. Randall. who had recently completed
a life of Thomas jefferson. Macaulay
had little respect for Jefferson's theory
of government, or for his public servi-
ces. and in writing to Mr.. Randall said:
so long as you have a boundless
extent of fertile and unoccupied land
your laboring population will be far
more at ease than the laboring popula-
ton of the old world But the time
will come when New Egland will be as
thickly populated as Old England; wa
ges will be low and will fuctuate as
much with you as with lis. You will
have your Manchesters and your Birm.
inghams, and in these Manchesters and
Birminghams hundreds of thousands of
workingmen will assuredly be out OF
work. Then your institutions will be
fairly brought to the test"
1t is 40 years since these words were
penned and there are many who will
contend that II Macaulay's p~rophesy
has not been realized the current OF
events is rapidly drifting us in that di-
%rection. 1t is not my purpose to dis
cuss a question so vitality affecting the
American people, but I shall endeavor
to show that W have yet many mill
lions of acres of public lands, capable
of furnishing homes to millions and
which must be occupied before, accord,
ing to Macaulay, our :" institutions will
be fairly brought to the test"
These lands are in the west, and
known as arid lands. They are located
for the most part in that section Of the
United States designated on our maps
in Macaulay's time, as the Great
American Desert" a part of our coun.
try which Daniel Webster described SO
odd years ago-when opposing the
opening of a mail route from the Mis-.
souri, river to the Colorado and Pacific
IScdS' 40 uiiilpol lhlll, DIG
and without value" a locality of which
Washington Irving, in 1S43, in his "Ad>
ventures Of Captain Bonneville" pre-
dicted the following:
THE great Chippewayan chain of
mountains and the sandy and volcanic
plains which extend on either side are
represented as incapable Of cultiva>
ton. The pasturage which prevails
there during a certain portion of the
year withers under the aridity of the
atmosphere. and leaves nothing but
dreary waste. An immense belt of
rocky mountains and volcanic plains,
several hundred miles in width, must
forever remain an irreclaimable wilder
ness. intervening between the abodes
Of civilization, and affording a last ref
uge to the Indians. Here rowing tribes
of hunters, living in tents or lodges,
and following the m%igrations OF the
game. may lead a life of savage indie
pendence, where there is nothing to
tempt the cupidity of the white man.
So much for predictions made and
opinions expressed in the past.
We find some arid land upon which
irrigation is necessary to successful ag>
riculture in at least II of our states and
territories, and many of these are large
ly or wholly in the region described al
so completely worthless in the sayings
and writings of Webster and Irving,
who but echoed the general sentiment
of their day.
Yet the development already &C,
complished in these lands warrants the
claim that the arid region of the I'm.
tied States is beyond question one OF
the principal hopes of the nation.
In the first place it is the most valu.
able mining area on the surface TO the
globe. taking into consideration natu.
raj resources, accessibility, facilities for
transportation and relations with the
commerce and industries of the world.
1t is a Ncritable treasure house of I'M
developed and partly developed miner
al riches, embracing nearly all the
known minerals, from gold and silver.
down through the list to Oil, coal, iron.
marble and granite.
Including California, the arid region
produces more that 81 per cent of the
entire gold product Of the United
States. and 1913 per cent Of all the sill.