The Cook County herald., 1902-07-19

it's ownership and management, very ex;
haustivey and also talked 1ho Of genera gSnnaeb
is very lengthy, but below will be found
Its most important features:
Commerce is the exchange of commodi--
ties and the term is generally understood
to include the buying and selling between
Individuals. and, in a wider sense, be,
tween communities and nations. Behind
civilization and Christianity to the re-
hottest parts Of the world. The CONNER
cial nations Of the world have, at all
times, exercised the strongest influence
for good among the nations Of the earth.
The development of commerce is the ef-
fort by a country to find market for its
own productions, or to supply itself with
material for it's necessities, to further
increase it's means of commercial ex-
panson: The commercial expansion of a
Commercial growth is both domestic and
foreign. Following the Civil war came a
period of the history of our country of
wonder of the world. Since the close of
the war in 1865, the enormous territory
west of the Mississippi has grown from
and wealthy states. The population OF
the United States in 1868 was about thir-
ty-four millions. The succeeding thirty
:seventysiX millions, and to-day, we are
increasing at the rate of a million and a
show that the population of the United
States about doubles every thirty years,
so that by 1890 We would, at this ratio,
have population Of one hundred and
fifty millions Of peonle.
the past the public domain suited to
cultiv'tion of the soil; producing every
multiplying population. To-day we have
about reached the limit Of our public do
main which can DC made to furnish
poputon ] m " In many Of 'o the eel'e1psst Westerg
states enormous areas of the best
land which, with irriga ton, be made
Productive i'm the Highest Degree.
One hundred and sixty acres of land,
will insure to the husbandman bOunti-
full harvest, is equal to twice that area
where the land is subject to the natural
conditions of either too much or too lit
tie rainfall. One-half of the population
Of the United States is occupied directly
Or Indirectly in the cultivation of the
entire capital Of the country is invested
in farms and their belongings, and when
we . come to the questions OF intelligence,
cultural population stands out to-day as
1t has in the past, as the great
Sheet Anchor of the Nation.
The wealth Of the world comes from the
While our country has been blest with
wonderful mines OF coal, iron, gold, silver
and all the other valuable mineral. pro-
ductions with magnificent forests of use
ful timber, still the farm has, from the
beginning, been the foundation of our
growing wealth and greatness. During
trad me as1 threG years the balance of our
amount we have sold in excess of what
we have bought, has averaged about
nuaily, and two-thirds of this has come
to us through the export of the produce
OF the soil: do not wish in any manner
manufactures, or their relative value in
the commerce of the country. The Sc
eurty of their foundations has always
cd q ocrvior
the nation, and in the future it must
continue to rest there. Every manufac-
turer. every merchant, every business
man throughout the land is most deeply
interested in maintaining the growth and
development of our agricultural re-
sources
In the past we have been in the habit
OF feeling that Uncle Sam was rich
enough to give us all a farm" but to-
day. as I said before, the arabic land
suitable for agriculture, without an ar
all occupied.
In a few limited communities of the
West irrigation has been commenced bv
what may be called "Individual Effort
owing to diverse laws, made to suit par
ecu,ar intffests, the irrigation Of large
than can be we'll surmounted by in
dividual effort. The policy of a broad,
tti3npIehenslve, tio11 national plan of irriga-
ton has been urged upon congress with
out little success in the past. However,
an enterprise OF such magnitude and i'm
portance to the nation as whole, which
Importance will grow as our population
grows, cannot be turned aside or lost
sight of. for the reason that every citizen
OF every state in the Union is
Deeply and vitality Interested
In the question. President Roosevelt. who
has spent some OF his time in the semi
arid regions of the West, has taken an
aetlvo effdt interest in this subject, and if his
future generations will rejoice in the
memory me of this work while they build
thousand valleys covering that portion of
the country which is now given up as
gTaizng With roan ranches hes for cattle and sheep.
furnish homes for intelligent and in
dustrlous people,. and the number of cat
treaua tie ana sheep raised on the land will in
For the first time in the history of this
country, thousands of our farmers from
sta states Ike Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Mich
ing homes in the Canadian Northwest,
owing to the cheap lands offered in that
country. ceuh 1; and to the difficulty of securing
system OF irrigation by the genral gov
ernment. can be made not only self-sus-
thbinng tbnt Mtbo+ put sourGe Of income Lands
soId at a nominal price. can be sold as
fast as they are furnished with water, at
ten ten dollars an acre or upwards, and. the
than half that sum-
| cannot urge too strongly on the part
OF every man who wishes his country
well, and who desires that all shall he
prosperous, in order that he himself NAV
oe prosperous with them, the Importance
and the growing necessity of taking care
OF our PUBLIC domain in such way as to
preserve it for generations now unborn.
1eel sure that no one here to-night
ever expected to see the time when farm
rs ana farmers sons from the best
states of the West would be forced to
teaFe tnelr country and their flag to seek
AOnes @ IN torelgn country. ! 4
Inc united States has many socia 4
questlons to settle in the near future. and
hothlng IN this connection will +~'o tho
place Of it's ability TO provide good homes
Tor those who desire to sit under their
own vine and fig tree. -1:I
Land without population is wilderness
and population without land is a mob,
Railway Importance.
Considering the question from broad
national standpoint, the next interest in
Importance to agriculture is the railway
interest OF the country. The entire rail-
way growth is within the memory of
men living. twenty-five years ago it was
not supposed possible that railways
would ever be able to carry heavy and
cheap commodities. which were up to
that time almost exclusively shipped by
water. Great elevators were built inI