Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1902-10-23

the foundations of the future greatness
of the nation, and every pioneer de-
serves Godspeed from all well wishers
for mankind. If any central authority
had exercised, say a century ago, enec-
tive control over the unoccupied lands
that stretched off, seemingly without
limit to the west, 1t could not possibly
have done a better thing for all con-
cerned than to facilitate by every
means within it's power, including ma
tional irrigation II that had been then
possible and necessary, the taking up
Of these lands as fast as might be by
anybody who could be induced to oc-
cunv and cultivate them. Pioneering
and demonstrating we're philanthropic
occupations OF the very first order OF
necessity and merit.
But It should never be forgotten that
the circumstances of the seventeenth
and eighteenth centuries in this coun-
try were radically different from those
that surround us here in the twentieth;
and that many lines of public policy
once eminently laudable have become
obnoxious and dangerous as times
change. When a baby weighs ten
pounds, it has just one alternative be-
fore it-grow, or die; when in after
years the ten pounds have become two
hundred, the condition OF AFFAIRS IS
changed; further increase is suggestive
behavior most suitable to the infant
nation, Just stretching its uniformed
limbs and not yet quite certain what
sort of creature 1t will grow to be, be-
comes in the highest degree absurd
when maturity has been attained, and
the former infant has reached the I'M
outstanding and enjoyment Of the pow
ers of manhood. OF this obvious fact, In
it's manifest relation to rational man
- -. 6nw IN nd g.
pecially to all plans for whatever name
or nature for bringing into cultivaole
condition at the public cost the vast
territory now lying ARID, sight has
largely and most unfortunately been
lost by the American people. We go on
hurrahing for every increase that sue
cessive censuses reveal in our popula-
ton, with very little consideration OF
the prosperity of the people that have
been added-in our agricultural area.
with very little consideration of its act
ual value to the nation-and above all,
is our production OF crops without any
consideration at all Of the profit OF
growing them, of the real financial pro-
gress of the men who are feeding half
the world. The irrigation party Of the
far west is only a symptom and a man
Hesitation of that old notion, once true
and still powerful a generation or more
after 1t has ceased to fit the times, that
the accommodation within our borders
Of as many people as possible Is the
great national desideratum.
No. in point of fact, the ideal Of
the irrigationists, which 1 understand
to be the making of the United States
support as large a population as its ter
ritory can be made to feed, is just about
the very lowest and most unworthy am
bition that a great nation can set before
it's eyes. If swarming millions. cultivat-
ing every square foot of ground that can
be irrigated or otherwise coaxed into
producing food plants, make nation
great, then is the condition of native
India most glorious; then does China fur
nish a nearly perfect model for the imita-
ton of the United States.
Let us consider for a moment, If
you please, the operation of our public
land system at IL has worked in recent
years, even without the assistance of
the irrigation feature, in relation to
the financial prosperity of the Amer
leans who own and operate farms. The
whole matter may be summed up in a
nutshell by saying that these men have
been subjected for a generation or more
to a competition to the national gov
eminent that has been little short of
ruinous. The average rate of aliena-
ton of our public lands for the last
decade has been nearly 11,500.OO0 acres
per annum, which is approximately a
million acres per month, over 31,0OO
acres per day, about 1900 acres per
hour, or say one acre every three SEQ
onds, day and night, Sundays and Holt
days all included. Imagine yourselves
standing at the boundary, IL there were
such a boundary, between the land now
the property of individuals and that
which still belongs to the nation at large,
and seeing that the boundary moving be-
fore your eyes into the government pos
sessions at such rate Of speed that the
latter are steady shrinking day after
day. year after year, at the rate of q
acres per minute Such is the insane
haste with which we have thrown this
property into market, offering It practi-
cally for nothing to anybody and every
body who will take II. The return that
the government receives from The aver
age of its land parted with has been
lately about 20 cents per acre above the
cost of marketing 1t. What has been the
effect on the prosperity Of established
farmers?
zone thinks naturally Of the compe-
tition of --.e new farm in the markets
of the world. I am inclined myself to
the opinion that the injury in this DR.
rection is rather less than might be
supposed, and that it is. in fact, very
far from being the darkest element of
the problem. The growth of population
must OF itself take care Of the increased
production in part. The new farmers
need an infnity Of things that they
cannot possibly produce. That helps
manufacturers: manufactures require
workmen; workmen must eat; and thus
the established farmers of the older re-
giOns will find a certain increase in the
demand for their products. making up,
in part. for the new supply thrown
upon the market by their multiplying
competitors. And then, again. the price
Of breadstuffs is very largely governed
by the yields Of crops abroad and the
occurrences of every kind that take
place in foreign countries. What may
bring a high price. though the Ame~i-
can crop be imn1erse, it may go beg
rirg. though our fields Yield the scan
test return. Still Of course. It is pat
in an agricultural region. every district
hroUght from aridity into cultivation by
irrigation. viii for a long time export
a considerable surplus OF foodstuffs OF
some sort. and thus ect distinctly to a
certain extent in bearing down the mar
ket price. But that is only the begin
ming.
A second channel of mischief is the
absorption of the new lands Of the men
and women who ought to supply, and
in the normal condition Of things would
supply, an abundance of labor, at mode
rate wages, for established farmers.
The demand for really efficient farm