The Springfield herald., 1904-10-28
Together They Will Do Titanic Work in Develop
ing the Great West.
TRANSMISSION OF POWER TO FACTORIES
RooseveIt's National Irrigation Act to Create a
"New Heaven and New Earth" for
'' American FreehoIders-Ha
Has Not Been Told.

II National Irrigation We're only a
dream or something indefinitely pro-
jected it would be idle To speculate on
foreshndowed results. But the work IS
already in its Initial stages. II contem-
plates an expenditure of at least SiJO.-
OO.00O ultmately-nn enormous sum
of money-but by n wise provision OF law
it will come. not from taxing the people
hut from sales of lands still a part of
the public domain. Ii will be understood
that the total expense of each irrigation
system constructed by the government
will be refunded TO Uncle Sam by those
who actually occupy the irrigated lands
Meanwhile as the years go by, the gen
cral fund for reclaning arid lands Will
increase rapidly from the sale OF public
lands throughout the thirteen States and
three Territories affected by the Ma
tional act. So it will be that the fund
will grow larger as il by geometricnl
progression. after the tenth year, when
the first moneys expended by the govern
1nent shall have been returned to it. by
the farmers. who own and occupy the
land under bitches built by the govern
ment
Speaker Reeds Vision.
Hon. Thomas B. Reed in speech at
Pittsburg in 1894, said: Mighty as has
been our past. our resources have just
heen touched upon, and there is wealth
teyond the Mississippi which in the not
far distant future will astonish even the
dwellers on the shores of Lake Michi-
gan. From the time my eyes first rested
on the great uncutivated plains which lie
between the Mississippi and the Pacific
Ocean, my awakening dreams have been
filed with visions of the incalculable
wealth which the touch of living water
will bring to life from those voiceless
deserts.
There. wealth only can produce
wealth. and man, singly and alone, might
rs well try to subdue the Himalayas as
to cope with these wastes. but the hand
of united and associat ted man is already
reaching forth to grasp the great results.
The same power which wastes millions
on the Mississippi can be utilized to make
the deserts blossom with the homes of
men for whom. and for all of MS. the now
bighted soil will bring forth the fruits
OF the Camden of Eden"
Lord MacauIny's Prediction.
Lord Macaulay, writing to an Amer
acan friend, once said: Your fate | be-
leve to be certain, though it is deferred
by physical cause. As long as you have
boundless extent of fertile and unoc-
will be far more at ease than the labor
ing population of the Old World But
the time will come when New England
will be as thickly populated as the Old
World. Wages will be as low, and will
fuctuate as much with you as with us.
You will have your BirminEhams and
Manchcsters and in these Birminghams
and Manchesters hundreds of thousands
of artisans will assurcdly be some time
out of work, then your institutions will
fairly be brought to the test"
When Lord Macauay wrote the above
direful prophesy he did not know of
the boundless West, an. the great posi-
biities that are to come to its popula-
tion through irrigation. He did not know
that n Roosevelt would appear on the
scene at the proper time and cause the
life-giyng water to be applied to the
parched plains and thus produce one of
the greatest transformations of any age
or any time.
In these columns. on former occasions.
it has been shown that the irrigated West
will not only be the garden spot of the
world. but that it will afford the surplus
fruit and vegetable produce, coupled with
cereals and other staple articles of com
merce, which. exported to foreign mar
kets. are destined to establish Americas
"prIu cOnlnefClIl pFeStlep.
Unmensurcd Electrical Energy.
The contemplation of such marvellous
results would he incomplete without Civ
ing due consideration to the generation
of electrical energy and its long distant
transmission and local adoption to me
chanical and industrial ends. This as a
direct result of reclaiming arid Amer
icn"
lao o1a ct,;r 90
10 considerable distances has accomplish
ed not only results not contemplated in
ats original inception, but also others of
widespread Importance and value. In
deed, the secondary results are quite as
important as those arising from the pri-
mary successful operation of such trans
mission lines.
Wherever water power exists or
y where the situation enables power to be
cheaply produced. there has lain dormant
source of actual wealth which has
awaited the application of electricity.
The effective results obtained when
powers have been developed and applied
by this means have been almost invari-
ably alike New Industries have started
new towns and villages have grown up.
and new centers of production have
arisen and given employment to labor
and afforded n market for raw materials
From the combination of the two there
has arisen in each case a new source of
manufactured products. representing ali
addition to the permanent wealth of the
country.
Life In Water, Power in Electricity.
Even, however, beyond these industrial
effects which have been noted in the
case of power transmission establish
ments in certain portions of the United
States. other results quite unexpected
and equally as beneficial have arisen. In
the arid regions of the West. where only
irrigation is needed to cause the soil to
become highly productive. the installation
of plants for the distribution of water
to the dry soil has often caused u de-
The Fruit Cure.