The Teton peak. [volume] (St. Anthony, Idaho) 1899-1904, 1904-09-29
President Roosevet's National Irrigation Act to
Be Wonder Worker.
MILLIONS OF CHEERFUL, HAPPY HOMES
Avenue of Relief to Congested Cties-Heath,
Prosperity and Patriotism Fostered by
Contact with SoiI-Repubcan
Party Leads the Way

Even the Democrats are beginning to
tealize something of the possibilities for
good which are to come to the whole
United States through the national irri-
CATION act passed by "A Republican Con
gress. and signed by President Roosevelt
June I. 1902 The Democrats are now
claiming that they did it, Still. the
facts remain that President Roosevelt,
by the force of his own identity. put the
measure through Congress and made it
the law Of the land with his official sig
nature as President
1t is not a dream, but fact, that the
present population of the United States
can be duplicated on the arid public do
main in the West This can be done
without making new competitors for
those already engaged in agricultural
pursuits in the East and in the South.
On the other hand. this wonderful act
of planting new nation in what is now
all but an unbroken desert will confer
enormous benefits on those sections
which are already covered with farms,
factories and towns.
Big Internal Problems.
In our great West, population of
100,000.00O might live in prosperous con
tentment. There is everything to inspire
and reward their industry-the charm of
climate and of scenery. the fertility of
soil. the unmaginable wealth OF water.
forest and mine, and across the Pacific.
new worlds to conquer. Our biggest in
ternal question to-day is the preparation
and colonization of this productive area
This nation must keep on with its his
torc work of civilization 1t must con
tinue that marvellous reciprocal process
by which it has so rapidly risen to i'm
measurable heights of economic power
the making of new communities to feed
the old. the enlargement of old communi-
ties to eed the new. The longest step
yet taken to this end is adoption of the
plan of national rigation-chietly
through the fundamentally of President
Roosevelt. 1t is a new policy, only at
present in its experimental stage. but
those who know most about it believe it
Is a measure big with national fate.
Momentous New Era.
We are entering upon a new and mo-
mentous era that calls for the highest
qualities of constructive craftsmanship.
The movement mast be broadly founded
and firmly and intelIigently managed. We
future generations, for we are the fore
fathers of a mighty future in mighty
land. If we are equal to our duty and
our opportunities. we shall make homes
for hundred million of the freest men
who ever walked the earth
We are living in an age of mighty
achievement. Engineering works which
the last generation would have thought
A.
task of this generation. The New York
subway, the great tunnel of the Penn
sylvania railroad, the Isthmian canal and
the Salt River reservoir in Arizona and
other mammoth irrigatio projects will
soon stand as completed monuments to
the constructive genius of our people and
this age. The future is potent with still
grander undertakings which WILL in
few brief years. also stand as accom-
plshed facts. Egypt was for centuries
the granary OF the world. That land of
mystery and romance was the cradle of
our civilization. For countless ages the
Nile has risen annually, to fertilze the
land which has yielded, from year to
year, the sustenance Of teeming millions.
Greatest Question of the Age.
The question of irrigati ton which now
confronts the people of the United States
Is one OF the most important of the age
1t is of more Importance than the 18TH
milan canal or deep waterway to the
sea. 1t involves the solution of the for
est and flood problem 1t embraces the
future Internal development of the Unit
ed States. 1T will require years of work
to perfect the system of national rriga-
ton, but it will be the greatest benefit
ever conferred on the western people.
Men may be cruel and unfair but ma
ture is generous and utterly impartial
The earth, the sun and the waters are
as kind to the poor as to the rich. The
roses do not stop to look up a mans
financial standing before consenting to
bloom for him. They grow wherever
planted They cover the poor mans cot
tage as gladly as they do the rich mans
villa.
Husbaudry Makes Patriots.
Nations may spring into being, gener-
ated by the force of ideas alone, but
the vigorous manhood, the mature growth
of State can only be nurtured and
built up upon the abundant and mani
fold productions of the EARTH The very
existence and advance OF civilization are
firmly grounded on material resources
NauonS become great and independent
as they develop genius for grasping the
forces and materials of nature within
their reach and converting them into q
steady flowing stream of wealth and com.
tort.
To hold a people in industrious. pro
ductive. contented habits. habits of viz
tue and of patriotism. it is needful to
give them an interest in the cultiva tor
of land. This fact is seen along the
shores of historic time. Wherever gov
erpment has made laws which have Civ
Ell the people of the land its occupancy
on fair terms. then content and plenty
have been on every hand Wherever il
has been hard for the masses to Obtain
the use of the land, then discomfort ant
difficulties have been rampant on ever,
hand. and frequently national ruin ha.
been the result. The noblest use to which
sny man or people can put history is tc
take it either as warning or wise in
struction. In the United States we have
In quality. quantity and variety such sup