The Falls City tribune., 1904-09-30

ItullLt HpliftIAiihs Va
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 toosevei'
lime Z 1902. The Democrats are now
claiming that they did ii" stu, the
facts remain that President Rooseveit,
by the force Of his own identity, put the
measure through Congress and made IL
the law Of the land with his official SIG
nature as President.
Ii is not 4 dream, but a 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 TOT
those already engaged in agricultural
pursuits in the East and in the South
On the other hand. his wonderful act
of planting a new nation i'll what Is now
ell 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, a population OIL
100. DOC. 600 might live in prosperous con
tentment There is everything TO inspire
and reward their industry-the charm oil
climate and of scenery. the fertility OF
soil. the unimaginable wealth of water
forest and mine. and. across the Paclhc'
new worlds to conquer. Our biggest in,
1ernal question to-day is the preparation
and colonization of this productive area,
This nation must keep on with its his
toric 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
ties TO feed the new. The longest step
vet taken to this end is adoption OF the
plan of national irrigation-chieay
through the instrumentality Of President
Roosevelt. 1t is a new policy. only at
present in its experimental stage. bur
those who know mostAk ut it believe it
is a measure big with national fate.
Momentous New Era.
we are entering upon a new II mo
snentous era that calls for the highest
qualities of constructive craftsmanship.
The movement must be broadly founded
and firmly and intelligently managed. We
are planning, not for ol6selves but for
future generations. for We are the fore
fathers of a mighty future in a mighty
land. IL we are equal to our duty and
orr opportunities. we shall make homes
for a 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
an impossibility will be the completed
task of this generation. The New York
subway. the great tunnel of the Penn
xylvania railroad. the Isthmian canal and
the Salt River reservoir in Arizona and
other mammoth irrigation projects will
soon stand as completed monument to
the constructive genius of our people and
this age. The future is potent with still!
grander undertakings which will, in a
few brief years. also stand as accom-,
piished facts. Egypt was for centuries
the granary of the world. That land of
mystery and rOmance vas the cradle OF
our civilization. For countless ages the
Nile has risen annually, to f~ertilize the
land which has yielded. from year to
year. the s%ustenance Of teeming millions.
Va AZ AZ
The question of irrigation 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 n deep waterway to the
sea. 1t involves the solution Of the for
est and food problem. 1t embraces the
future internal development OF the Unit
ed States. 1t will require years of work
to perfect the system of national jrriga-
ton. but it will be the greatest benefit
ever conferred on the western people.
Men may be cruel and unfair. but ma
cure Is generous and utterly impartial.
The earth. the sun and the waters are
as kind so the poor as to the rich. The
coses do not stop to look up a mans
financial standing before conserving to
bloom for him. They grow wherever
planted. They cover the poor mans cot
tage as gladly as they do the rich mans
villa.
H~asbandry Makes Patriots.
Nations may spring into being. gener-
et<S by the force of ideas alone. but
she vigOrous manhood, the mature growth
of a 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
sirmly grounded on material
Nations become. great and independent
as they develop a genius for grasping the
forces and materials OF nature within
their reach and converting them into a
steady flowing stream of wealth and com
fort.
To hold n people in Industrious. pro.
ductive. c%ontented habits. habits of vir.
tue and of patriotism, it is needful to
give them an interest in the cultivation
of land. This fact is seen along the
shores Of historic time. Wherever gov
eminent 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 and
difficulties have been rampant or every
hand, and frequently national ruin has
Seen ths result. The noblest use to which
any maR OF people can put history is to
take it either as warning or wise in
struction. In the United States W. have
in quality, quantity and variety such sup