The Teton peak. [volume] (St. Anthony, Idaho) 1899-1904, 1904-10-27
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 a New Earth" for
American FreehoIders Half
Has Not Been Told.

If National Irrigation were only a
dream or something indefinitely pro
jected. it would he idle t. speculate on
foreShadowel results. But the work is
already III It's initial stages. 1t contem-
plates an expenditure of ut least $41O,
uon,0UO ultimately-an enormous sum
of moacy-but by il wise provision of law
1t viii come. not from taXin, the people.
but frpn sales of lands still Il part of
the public domain. 1t will he understood
that the total expense of each irrigation
system constructed by the government
viii be refunded TO Uncle sam by those
who actually occupy the irrigated lands.
Meanwhile. as the years 20 by. the Seii-
eral fund for recaimng 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 is if by geometrical
progression, after the tenth year. when
the first moneys expended by the govern
ment 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 Is. Reed in speech at
Iittsburg in 1884 said: mighty as has
been our past. our resources have just
been touched upon. and there is wealth
beyond the Mississippi which IN the not
Tar distant future will astonish even the
dweller> on the shores of Lake Michi-
gan. From the time my eyes first rested
on the great uncultivated plains which lie
between the Mississippi and the Pacific
Ocean, my awakening dreams have been
hlied with visions of the incalcuable
wealth which the touch of living water
VIII bring to life from those voceess
deserts.
There wealth only can produce
wealth, and man. >ingy and alone. might
rs well try to Suhdue the Himaayas as
10 cope with these wastes, but the hand
"l urted and associated 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. ami for all of us, the now
hlighed soil will bring forth the fruits
of the Garden of Eden
Lord Macaulay's Prediction.
Lord Macauluy. writing to an Amer
lean friend once said: Your fate | be-
lleve to be certain. though it is deferred
bN physical cause. As long rs You have
boundleSs extent of fertile and unoc-
tnpicd land. your laboring population
Will he TAR more ut ease than the labor
ing population of tile Old World But
the time will come when New England
VIII be as thlckly populated as the Old
World. Wages will be as low. aud will
ftuctuate as much with you as with rs.
on wall have your Birminghams and
Manchesters, and in these Birminyhaus
ana ManchesterS hundreds of thousands
OF artisans will assuredly be some time
out OF work. then your institutions will
fairly be brought to the test
When Lord Macaulay wrote the above
dlreful prophesy he did not know of
the boundless West. an. the great posi-
OlntleS that are to come to its popula-
ton through irrigation. II did not know
that Roosevelt would appear on the
scene at the proper time and cause the
ife-giving water to be applied to the
parched plains and thus produce one of
the greatest trans formations of any aye.
or any time.
In these columns, on former occasions
1t 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 Wit,
cereals and other staple articles of COM
merce, which exported to foreign mar
kets, are destined to establish America's
world commercial prestige.
Unmeasured Electrical Energy,
The contemplation of such marvellous
results would be Incomplete without Civ
lug due consideration to the generation
of elect ricnl eucrVX and its I,uv-iist,nt
transmission and local adoption to me
chanical and Industrial ends This as a
direct result of recaimng Arid Amer
ica."
The electrical transmission of power
To considerable distances has ACCOMPLISH
ei not only results not contemplated in
dtS original incrption. but also others of
widespread Importance and value. In
deed, th, secondary results are quite as
important IL those arising from the pri-
mary successful operation Of sucli trans
mission lines
herever water power exists or
~hre the situation enables power to be
cheapiy produced. there has lain dormant
a source Of actuai wealth which has
awaited the application of electricity
The effective results obtained when
powers have been developed and applied
by tins means iiaye been almost nyari-
ably alike. New Industries have started.
new towns AMI villages have grown up,
aud new centefS Of production hay.
arisen and given employment to Labor
and afforded market for raw materials.
From the combination of the two there
hs> arisen IA each case new source of
manufactured products representing all
addition to the permanent wealth of the
country.
Life ia 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
aud 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 tbs distribution of water
te the dry soil has often caused a de-