The Miller sun. (Miller, Hand County, S.D.) 190?-19??, 1904-11-02
TRANSMISSION OF POWER TO FACTORIES
RooseveIt's National irrigation Act to Create a
"New Heaven and a New Earth" for
American Freeholders- Half
Has Not Been Told.

jected, it would be idle TO speculate on
foreshadowed results. But the work is
already in its initial stages. 1t contem-
plates an expenditure OF at least S4J0,-
100000 ultimately-an enormous sum
of money--but by a wise provision OF law
IL win come, not from taxing the people,
but from sales or lands still a part of
the public domain. 1t will be understood
that the total expense OF each irrigation
system constructed by the government
will be refunded TO Uncle Sam by those
who a~ctaally occupy the irrigated lands
Meanwhile, as the years go by, the gem
eral fund for retaining 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 If by geometrical
progression. after the tenth year, when
the first moneys expended by the govern
ment shah 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 a speech at
Pittsburg in 1894, 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
far distant future will astonish even the
jewellers on the shores of Lake Michi-
gan. From the time my eyes first rested
on the Observation-Disclosures 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
ms well try to subdue the Himalayas as
10 cope with these wastes, but the hand
of united and associated man is already
reaching forth to grasp the great results.
The e:ine power witch wastes millions
on the Mississippi can be utilized to make
the -dessrts blossom with the homes of
for whom. and for all of us, the now
blighted soil will bring forth the fruits
OF 0he Garden OF Eden"
Lord MncauIay's Prediction.
Lord Macaulay. writing to an Amer
lean friend, once said: Your fate | be-
Rcve, to be certain, though it is deferred
by physical cause. AS long as you have
a boundiess extent OF fertile and unoc-
cnpied land. you aboring population
will be far more at ease than the labor
ing population of the Old World. But
h time will come when New England
viii he as thickly populated as the Old
World. Wages will be as low, and will
tllctuate as much with you as with us.
lon will have your Birminghams and
MAnf h~esters, and in these B~irminghams
emi Manchesters hundreds of thousands
OF artisans will assuredly be some time
out Of work, then your institutions will
fairIy be brought to the test
When Lord Macaulay wrote the above
dircful ~prophesy Ire did not know of
the boundless West, anu the great posi-
bihties that are TO come to it's popula-
ito through irrigation. He did not know
that a Roosevelt would appear on the
scene at the proper time and cause the
Hfe-giying water to be applied to the
parched plains ard thus produce one OF
the greatest transformations OF any age
or any time.
In these columns, on former occasions, |
1t has been shown that the irrigated West
win not only be the garden spot OF the
.-.se..Ma. bet that K -~:iii 9 fferaa 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
worid commercial prestige.
unmeasurcd Electrical Energy.
The contemplation of such marvellous
results would be incomplete without Civ
ing due consideration to the generation
of electrical energy and its long-distant
transmission and local adoption 10 me-
cisanicaI and industrial ends. This as a
direct result Of retaining arid Amer
ica,"
The electrical transmission OF power
to 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-
snary successful operation of such trans
Guission lines.
Wherever a water power exists, or
where the situation enables power to be
cheaply produced, there has lain dormantI
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 beer almost invari-
ably alike. New industries have started,
new towns and villages have grown up,
and new ccnters Of production have
arisen and given employment to labor
and afforded a market for raw materials.
From the combination of the two there
has arisen in each case a new source OF
manufactured products. representing an
edition 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 regiops Of the West. where Gully
irrigation isNneedcd to cause the soil 70
beaom6 highly productive, the Installation