Cañon City record., 1904-11-03
Together They Will Do Titanic Work in Develop
ing the Great West.
TRANSMISSION OF POWER TO FACTORIES
Rooseveit's National Irrigation Act to Create
"New Heaven and New Earth for
American Freeholders-Half
Has Not Been Told.

IL National Irrigation were only a
dream or something indefinitely pro-
1ected, it would be idle to speculate on
foreshadowed results. But the work is
already an its initial stages. 1t contem-
plates an expenditure of at least $4o0,-
-0OO.OOO ultimately-an enormous sum
Sf money-but by wise provision of law
1t will come, not from taxing the people.
but from sales of 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 actually occupy the irrigated lands.
Meanwhile, as the years go by, the gem
eral fund for reclaiming arid lands will
increase rapidly from the sale of public
lands throughout the thirteen States and
three Territories affected by the Ma
donal act. So it will be that the fund
Will grow larger as il by geometrical
progression, after the tenth year, when
the Hrst moneys expended by the govern
ment shall have been returned to it, by
the farmers, who own and occupy the
hnd under bitches built by the govern
ueeot.
Speaker Reeds Vision.
Hon. Thomas B. Reed. in n speech at
.Pittsburg in 1894. said: Mighty as has
been our past, our resources have just
bees touched upon, and there is wealth
beyond the Mississippi which in the not
far distant future will astonish even the
'dweiiers on the shores of Lake Michi-
gan From the time my eyes first rested
en- the great uncultivated plains which lie
between the Mississippi and the Pacific
-OcaAn. my awakening dreams have been
6Aed with visions of the incalculable
weSath which the touch OF living water
wtai bring to life from those voiceless
deserts.
There wealth only can produce
wealth. and man. singly and alone, might
sGswei1 try to subdue the Himalayas as
tA-cope with these wastes. but the hand
a urdted and associated man is already
reaching forth to grasp the great results.
The same power which wastes millions
su the Mississippi can be utilized to make
Che deserts blossom with the homes OF
men for whom. and for all of us. the now
bligirted sol, will bring forth the fruits
OF the Garden of Eden.'
Lord Macaulay's Prediction.
Lord Macaulay, writing to an Amer
dean friend once said: "Your fate be-
Heve to be certain, though it is deferred
by physical cause. AS long as you have
q houndless extent of fertile and unoc-
cupfed land, your laboring population
VIII be far more at ease than the labor
ing population of the Old World But
the time will come when New England
wiz be as thickly populated as the Old
Word. Wages will be MS low. and will
huctuate ms much with you as with us.
Heu will have your Birminghams and
Aanchesters, and in these Birminghnins
and Manohesters hundreds of thousands
ef 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
direfU prophesy he did not know of
the. bo,mdless West, an. the great possi-
+ bnjties that are to come to its popula-
tten through irrigation. He did not know
chat Roosevelt would appear on the
: scene at the proper time and cause the
ife-siying water to be applied to the
parched plains and thus produce one of
1, the sgcentest transformations of any age
OF any time.
In these columns, on former occasions.
1t has been shown that the irrigated West
VIII not only be the garden spot of the
world. but that it will afford the surplus
frnit and vegetable produce. coupled with
cereals and other staple articles of com
saerce, which, exported to foreign mar
kets are destined to establish America s
world commercial prestige.
Unmensured 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
<fansmission and local adoption to me-
chaaical and industrial ends This as a
direct result of reclaiming 'Arid Amer
kca.'
The electrical transmission of power
70 considerable distances has accomplish
cd not only results not contemplated in
IT. original inception, but also others of
widespread Importance and value. In
deed, the secondary results are quite us
Important as those arising from the pri-
+ mary successful operation of such trans
Aission lines.
Wherever water power exists. or
vherc the situation enables power to be
cheApiy produced, there has lain dormant
/. q source of actual wealth which has
aEaited the application of electricity.
The effective results obtained when
/, powers have been developed and applied
nv this means have been almost invari-
ably alike New industries have started.
aew towns and villages have grown up,
and new centers of production have
arisen and given employment to labor
And afforded a market for raw materials.
/, Rrom the combination of the two there
has arisen In each case a new source OF
manufactured products. representing an
a3bdition to the permanent wealth of the
cbuntry.
EAfe In Water, Power Ia Electricity.
Hvea. however, beyond these Industrial |
eGeeAs which have been noted in the
dSa Of power transmission establish
tuerts In certain portions OF the United
0tAfes. other results quite unexpected
and equally as beneficial have arisen. In
the arid regions Of the West, where only
Irrigation IL needed to cause the soil to
become highly productive, the installation