The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1904-09-09

81 am of the sixth generation born on
Manhattan Island, but | BELONG west
of the Missouri river"
This is a key to the depth and breadth
Of the Presidents knowledge concerning
all things pertaining to the United States.
He is the first President who ever resid-
ed west of the Missouri river. He is the
first who ever perceived the incalculable
importance Of the arid west, and he is
chiefly responsible for the national irri-
CATION act which is to transform deserts
into gardens. By a chain of endless rev
enues derived from the sale of public
lands in the arid States, each arid State
In turn is to be reclaimed and populated
by independent, h%igh-minded, self-sup-
porting citizens.
Roosevelt established himself, in 1884,
on a ranch at the headwaters of the Lit
tie Missouri river in South Dakota. He
was then only 26 years of age. After
q residence there of about two years he
returned to New York, not only restored
IN body, but a different man mentally
and psychicaily. He had entered into the
spirit of the West so completely that he
was actually westernized. There the
mountains communicated to him the Sc
cret of their strength and he learned of
the benedictions of the unclouded sur.
He made a ranch, herded cattle, mingled
with cowboys and hunted the big game
of the plains. There, too, he learned the
marve1s of the arid soil when Joined to
sthe waters Of the mountain streams.
Vast Areas TO Be Reclaimed.
1t, was such experiences as these that
enabled him to link his name forever
with the great irrigation movement. he
thus was induced to put the presidential
shoulder against the barred doors of
arid America and do one Of the biggest
things since the signing of our Declare
ton of Independence. Perhaps few Of
as have more than a vague consciousness
,of the mighty issues involved in this act.
1t adds at once 125, 100000 acres of fer
tile soil to our agricultural and horticul-
turai area and opens up one Of the most
beautiful and promising vistas ever per-
-celved by the husbandmen of America,
or elsewhere. 1t might be said by cavil-
ers that the reclamation of these deserts
was inevitable, sometime. But it was by
no means inevitable that they should be
reclaimed by mean of public works, and
that the ownership of land and water
would be indissolubly united. The great
est thing President Roosevelt has done
here was to write this flaming sentence:
PRIVATE OWNERSHIP OF WAT
ER, APART FROM LAND, CANNOT
PREVAIL WITHOUT CAUSING EN-
DURING WRONG" That was anoth-
or Proclamation Of Emancipation. Into
,the great struggle between private greed
and public good came, at the psychology
ical moment, the mighty words of the
first irrigation President-and the battle
was won.
Praise for the President.
William e. Smythe, author Of "Con-
quest of Arid America" a pioneer in the
irrigation movement, and now a Demo
cratic politician of San Diego, California.
writing of President Roosevelt's visit to
tthe West awhile ago, exclaimed: "Wel-
come, Theodore Roosevelt! Welcome,
because you are the President! Welcome
.again, because you wrung national irri~
cation from an unwilling Congress-! And
thrice welcome, because with a stroke of
your pen you slew the dragon of water
monopoly! Much as the meE of to-day
appreciate the thing you did when op-
%portunity opened the door, it is only the
men who are to live, as the long genera
tons shall unfold, who may know the
full significance Of that great deed" 1t
10 universally recognized, irrespective Of
politics, that the passage Of the national
irrigation act by Congress, June, 1902,
could never have been accomplished IL 1T
had not been for the fact that Mr.. Roose-
welt % strongly recommended irrigation
legislation In his message to Congress
and put his personal shoulder to the
wheel to help the friends Of the bill
swing the forces into line in it's favor.
When his oficial signature was duly
Afxed to the measure, making it the
law Of the land. the press from the At
lantic to the Pacific, from the lakes to
the gulf, and irrespective Of religion or
politics, sent up one hearty acclaim of
well done!' 1t was a sincere heart
tribute to the man, to his honesty, pat
riotism. craftsmanship, Americanism.
Maine We'd with California, and the Mis-
sissippl valley said "Amen!' The eulo-
agies. information, Civilizations, predictions
and prophecies were edifying and inspir-
dng. They emphasized the Monroe doc
trine of America for Americans" Ex-
tracts from many of the papers publish
ed in different parts of the country-ap-
pearing at the time-are here repro
duced:
President R~oo,evelt's Triumph.
AS the first distinctively administration
measure to pass both houses of Congress
during the present session the national
irrigation bill is deserving of especial at
tention at the moment. Not that it's spe-
a:ifc provisions or its passage present
anything new in a matter that has long
been under public and legislative discus
1ion and consideration in this country,
but because irrigation legislation was one
of the comparatively few things to which
President Roosevelt called the especial
attention of Congress in his first annual
message, md to secure which he has de-
voted his energies and influence unceas-
insly for nearly seven months. His mp
prevail of the bill by formally attaching
his signature to (which he will nat
Araliy do with becoming promptness-