Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1906-10-12
COUNTY TICKET.
Hill 8 Pessjmism.

| ii. Ii. MCCRAl
Hills Pessjmism.
One Of the most sensational and dis
heartening papers OF this or any other
age has been presented by the railroad
king. J. J. Hill, who, though he may
be successful manager OF great rail-
road and steamship combines, and
eminently successful withal, is scarcely
of that philosophic class of minds tina,
will give his dire forebodings much
weight with the rabble who skim over
the surface OF that which is unpleasant
with an optomistic eye, unless it is
supported by the most ample grounds
for belief.
The paper was read at public ban.
ques in Chicago, last Saturday night.
Its object-if any object it had except
notoriety-was to warn the people
against a waste Of great public re-
sources, in response to the query,
Chow shall we feed the millions?"
He starts out with the premise that
"The highest conception of civilized
nation is that of acting as trustee for
posterity," and the assertion that "it
is the savage, the native barbarian, who
is content with Consistently wrestling
from nature the simple necessities OF
life" He forecasts that in twenty.
five years from now, the people will be
confronted by an excess OF population
and Limitation OF products to supply
their wants from all natural sources.
These resources, he declared, are four
in number: from the sea, which does
not supply more than three per cent
of mans food; the forest, whose pro-
duct is not food, but shelter, and is
mainly an accessory for acquisition Of
wealth; the mines, OF like adaptable
ity, which never can be..replaced, leav-
leaving nothing else but the life.sus.
tanning products of Mother Earth for
dependence Of our present population
and fifty millions additional, who will
by that time have appeared to take
part in the struggle for existence. He
then goes on to say:
within the last six years there have
been transferred from public to private
ownership more than one hundred mill
lion acres of Government land, an area
twice the size of the State of Minnesota.
The entire area of surveyed and unap-
prcpriated land within the United States
is only two and half times that amount.
At the present rate, therefore. every acre
of public land would disappear within
the next fifteen years. But as large pre-
centage of the lands included in this
estimate are wholly or partially unfit for
tillage, it is literally true to say that our
arabic public lands have almost disap-
peared.
"And where are our children to find
standing room and the tens of millions
of the future place for wholesome in
dustry? This is an intensely practical
question. 1t is immediate. For within
twenty years We must house and employ
in some fashion fifty millions additional
population, and by the middle of this
century, at time when the child now
born will be in the prime of life, there
will be approximately two and half
times as many people in the United
States as there are to-day"
Granting, for consideration, that
these surmises are true, it should be
borne in mind that such exigencies
generally supply . means for adapta-
ton to circumstances. This is pecu.
liarly true of the Chinese Empire,
which possesses an area OF 1886, 900 OO0
square miles, supporting q population
of 450,O00,OO0 people; and the area Of
the United States is approximately
1907 ,6O4 square miles. By includ'
ing the dependencies Of either coun'
try, it would increase the former ares
to about 4,4l9,OO0 square miles, and
Of this country to3,763,OO0, thus at
fording our population Of 10000, OO(
people, over 2S7 acres each, if equita
bly, distributed. Our population, i,
should be remembered is less than one
fifth that of the Chinese Empire.
The disappearance of the unappro
priated government lands within IF
teen years is not q fair basis for esti
mating the number Of homes that MAJ
be supplied to present and increasing
population. Before conceding thes'
statements are correct, it is safe t
assume that many acres held by tn
land barons will be released, by dealt
or otherwise, and become homes 70
support Of their owners, and provid
sustenance for the millions mirrors
as suppliants in the RAILROAD magnate'
pipe.dream. Then the sea may pre-
vide boundless supply of food fist
should it come to /" cases" on dieteti
regime.
1t will be seen from bare presents
ton of facts that the salient objects {
reform are steadily progressing toward
conditions that will distribute tn
enormous accumulations of wealth
whether in money or landed posse
sions, go that each human being ma
have right, at least to all that
necessary to eat, drink and wear, as
reward for the labor of bis own hand
II is in providing for this equalization
by other than violent or anarchist
means; by the slow, sure, steadfa
and strong arm of the law requiril
wealth to render some adequate cor
pensation for the protection afford