Arizona republican., 1908-02-07
MR. G. |. SEA6ROVES
 SAYS "Gtl BUSY
The Colonization Agent for santa Fe Delivers Strong Address at Meeting of Board of Trade.

accompanied by P. r. Hastings of Prescott. for the purpose of better &C., quainting himself with the possibili- ties of the valley and the needs for
 greater advertising and colonization. The morning was devoted to a sight
 seeing trip about the city and sur
 rounding country. MT. Seagraves will
 remain in Phoenix today and go from
 here to Yuma where at the invitation
 of Chief Engineer Frank H. Newell of
 the reclamation service he will ad- dress the people interested in the re- clamation project there. Though MT. 1 Seagraves had previously visited the
 Salt river valley. what was brought to his attention yesterday met with his
 unqualified admiration and enthusi- astic commendation.
 As soon as Mir. Seagraves' presence
 in the city became known the Phoe- nix Board of Trade speedily issued a l telephonic call for a reception and meeting at the boards rooms in the afternoon. Though the call was made as late as noon. a very large number was present and a profitable and in- teresting session was held. Mir Sea-
 graves responded to a call for an ad- dress. which was attentively listened to. After this meeting he was called upon to address the Real Estate Boahd
 of Phoenix at a session of that body. Mir. Seagraves in his speech to the Board of Trade referred briefly to the financial troubles. which. he said,
 would result in ultimate benefit to the Salt river valley.
 This section has gone through the crisis with flying cOlors and no loss
 of prestige; on the other hand 1t had gained prestige with investors. who will now turn from insecure invest ments elsewhere to the secure and safe investments offered in the Salt river valley. in land. in city property. and l in business propositions. In spite of the depreciation of values in other
 places. there had been a steady in
 crease here.
 He spoke of the years it had been
 necessary to devote tO educating the people along irrigation lines. At first
 it was exceedingly hard; it was a new subject to them and considerable dif-
 ficulty was met in convincing the people of the advantages of farming bN illS ltltlDO'l SUCH
 tiOns as The Earth" during the past ten years, more interest had been cre- ated In Irrigated lands. A great amount of money had been expended by his company in literature. which
 was now beginning to bring results.
 Prior to this time said Mir. Sea-
 graves. things were not quite ripe in this valley for promoting colonization 10 a grea, extent; the water questions had not been settled, and the adequate supply had not been assured and could not be depended upon. Now however. conditions are radically different. and now. said the speaker, is the time to
 go to work. He believed that it was not too early 10 begin an extensive ad- vertising campaign. When the val ley has the goods to offer. there was no use or reason in delaying the mat ter. The quicker prospective settlers found 1t out the better.
 Mir Seagraves then outlined a num- Der of ways in which the valley could be advertised and how settlers could be secured He called attention to the colonization of sections by relig- ious organizations. as the Dunkards, and other similar sects. who always settled in communities by themselves, and were, he added. the very best of citizens and the most capable of farm CTS. once get a colony of sect To- cated. others of the same church af- filiation would not be long in follow ing.
 One of the most fruitful sources he had found for promoting colonization was letters from farmers who have located in the section. People in east ern communities were inclined to look askance upon the statements of rail- way agents. thinking that all they wanted was to get their s30 or what ever the settlers rate might be; and upon real estate agents as boomers. having an axe to grind. But where the people approached and sought aft ter could be referred to some former neighbor who had settled in the val ley and who would cheerfully recom- mend its advantages-''such recOm- mendatlons were better than all the glittering generalities which might be presented to influence them
 MT. Seagraves said that he thought if man were sent east, he should be sent into those counties and cemmun- tiles from which people had already come to Phoenix. People who are ac- customed to living in thickly settled sections and especially those living in cities and near cities. were not look ing for big cattle ranches. or a section on a broad prairie. They want small tracts in a populous neighbrohood. The day of the big farm Is past. What the valley needs now Is twenty acre and forty acre people. to settle up the country and improve it. build homes. and farm # intensively. so the valley can be made to support as large population as possible He thought the people here failed to appreciate the great possibilities of what they have right at home. and the real value of the land. Making comparison with Illinois and Iowa lands. he said he knew of farms which were not paying per cent on the investment. CTS considered that they were doing CT considered that they were doing well if they mad, from ZIP to SIS per acre. and that land he said was today selling for $125 to s150 per acre. And here in th.3 valley! where you have everything in the world that could be