Arizona republican., 1908-04-01


 If you multiply 31O,0O0 by 1000 the
 product is SlO.OOO.OOO. If the multi
 plicand stood for acres of land and the
 multiplier for the average value per
 acre. the product would represent
 total value of sS1O,OOO, 900. Now that
 iS the theoretical ultimate value of all
 the land susceptible of irrigation in
 Maricopa County. Arizona.
 There are 3I0.000 acres of it and it
 is worth an average of 5000 an acre.
 There is not more than one half of
 that quantity irrigated vet. but it will
 all be Watered ultimately. Neither will
 it sell for that price just now but it
 will by and by and people who get
 their hands on some of it while the
 price is low will find themselves en-
 riched pretty soon by what social
 philosophers term the unearned in
 crement. or what in plainer terms is
 called the natural increase of value"
 You can pick up quite a lot of that
 land now for dollar and quarter an
 acre if you deal directly with your Uncle Samuel. but it is not worth any
 thing for crops until you get it irri-
 gated and the water right will cost you S20 an acre. or more, and all till
 able land under existing canals has long since passed ito private owner ship. You get the water right also from the government. The old man
 isn't working any graft on you for the S2O an acre That is just what it~costs him to make the reservoir dams and the ditches and bring the water from -, faf rfu n lf-rfn a does not make a picayune on the transaction and is not trying to. Of course he could not do business for nothing like that and board and clOthe himself if he had not other resources But he has other resources-lots of them-and he has gone into the irri- gation business just for his health, as you may say, to occupy his mind and to be able to furnish a reasonable eX- cuse for his existence. And rescuing 310.000 acres of the finest soil in the world, under the finest climate in the world, from the paralyzing clasp of the desert, by the simple trick of bringing this and that together, is a pretty fair excuse for the old mans existence, don't you think? His work will make that patch of desert land otherwise useless and valueless, worth S3l0,O0O,- 000-ultimately. That is 5000 an acre It will return a good interest on that price, and what is more it will keep on returning the interest for 160.0O0.- GOO years. That is what you may calli a long time investment and of course you know without being told that when you plant your savings in an in i vestment that is good for 16O,O0O,0OO I years, you are providing wisely for your old age and establishing a repu- ! tation as a conservative investor.
 You would be playing in big luck. | the biggest kind of luck. to be able to ! loan sl0.000 for such a long period as i 16O,000,000 years at per cent. You | cannot actually loan it at that rate of ! interest for even a thousand years any where in the world today where the l security is perfect. Your Uncle sam 1, uel himself would not pay you quite as . much as two per cent on one of his ! fifty year notes with no security what l ever except your faith in his charac ter and your confidence that he will | be alive and willing to pay the prin ciple when it is due. There is no such | risk as that, you don't take any such | chances, in planting your money in | this Salt River valley land. under a | tropical climate yet free from the | deadly miasms of tropical swamps and ] possessing an atmosphere pure and dry and sweet as the breath of God. [ And yet you can invest your money in this land at 5000 an acre with as- surance of two per cent a year for nm oC | nd VII have got the whole thing right under your eye all the while as security for your principle and interest and if at the end of that time you want to change your investment you are cer- tain to be able to sell the land at a