The Ogden standard. [volume] (Ogden City, Utah) 1902-1910, 1909-01-25

for the bitches as they came due
That is to say. they ran in debt for the
whole farm, which cost them from
s25 to $50 nm acre for the bare land,
without house or fence.
A thrifty man with q working fam
lily In the vicinity of large city could
make those payments with ease. 1t
will not usually be possible for settlers
in what Is virtually IN oasis in a
desert to do anything of the kind,
for they will have no nearby market
for the products of intensive cultiva-
tIon.
There are many practical difficulties
to be encountered besides the lack OF
nearby markets The. government
brings the water to the land. but the
settler has to do the rest He must
level the land and put in his d1stribut-
ing system He must provide build
ings and fences where building ma
terial is dear. The roads, school
houses and churches must be built.
All these cost money, and 1t is seldom
that the settler will be able to bring
all his land into cultivation for some
wears, but his payments toward the IT.
rigating system are spread over MS
whole acreage. In time, all these dis
tricts will become wealthy and pros
perous. Each will be found best
adapted to some special line of agri-
culture, for whose products markets
will be found. but In the opening up OF
a new country by poor men, no way
is likely to be found whereby the hard
ships of pioneering can be escaped
The proposal TO give twenty years
time without interest Is In full accord
with the general extravaganza which
has made the United States govern
ment the laughing stock of the world.
It is foolish, because unnecessary and
unjust to those who pay cash. The
gift of the interest is nothing more or
less than a dole from the public treas
ury The sensible way is that adopted
bv the British government In Ireland,
where fifty years time is given. with
3 per cent OF less on deferred pay
ments. The settler on land costing
$50 would then have to pay but 81 an
acre a year. plus few cents for In
terest, That they can do, because
those who fail, as some will, are sure
to find purchasers under these terms,
and those who arc able, can get out OF
debt as soon as they please. In Aus
tralia, they do not give SO long time,
and per cent interest is required.
There, however, the government
builds the house and barn, and Will
even provide stock and tools, and VIII
pay the settler wages for short time
for putting improvements on his own
land. But the government takes three
precautions, which we omit; first, 1t
does such things only on tracts within
easy IetCu OI ldI ISe Iudi hOlo, oOSOhu,
the settler must come with credentials
for sobriety, industry and ordinary ca
pacity, and occupy the land for at least
six months on probation before title
Is given; third, skilled foreman is
provided for each district, and so long
as the settler Is In debt, he must cul-
tivate as directed by the foreman.
The Union Labor government of South
Australia thus shows remarkable bus
mess sense and craftsmanship. 1t re-
quires the poor man" TO pay for all
that he gets-including the land ,as
we'll as the irrigation works, II irrigat-
ed-but 1t makes the requirements
such that the Industrious poor man"
can meet them.