The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1910-06-17
STAND BY OUR OWN COUNTRY

STAND BY OUR OWN COUNTRY.
Canadian authorities and the large
land corporations of the Northwest
Territories are making strenuous efforts
to attract settlers. An active campaign
is now being carried on il New England
Hundreds of thousands Of our citizens
have left this country, taking millions
of dollars with them. In some States the
exodus has assumed such proportions as
to occasion alarm and the authorities
have instituted remedial measures to stay
the flood of emigration. In few of the
States Land Boards are conducting
real estate exchanges and are making a
laudable effort to acquaint home seekers
with the advantages and opportunities
of their own agricultural districts.
The lure of the West, however, is still
strong and compelling and the wonderful
industrial and agricultural development
which is now going on in the arid and semi
arid regions is attracting ambitious and
adventurous young Americans. Our own
government is endeavoring by opening
to entry new farming regions, and by
the dissemination of literature concerning
the opportunities in the far West to hold
within our own borders the constantly
increasing stream of homeseekers whose
eyes are turned toward the setting sun.
Out in the great American Dessert
stupendous engineering works are being
erected involving the expenditure of
millions of dollars Massive masonry dams
now block abysmal canyons and hold
back the enormous food of torrential
streams. Thousands of miles of canals,
many of which carry whole rivers, now
water millions of acres of desert. The
transformation which water has wrought
in this rainless land is marvellous and the
annual harvests are valued at more than
a quarter of billion dollars.
On many of the great irrigation works
of the Government there are hundreds
of farms on which water is ready for the
coming of the homemaker. With a
modest capital Of 81, 900 or more a man
can establish a comfortable home on
one of these farms, and secure an income
for himself and family and enjoy a
degree of independence and freedom
from worry unknown in the cities. The
Statistician of the Reclamation Service at
Washington, d. c., reports that hundreds |
of homeseekers are leaving the cities and
towns where the increased cost of living |
has made difficult the problem of making
both ends meet. These people include
all professions and trades, from college |
professors to mine workers and factory |
hands, and in a majority of the cases
investigated, success has followed their
ventures into the newly opened farm land
of the West.
The requirements are not so much a
knowledge of farming as sufficient capital
to get started and plenty Of pluck and
energy. The first few years on an irri-
gated farm in a new country call for hard
work and plenty of it, but the assured
rewards Of industry are greater than IN
the humid region. Many Of the new
farmers are securing annual returns
greater than their original capital, and
this too in the third year on the land.
Back to the farm in the arid West
does not mean isolation and loneliness,
nor the absence Of the comforts and
Injuries which are customary in the East.
The irrigated farms are small, communities
are compact, the telephone, rural delivery,
rail, and even trolley transportation are
all enjoyed. Churches, schools and social
are quickly established.
In all these factors which 90 to make
farm life agreeable the reclaimed districts
are not far behind the older settled parts
Of the country. While We have such
advantages to offer our good American
citizens there is no excuse for the expatria-
ion Of our people who are iocking to Canada