Omaha daily bee., 1911-01-27

vsstments the state ever made. This COM
mission is now building 800 miles Of state
highways. and has 1900 miles more on the
schedule to build as fast as they can be
reached. The state pays one-third Of the
price on most OF these roads, and the
counties traversed pay two-thirds. Put
ting the construction under the charge Of
the state commission has resulted In get
ting better and cheaper construction, and
In unifying the scheme of roads through
out the state. This state has already be-
come the nations playground, and will
take higher and higher rank in that re-
gard as the years go by. 1t lie planned
to eventually have good roads to every
part OF the state. roads which will rival
in usefulness though not in cost the IA
nous roads OF France
The state Is using it's convicts in road
building, and using them under a system
which makes guards unnecessary and helps
the convict as we'll as the state. Every
convict who Is deemed worthy to be put
in road gang gets ten days off his sen
tence for every month he works on the
road. The result is he guards himself.
does splendid work averaging TO produce
better results than the gangs of paid la
borers working on the same general sort
of task, and goes out Of prison at the end
OF his shortened term able and willing to
face the world and earn his living. He has
no prison paIlor" and no prison gait"
He is a man, with good, hard muscles,
and he Is ready to take mans place.
Millions In Mining.
! The mines Of Colorado have produced
nearly SSOOOOOOO of gold during the year
| 1910. besides over $4,000 Of other metals.
| The mining industry has advanced tre-
mendously I'm this state In the last two
| years; yet the advance has just begun. It
is possible that within five years a single
camp will produce almost as much gold
! per year as the whole state does now; and
even so, that camp will have to hustle
to keep first place. No state in the union
offers such opportunities OF profit to the
mining investor as does Colorado. Wild
rafting has been nearly wiped out, and no
man need be swindled in mining opera
lions unless he Is looking for the chance
70 be swindled The chambers Of com
! merce OF the different mining camps will
| always warn the investor of bad schemes
II he will give them chance TO do So o.
There is not a single worked-out mining
district in the state OF Colorado. The old
est districts. which have been producing
steadily for the last fifty years, are still
producing and still paying dividends. And
most of the mining part of the state has
been hardly more than scratched.
In this list OF mining, no account Is made
OF coal. Colorado is fifth. II not fourth. in
the list OF coal producing states of the
union. ana the opening OF Routt county
will soon push the state up to third place
II is estimated by the geological survey at
Washington. d. c., that there are Sl.0o,-
100000 tons of coal in Colorado. The
worlds consumption of coal is 10000 900
tons per annum. Hence we have enough
coal to supply the entire world at the
present rate OF consumption for 81 years.
where the Women Vote.
| Women vote In Colorado. and partly as a
result OF women's interest in political
questions, there has never been child
labor problem in this state. There never
will be one. II one ever shows itself, II
will be solved before It reaches the di-
menslons Of a real problem.
All that / have said is but a repetition
Of the first statement that Colorado Is
the state Of opportunity, The state has
10000 square miles and only 100000 popu-
Iation. Not more than hah It's irrigable
area is now under water. Less than halt
it's dry lands are being made to yield any
thing like their proper returns The state
has the best markets in the world for Its
own and has the cheapest land, too when
land Is measured by what 1t viii produce
A free home. with a cook In the kitchen
and a fire in the CRATE, is no more to be
had in Colorado than anywhere else. But
the chance to earn home and collect Il
when one has earned it-or a little before
IL better in Colorado than In any other
state / know. The state maintains an
immigration bureau 20 furnish information
free from bias-tO prospective settlers.
The opportunities OF the state are almost
beyond eatalogueing We can support five
or ten times our present population and
support them well.