The Parker post., 1912-08-03

DESERT LAND
A NATIONS GREATNESS HAS ITS
FOUNDATION IN THE HOME
OF THE MAN WHOSE FEET ARE
PLANTED UPON HIS OWN SOIL.

The following article by Charles J.
Blanchard, statistician of the RECLAIM
alton service, will be of interest to
everyone seeking a home on our UNI
occupied public lands MIR. Blanchard
is an enthusiastic believer in the
slogan, America for Americans, 'and
he believes the government should do
everything possible to keep Ameri-
cans from emigrating to foreign soil
He has travelled over every foot of
ground now being reclaimed. and is
probably the best posted man on the
subject i'm the country
"The home4making instinct is
Well-developed trait in American char
acter," said Mr. Blanchard, i'm speak
ing of home-making by the govern
memt. 'Our forefathers who landed
ON the bleak shores of New England.
their descendants, the pioneers of
the middle west, the Argonauts of
this generation who crossed the
trackless plains, were impelled by
this instinct more than by the Love
OF adventure or the lure of gold ito
wander forth into strange lands
"The great question of providing
homes for our people is a big one
The rapid narrowing of the boundary
OF our unoccupied public lands and
the tremendous increase in land
values in all the settled sections
the United States render it increac.-
ingly difficult for a man of small
means to get foothold on the land
There is congestion in many of our
cities, and the menace of great
population of underfed and poorly
housed people increases each year
"a nations greatness has its foum-
dation in the home of the man whose
feet are firmly planted upon his own
land. There is no national stability
in citizenship born and reared i'm
tenements. Patriotism, loyalty, and
civic pride are not bred and fostered
in the great centers of population.
The destiny of the nation is fore
shadowed in the provisions made for
the prosperity and contentment OF
its citizens
"And so our legislators have fin
ally recognized that it is a national
duty to render the requirement of
greater in extent than many of the
original states have been donated
for the purpose of making habitable
amused lands. At one time the prop
erty of the United States embraced
1,SOO,0OO,O 900 acres. Today it has
been reduced to less than 400, 900 600
acres. Out of that public land TWEEN
ty vigorous commonwealths have
arisen, and an agricultural empire
has come into being that is today
the marvel of the world
'But the difficult part is now
to come. I'm many parts of the pub
lie lands still left nature has placed
in position all the natural elements
required for a prosperous country, ex-
cept rainfall. How to overcome the
absence of water and thus bring this
region to it's proper state of develop
ment is today the problem that I'm
Gle Sam is solving. There is no quea-
tion but what it's successful solution
will provide a safety valve against
the dangers of congestion in the
great cities of the east.
Effect on Character Building.
''Then there is the other side of
the question. The economic value
ured i'm dollars and CENTS The det5-
ert made habitable offers the boom
of health to him who builds house
upon it. You cannot fix the posi-
bilities of this great land of silence
and sunshine. Its influence is tre-
mendous in character-molding In
stead of the dead level of mediocrity
which prevails in modern city life
the desert offers the upl1ft OF vast
distances, perpetual sunshine, and
The individual home, with the broad
er freedom of action that comes from
the great life that springs from the
bosom of the desert when water is
applied.
Many projects of the government
which ale ready for irrigation contain
large areas of land for sale by pri-
vate owners who are under agreement
to dispose of their holdings. Under
the reclamation law no farm will con-
tain more than 100 acres, the only
requirement being that every settler
must reside upon the land and cul-
tlvate it for three years before he
secures a title. The homestead right