The silver state. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1909-1925, 1913-12-09
PANAMA CANAL
WILL HELP NEVADA

nevada, as state, Is particular
ly in a position to take advantage OF
the marvellous settlement and develop
ment certain to follow the opening Of
the Panama canal,'' said Fred Schaf-
fer, land commissioner of the Nevada
California Oregon railway and for
merly one of the well known publicity
men of the middle west.
Schaffer believes that every pos
sible effort should be directed toward
preparation for the near. future and
the thousands of people to. be brought
! to the western coast.
More people is the vital need of
the vest he continued. "Few of us
stop to realize that one out of every
sixteen people in the United States
lives in Greater New York, or thai
it would take California, Nevada and
Utah to propulate Chicago as densely
as she is populated at the present
| time.
| Heretofore Castle Garden has re-
ceived the foreign producers who
come to this country. The center of
| population indicates how far this vast
number radiates. With the opening
of the Panama canal this great factor
i
measure, be transferred from the east.
ern seaboard to the western. 1 was
much interested in statistics given in
recent Journal editorial. The peo
pie of Nevada should begin to con-
slider the coming years.
81 am advised that the great
steamship lines, in making prepara-
tions for. the forthcoming Panama
Exposition, have sold over 100000
tickets on the installment plan to
the people of Italy and other points
IL the old world and that these people
o, at least a large majority of them,
contemplate settlement in the United
States -
'sNevada, as well as California.
will reap a portion of this harvest
The foreigners, as rule, represent
our most successful and thrifty pro-
ducers. Their demand is for land.
The great west has the land and its
greatest requirement is the people.
Nevada is destined to become a won
derfully productive agricultural state.
For years Colorado knew nothing
but mining. Finally when the sum
total of it's production for the year
had been published to the world IT
was discovered that agriculture and
its allied industries had beaten the
mineral output by nearly 200 per
cent. Then the tide turned. Where
it had been regarded as impossible to
procure water an abundant under
flow was found and the desert see
tions We're transformed to riotousl y
productive areas.
History will repeat itself and
. Nevada will awaken some day to the
possibilities of agriculture. The soon
er it does so the more rapid will the
general development of the state be
marked.
I" The people of the state should
provide some plan to invite these
hundreds of thousands to come with
in little over year, to render some
assistance in this development. Gel
these people settled in colonies OF
the low-priced land of the state
Urge extension of irrigated areas
and prepare for a period of develop
ment never before witnessed or ever
dreamed of in the history of tho
west
"When we have gates of our owl
to swing inward and welcome thu
!: millions who are seeking homes il
tn cold world settlement will just be
gin. The price of land will advance
Phantom values will, of course, result
but it is this feature that should
be guarded carefully.
Every family attracted to com
munity is worth thousand dollars tt
that community. The amount they
will pay to every merchant, profes
sional man and business man general
! ly-the taxes they will pay in 4
: period of years and all these factor,
t make a citizen of valuable asset
Mr.. Schaffer is on his way to SaI
: Francisco, where an extensive coloni
: zation is under way for Fairport an(
, the Goose Lake valley of northern
California. All this territory is tribu
e tary to Reno and its settlement an,
Y development will mean much for thi