The spectator., 1920-11-16


 with a load of expense about him, al. ways with the problem of income and outlay to be solved-had made of Har- ris a man very different from the young ideaIist of 'S2. During .the first years of struggle for bare existence in some way the flame of idealism still burned. but with the dawn of the ..bet- ter times" there came n gradual shift ing of standards and a new conception of essentials. The crops of the early years were unprofitable on account of the great distance to market; later, when the railway came to their doors. the crops were still unprofitable. owing to falling prices and diminishing yields due to poor cultivation. Then came a decade during which those who stayed In the country stayed because they could not get out, and 1t became a cur rent saying that the more land a man farmed the deeper he got in debt.
 Then came the swing of the pendu- lum. No one knows just what started 1t prosperitywards. Some said 1t was that the farmers, disheartened with wheat growing, were applying them. selves to stock. and certain it is that in mixed farming the community eventually found It's salvation; others attributed the change to improved az ricultural implements, to improved methods of farming. to greater knowl- edge of prairie conditions. to reduc- tions in the cost of transportation and enlarged facilities for marketing. or to increasing world demand and higher world prices for the product of the farm. But whatever the causes-and no doubt all of the above contributed the fact gradually dawned upon the settlers that land-their land-was worth money.
 It was the farmers from the United States. scouting for cheaper lands than were available in their own communi- ties, who first drove the conviction home. They came with money in their wallets; they were actually prepared to exchange real money for land. Such thing had never before been heard of in Plainville district.
 But a few transactions took place: lands were sold at five dollars, six dol. lars. eight dollars an acre. The farm- CTS began to realize that land repre- sented wealth-that 1t was an asset. not a liability-and there was a rush for the cheap railway lands that had so long gone a-begging. Harris was among the first to sense the change in the times, and a beautiful section of railway land that lay next to his homestead he bought at four dollars an acre. The first crop more than paid for the land. and Harris sudden ly found himself on the way to riches
 The joy that came with the realiza- ton that fortune had knocked at his door and he had heard was the con- trolling emotion of his heart for year or more. But gradually. like a. fog blown across moonlit night. came a sense of chill and disappointment If only he had bought two sections! If at least he had proved up on his pre- emption which he might have had for nothing! He saw neighbors about him adding quarter to quarter. None of them had done better than himself but some had done as well. And in some way the old sense of oneness. the old community interest which had held the little band of pioneers to- gether amid their privations and their poverty, began to weaken and dis solve. and in its place came an indi. vidualism and materialism that measured progress only in dollars and cents. Harris did not know that his gods had fallen, that his ideals had been swept away; even as he sat at supper this summer evening. with his daughters arm about his neck. he felt that he was still bravely, persistently, pressing on toward the goal. all un- aware that years ago he had left that goal like q lighthouse on a rocky shore, and was now sweeping along with the turbulent tide of Mammon- ism. He still saw the light ahead. but 1t was now phantom of the imagina. ton. He said, "When am worth ten thousand will have reached it." when he was worth ten thousand he found the faithless light had moved on to twenty-five thousand. He said. When I am worth twenty-five thou. sand I will have reached It." when he was worth twenty-five thousand he saw the glow still ahead, beckOning him on to fifty thousand. To stop now might mean losing sight of his fbal, and John Harris held nothing in heaven or earth so great as its attain. ment.
 So. gently enough he disengaged bis dan 0htoPss s rm nnd Anishod hia nm