Evening star., 1948-09-22

The tert of President Truman's
speech here last night tollotps::
MY train trip coming out here
across the country has been a tre-
mendous experience.
7 have always had special ad-
miration for this region Of America.
It has q quality all its own. In a
few generations the people here
built a civilization out Of the desert.
There is no story in our history
more typical Of the free American
spirit than that of the Mormon
settlers who founded this city. They
had faith, and they had energy.
They took the resources that ma
ture offered them, and used them
wisely. Their courage and fighting
spirit made them secure against
enemies.
They have left you . great herit-
age. You now have the responsible
tty for the wise use Of the resources
od this region. You now have the
duty to protect your rights and
your welfare against the enemies
who threaten them.
Resources Threatened.
And those enemies do exist.
Whether you know it or not, you
are in . battle against powerful
forces that threaten your resources,
and your families and your hopes
of the future. Tonight am going
to name those forces, so that we
can all know whom we are fighting.
First, let us see how this battle
began.
You here in the West know
great deal about conserving natural
resources so that they will be useful
to our children as well as to our
selves. You have learned by eX-
perience and learned well. What is
the magic word in the prosperity
of the farmers and livestock men
of this region? The word Is water.
The first thing the Mormon settlers
did when they came here, after
giving thanks to God, was to dig
irrigation bitches. They knew what
they were doing. So long as you
have water enough for farming and
grazing, the basis OF your welfare
Is assured.
I think it Is no exaggeration to
say that as the water goes, so goes
this part of the country.
Irrigation has given to the West
Q prosperous agriculture; it has
brought thriving industries and en-
abled you to make use of your nat
ural resources. With the aid OF the
Government you have built the
great dams that provide you with
water and hydroelectric power.
Water for irrigation and electric
power for homes and farms and in
dustries have gone hand in hand.
Not a New Battle.
1t Is fair to say that those who
have helped you obtain the water
and power you need are your friends.
And, by the same token, those who
have hampered you in obtaining
irrigation and electric power are
your enemies.
This is not a new battle. Selfish
men have always tried to skim the
cream from our natural resources to
satisfy their own greed. And they
have always sought to control the
Government in order to accomplish
this. Their instrument in this effort
has always been the Republican
Party.
The Republican administrations
of our time have done their best to
make the West an economic colony
of Wall Street. In the 1920s, under
Harding, Coolidge and Hoover, quick
and greedy exploitation was the
order of the day. Many parts of the
West were whitening from the fall
ure to develop its power and irriga-
tion, whitening from Republican
sabotage.
Selfish men had control, and the
great resources of the West were
wasted with sinful disregard of the
people.
Never before In history had so
much been wasted by so few.
In some Of the Western States,
the population had actually begun
to decline, reversing the historic