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BILZIOKIKET OF TmW.SmzMXIONALmTS
(Copyrlglit, 1911, by Frank O. Carpenter.)
ASHINGTON, D. C (Special Corre
spondence of The Bee.) This la the
first of a series of letters which I shall
write from Sunday to Sunday upon
Uncle Sam, patriarch. A dozen years
ago our Treat national relative was
w
merely the business manager for the
American people. He was a hard-fisted, nonthinking
machine to collect taxes and keep order. He took In
the revenues and paid the employes, giving no atten
tion to the conservation or development of the coun
try. He allowed himself to be used by the interests,
and our public lands by the hundreds of millions of
acres went to the railroads and individuals, and cor
porations got our forests and mines for a song. At
the same time an Incalculable waste went on In every
branch of Industry and every condition of life, mak
ing a loss so great that it cannot be counted.
Uncle Sam, Patriarch.
Thai was the condition until a decade or so ago,
When. Uncle Sam had aa awakening. He then began
to assume the position of a father to Ms American
childrea, and he has now become a great creative force
working for the betterment and protection of all the
people. He Is a real patriarch, devoting himself to
the personal welfare of each of his subjects and de
veloping the family estate for all it Is worth.
These sew movements are along a hundred dif
ferent lines, and they embrace every part of our coun
try from ocean to ocean and from the great lakes to
the gulf. They effect every branch of business, every
grade of. society and every man, woman and child.
The schemes involve an expenditure of hundreds of
millions, ad some will add billions to our national
wealth. Let me mention a few of them.
The Deserts and the Swamps.
Take for instance the great mango trick of mak
ing golden crops spring up on soil of our waste lands.
You have read something of it In the opening of the
Roosevelt dam. . Uncle Sam has f 80,000,000 In hand
to water the deserts, and his reclamation fund for our
arid lands Is fast approximating a hundred millions
Or more. He is tunneling the mountains, damming
the streams and carrying the waters In flumes over
the canyons. He has more than 1,800 miles of canals
already dug. The Roosevelt dam alone will redeem
a quarter of a million acres and there are thirty-four
other projects, each of which will reclaim thousands.
All that land Is to be set aside for his American chil
dren, and anyone who applies can have forty acres of
It for the asking. I shall tell you what those lands
are worth, and how you may get them.
Another big scheme Is draining the swamps. We
have millions of acres of wet lands that can be turned
Into farms. They are scattered over the union from
California to Maine. They are as rich as Holland, and
will feed tens of millions. It is estimated that It will
cost 3 an acre to drain them and that the crops they
wQl yield will bring In a billion dollars a year. Where
these vwamps are and how they are to be handled Is
another project of Uncle Bam, patriarch.
Harnessing the Waters.
This Is another big scheme, bills in the aid of which
are sow before congress. The government scientists
are testing the matter, and they have collected a vast
deal of new Information. This project includes the
water powers which the experts say aro equal to 60,
000,000 million horses, or twice enough to run every
mill, drive every train and light every house in the
country. This power can be Increased to 200,000,000.
Much of It cornea from water falls controlled by the
government, the concession of which the trusts are
trying to get.
A part of this same scheme Is the development of
our rivers. We hare 295 of them in the United States,
with navigable waters long enough to encircle the
globe. The great lakes are the busiest freight rontes
upon earth, and -boats can go on the Mississippi for
2,000 miles. We have already built 4,600 miles of
canals and wo have schemes which propose the Joining
of the great lakes with the Mississippi, and also with
the sea. One scheme is a canal from the great lakes
to the gulf.
Doubling Our Farms.
When our forefather took possession tf the
United States almost the whole of the land belonged to
the government. Tear by year these public lands have
been given away. More than 1,400,000,000 acres hare
been sold or set aside r.s reservations and there are
comparatively few left Nevertheless. Uncle Sam,
patriarch. Is at work upon Bchemes which will practi
cally double our farms. He is testing the soil and
showing how by fertillting and proper farming the
crops can be Increased two or more fold. This is equal
to putting another farm on top of every farm In the
United States.
Much of this work is done by means of bacteria,
so small that a handful would number more than all
the people in the world. Uncle Sam is setting these
little devils to work aad he shows you Just how to
treat them. He Is also 'testing new seeds and plants
and his explorers are traveling over the world seeking
new crops. We have already made millions by hla
introduction of rice and macaroni wheat, and are in
augurating tropical agriculture in the irrigated deserts
of the west.
These new crops are of many kinds and sugges
tions may be given of things out of which any farmer
can make money.
Uncle Sam's Plans for the Miner.
Many of the latest schemes relate to the mines
and the miners. Uncle Sam has plans for saving our
minerals. We have the greatest coal lands upon earth
and there are billions of tons left upon government
property. The amounts are so vast that they will
bring In hundreds of millions of dollars and they are
to be sold on estimates made aa to the amounts they
contain. The geological surveyors are now prospect
ing and sizing up these coal lands, and the govern
ment Is selling them in forty-acre tracts at from $50
to $100 and upward per acre. In connection with this
there are about fifteen billion tons of available coal in
Alaska which will soon be thrown open to those who
apply. Some of this coal Is that which it 1b said the
Guggenhelms tried hard to grab.
As to our other minerals they bring in many mil
lions a year and Uncle Sam's records will show Just
what they are and where. '
In this same connection-are the new measures' now
being Introduced for protecting the miner. The gov
ernment Is testing all sorts of explosives and doing
all It can to save life In the mines. Experiments are
going on In the coal regions of Pennsylvania and also
In the gold and silver mines of the west
Uncle Barn's Plans for Corn and Cotton.
Some of the biggest schemes of the government
relate to the cotton belt and cornfields. The gov
ernment Is teaching corn breeding and corn seeding.
Our corn brought in laat year over $1,500,000,000
and the cotton brought In about $800,000,000 or
$900,000,000. The corn crop can be doubled and the
cotton materially Increased. We are Improving both
crops and Uncle Sam has cotton-breeding plantations
where he Is crossing the cottons to make a staple
which' will be longer and bring more money. He Is
Ancient Fight for
EOPLE the world over are prone to think
that the movement for women's rights is
of modern origin, but the fact is that It is
not only older than any nation extant, but
even as old as Rome, says the Washington
Star. The most direct information that women of
ancient times were contending for equality with men
comes from Cato, the censor, whose thunderlngs
against them, as he opposed In the Roman forum the
repeal of the Opplan law, constitute one of his great
est masterpieces of oratory and is quoted In several
of the most noted works on that subject.
It is true that the women of Rome did not actu
ally contend for the ballot, but nevertheless, they
Insisted on their rights as vigorously as any suffra
gette that ever stormed the English Parliament Some
of the most powerful men of the Roman empire were
arrayed against the repeal of the Opplan law, but all
of their threats and Influence only went to make the
women of Rome the more determined. The doteated
law was finally stricken off the statutes.
The Opplan law was enacted during the Punic
wars, and declared that "no woman shall possess
more than a half ounce of gold or wear a garment of
various colors, or ride In a carriage drawn by horses
in a city or in a town, or any place nearer thereto
than one mile, except on some pnbllo religious
solemnity.
Just what would be the fate of any United States
senator or representative who even Introduced such a
law is hardly conjectural It Is certain. But the
women of Rome seem to have let the law-makers slip
up on their rights during the wars, and when they
finally attempted to resist the restrictions of "mere
man" In the Roman forum they were met with the
strong hand of the law.
But what did the women of Rome doT Did they
sit down and mope? Hardly. They got right down
to business and waged a campaign that for many days
made things hot for the haughty statesmen who op
posed them. They not only held Papa Roman.
Brother Roman and Husband Roman by the lapels
of their coats while they made them swear to support
the cause, but they broke all ancient precedents and
made public speeches.
The consideration of the repeal of the Opplan law
took up at least two days of the time of the forum,
which gives a significant Idea of the importance then
attached to giving women their "rights. M They
parked the streets while Cato. the censor, was tiradlng
against their canse. Livy, the historian of the affair,
says: '
"They could not be kept at home either by advice
or sname, or in commands ct their husbands. They
m
doing the same with other crops, including our fruits.
This material will Include stories of apple lands worth
$1,000 an acre, of orange goves Improved by the gov
ernment which are equally valuable and of how dates,
oranges and figs are being grown on the new Irrigated
grounds of the southwest On some of the Arizona
farms they raise five crops of cabbages a year.
-4-
More Money From Live Stock.
But few people know that the government has
gone into the stock-raising business. Uncle Sam has
recently established breeding farms In different parts
of the Union. Hefls raising Morgan horses and fine
cattle, including Jerseys, Shorthorns and others. Our
farm animals are now bringing us in about $2,000,
000,000 a year and the government believes that this
amount, by careful breeding, can be increased JtfOO.
000,000 or more. This should bring down the price
Women's Rights
beset every street and pass Yn the city, beseeching the
men as theyjwent down to the forum."
Another authority says: "They came in from
nearby villages and towns and got so bold as to urge
their cause on the consuls, praetors and magistrates.
After the discussion was ended the women the next
day poured out in even greater numbers and beset
the doors of the tribunes who had opposed the repeal
of the law." And when It was repealed the victorious
women of Rome marched through the streets be
decked in all of the Jewels and finery they possessed.
In opposing the repeal of the law Cato did not
spare the feelings of the women any more thin the
feelings of the modern women's rights advocates are
spared by Borne of our public men. Yet there were
- .
many gallant passages In his speech, In which h said:
-no, i"ui'uU noiioug us uau raaae
it a rule to maintain the prerogative and authority
of a husband with resnect to his own wife we should
have less trouble with the whole sex. But now, our
privileges, overpowered at home by female contu
macy, are, even here In the forum, spurned and trod
den under foot, and because we are unable to with
stand each separately we now dread their collective
body. I was once accustomed to think it a fabulous
and fictitious tale that In a certain Island the whole
race of males was utterly extirpated by a conspiracy
of women.
As to the outrageous behavior of these women, I
know not whether It reflects greater disgrace on you
tribunes or on the consuls. On you, certainly, If you
have brought these women here to raise trlbunltlan
seditions; on us (consuls) If we suffer laws to be im
posed on us by a secession of women, as was done
formerly by that of the common people.
"Had I not been restrained by respect for the
modesty and dignity of some individuals among them,
rather than of the whole number, and been unwilling
that they should be seen rebuked by a consul, I should
not have refrained from saying to them: 'What sort
of practice is this of running out Into the streets and
addressing other women's husbands? Could not each
have made the same request of her husband at home?
Although, If females would let their modesty confine
them within the limits of their own rights, It does not
become you, even at home, to concern yourselves
about any laws that might be passed or repealed
here.' "
Students of the women's rights movement of the
present day will see In this last remark of Cato's ex
actly the same sentiment that has often been ex
pressed by pnbllo men opposed to woman suffrage in
the twentieth century. Yet, Cato was speaking 215
years before Christ, , -
" ' art Jr7Z -v- . v.-i i
fh
of meats and It Is interesting to every householder.
In the same connection Is the breeding of game.
The government is introducing partridges and pheas
ants. It proposes to open a buffalo farm, and It has
herds of reindeer In Alaska. A curious feature Is the
probable Introduction of the hippopotamuses for the
swamps of the south. I am told also that one man
has made a fortune in skunks which he rears for their
skins.
We .have thousands of men and women nursing
chickens. Uncle Sam has new methods of fowl rais
ing and quite a number of people are making a living
by breeding guineas for game. Our poultry crop Is
worth as- much as the cotton crop, the hay crop or the
wheat crop.
Uncle Sam Doctor.
Another interesting work of Uncle Sam is the
care he is now exercising over the health of his chil
dren. The government has scores of scientists In
vestigating diseases of animal and men. We are wip
ing out the mosquitoes and slaughtering the flies that
bring typhoid fever. We take the temperatures of the
cows to learn whether they have consumption, and
we tell Just how their milk should be treated. Uncle
Sam is also Inspecting the drugs and meats. He pro
tects you from bad liquor and fells Just how much
alcohol there Is In every bottle of wine and beer.
He is also testing foods and food values and lays
down rules by which you may grow lean or fat He
has cooking schools which are studying how to pre
pare meats and vegetables, and tells you Just what to
become the best man physically and mentally.
Our National Assets.
The government Is now figuring up how much we
are worth. For the last several years it has had an
- y ruiy 01 mveBiigaiura enumaiing our crops, animals
foW and these figures are now about ready for
U8e. They show that we have 300.000 factories with
a capital of $15,000,000,000. They give the wages of
every state of the Union as well as a full count of
Uncle Sam's children. This has been done by the
census, the work of which Includes new facts of great
human Interest
Uncle Sam, Detective.
One of the Interesting phases of Uncle Sam's work
Is the pursuit of crime and his efforts to protect his
children from frauds. This has been inaugurated
within the last few years and It now forms a (treat
v network which gathers In the robbers, from the coun-
terfelters to the trust magnates. There are hundreds
of these detectives and spies. There are the corpora
tion detectives who are looking into the boobs of the
trusts and the railroads; there are detectives who are
examining false weights and measures; custom house
spies who are after the smugglers; internal revenue
spies who are hunting the moonshiners and treasury
detectives who are chasing the counterfeiters. This
sphere of crime is very extensive and the officials are
increasing their work of prevention. Some of the
most interesting revelations of the present are those
which relate to frauds through the malls and to the
destruction of fake mining schemes, land schemes and
plantation schemes of one kind or another.
Government Schemes for the Sailor.
The government is also doing a great deal for the
sailors. It has a life-saving service with 459 stations.
It guards our coasts by 1,200 lighthouses and it has
forty-six lightships and 2,000 buoys. This service
saved about $16,000,000,000 worth of property last
year, Including vessels worth $12,000,000. It saved
also 6,000 lives.
I want to tell how the coasts and harbors are
being surveyed and describe our enormous shipping
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m. m m m aw
r a.
Interests, Including a carrying trade amounting t
$2,000,000,000 or $3,000,000,000 per annum.
Uncle Sam, Exporter.
What our patrlarchial relative is doing to sell our
crops and manufactures abroad Is worth noting. Ia'
the last two or three years he has organized a new
system for the development of our foreign commerce
and he now has his national trade drummers and gov
ernment agents In almost every country. He has in
spectors who go from land to land studying the push
ing of special crops and he is also working the army
of American consuls. Our foreign commerce now
amounts to about $3,000,000,000 a year, and our ex--ports
alone are over $16,000,000. This business is
Just at Its beginning, and nevertheless it is the great
est commerce of any nation.
Our BJit Lumber Trade.
It is a live question as to what Uncle Sam will do
with the forests of the union, and whether they should
not be given over to the people. He has still about
500,000,000,000 board feet of standing timber, and
in many of the national forests he Is cutting the trees
and sawing them into lumber. The forestry bureau
claims that our wood will be gone within twenty
years, and with it will go our lumber industry, which
now brings in $1,000,000,000 a year and pays $100,
000,000 in wages. How to prevent the loss of this,
how to plant new forests and how to take care of
those now standing are among the special projects
which the government Is studying.
New Roads and now to Slake Them.
Another big thing concerns the roads of Xhe United
States. The government is teaching the people how
to improve their highways; this is interesting to the
farmer, to the automobller and to every man who
goes over the road. Twenty-two object lesson roads
have already been built and over 700 miles of new
roadways are In course of construction. This also
affects the rural mall carriers, who travel by earring
more than 1,000,000 miles every day and serve mora
than 20,000,000 of people.
Uncle Sam and nia Flying Machines.
The government Is interested in aviation and Is
testing all sorts of balloons and flying machines for
the army and navy. Some secret experiments; "the
dirigible balloon;" Will we ever carry mails through
the air? These are some of the subjects of study.
Connected with this are the new discoveries which
have been made as to the upper air by means of box
kites. This work Is going on at Mount Weather, in
the Blue Ridge, where kites are flown dally and aerial
flights of various kinds made. Uncle Sam is now
spending $1,500,000 per annum In forecasting the
weather, and Dr. Willis Moore claims that he is saving
y farmer, manufacturer and exporter $50,000,000
a year.
' The New United States.
But I might fill several columns with the mere
mention of the great enterprises which our patriarchal
uncle has under way or in contemplation. They
mean the reorganization and development of the
whole country the creation. In fact of a new United
States; they mean more money, more business and
better conditions for every one of Uncle Sam's chil
dren, and the knowledge of them will, I believe, make
us all better patriots. The most Important schemes
will be taken up in their turn, and with pen and
camera their live features described. The materials
for the arUcles will be gotten from the fountain head
at Washington and from various plaoes over the coun
try "where certain work is going on.
FRANK O. CARPENTER, j
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