Page:J Allan Dunn--The Girl of Ghost Mountain.djvu/138

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THE GIRL OF GHOST MOUNTAIN

about the cattlemen of Chico Mesa is not tinged with essimism."

"Oh, there are enough good men to form our own board and committees. The rest will join the procession when they see their own benefit. But it will take a lot of money."

"And you will not admit Capital. You mustn't ignore it. Can you?"

"It can't be ignored. But I hope to do without it. Capital is all right. Here is the way I look at it, in my scheme of socialism. Capital has its uses. It must be used for world development. But it has got into the wrong hands in many instances. It came out of the land. It is as much a product of the soil as wheat, cattle. It is the fluid that floats enterprise. But, instead of being a living stream, an artery of the body civic, it has got into pools, been impounded. Those who control it want too much for the use of it. The ratio is false. Most of the owners never earned it. Therefore they set a false value on it.

"Of course there are not many places like Chico Mesa where the country can provide everything for its own development. But, if we do it, others may see their way."

"A good thing, that is an unselfish thing," she said softly, "is bound to succeed. That is Progress, isn't it? And it can't be stopped."

He straightened his shoulders.

"No, it can't be stopped. The deserts must go. And the semi-deserts. Of course my horizons are limited. I am a cattleman and I do not vex myself