Page:J Allan Dunn--The Girl of Ghost Mountain.djvu/209

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THE GIRL OF GHOST MOUNTAIN
191

or repairs, upkeep. Ultimately we shall pay dividends. But the great dividend will be in the increased value of the land the moment the water goes on it, the profits from the growing of alfalfa and improvements of the herds. The company may purchase bulls, sell the bull increase at a nominal sum to its stockholders, holding a forfeit interest for non-use or wrongful use, not giving absolute bills of sale.

"We shall extend the branch of the railroad, build a larger depot, create a larger, more substantial town, start a bank. There is a spot where a gravity siding may be built here. We shall aim to sell to nearby markets—Yuma, Phoenix, Bisbee—sell at home. Our cattle now go thin to the train and bring lean prices at distant stockyards where they have to be fed. There is always a demand at home for the best beef at a good price. I aim not to profiteer in those prices. We may be able to force the buyers to purchase at our end of the line. We shall do away with middlemen, commissioners, brokers. We may, when we have established ourselves, furnish money for necessary mortgages on long payments, a demortization plan where the man who wants to make improvements will pay back his borrowed capital in his interest—not more than six per cent.

"Later, we shall do away with the siphon. We shall build a power house. The water will first charge dynamos and then go on for irrigation. There will be electric lights on Chico Mesa. Telephones. Other improvements will follow. And all from natural sources, developed by legitimate property owners, profits and improvements going