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Show UINTA BASIN TRIP OPENS EYES Of JJTAIi INVESTORS Just a Little Aid From State and Federal Government Gov-ernment Is Required to Develop Wonderfully Rich Dormant Empire. By W. F. JENSEN. THE automobile trip by the Commercial Com-mercial club party over the Pike's Peak ocean-to-ocean highway, high-way, through the Uinta basin, will have good results in so far as it calls attention to this empire of undeveloped un-developed resources. Salt Lake City and the state of Utah are very much interested in securing railroad transportation, not alone for the Uinta basin, but also through southern Utah and into the Kai'bab forest of Arizona. The Uinta basin and southern Utah represent today (jne-half of the commercial and agricultural possibilities pos-sibilities of the state of Utah and those two sections are lying undeveloped by reason of not having railroad ijwila-tiea. ijwila-tiea. Results Required. It is pretty well understood that a railroad through southern Utah to the Kaibab forest will take from ten to fifteen years before the supporting territory ter-ritory will develop sufficiently to supply sup-ply the necessary tonnage to pay operating oper-ating expenses and 5 to 6 per cent per annum on the cost of construction, and it is pretty well understood that a railroad rail-road into the Uinta basin must be in operation from five to ten years before paving results can be obtained. In a speech before the Commercial club E. S. Collett dwelt on the development devel-opment in the gilsouite fields of the Uinta basin. Years ago a coterie of men secured control and ownership of the gilsonite beds, and this control and ownership and the prospective wealth of same were sufficient to induce capital to build a railroad from Mack, Colo., to Dragon, Utah, in order to tap these gilsonite gil-sonite beds. Situation Is Changed. Ninety-five per cent of railroad construction con-struction in the west has been built by outside aid of some kind, either by land grants or by the ownership of standing timber, mines or land, so that the first years of operation and development were supported by outright donations or by .the increase in value of standing timber, mineral or agricultural lands. Today the situation is different. The federal government has assumed owner ship and control over all natural resources, re-sources, and the federal government, by reason of this control, has assumed a duty toward western development and active aid on behalf of railroad construction con-struction that the government must be made to see. There are billions of feet of standing stand-ing timber in the Uinta basin, and there are billions of feet of standing timber in the Kaibab forests, rotting on the stump for lack of transportation. Theru are thousands upon thousands of acres of public lands owned by the federal government in these sections, awaiting sale and settlers, and in this timber and land is that margin of wealth that common com-mon senile dictates should be used to aid railroad construction. Harvest Time Near. Besides that, the state of Utah and the United States owe a duty to those pioneers who have gone into these outside out-side places, pioneered development, endured en-dured hardships, and have patiently waited these many years for railroads and the material" prosperity to be brought by them. Railroad extensions can and will he built into the Uinta basin, also through southern Utah to the Kaibab forest, when the state of Utah will say to investors: in-vestors: "Build your railroad and we will exempt you from all taxation for a period of ten years"; and if the federal government govern-ment will say to investors: "Build your railroad; we will guarantee 5 per cent on your investment for a period of ten or fifteen years; or we will sell you our standing- timber and our public lands at such a low price that it will 'pay ydu to build." Holds Theory Practical. I have been told that this idea of state and government aid in railroad construction construc-tion is a. theory and not practical. Of course, when the theory Is practiced, it may become practical. If the early pioneers pio-neers of Utah had not developed the theory the-ory that irrigation could be practiced and would be practical, there mlgh t not be a Salt Lake City today. The question is: "Have we any men today of the same caliber to do that the founders of this commonwealth possessed?" pos-sessed?" Our problems seem infinitesimal compared to those of their day. The problem to be solved is this : To bring about a condition that will assure capital capi-tal a return on the investment. Capital Is cold -blooded, and that is why enormous enor-mous sums are placed at the disposal of Europe, where the earnings are sure, and our western states are lying dormant. dor-mant. Let us at least understand. |