, 1875-03-27

irrigation was universal and boundless.
Partly led thereto by the enthusiastic repre-
sentation of some gentlemen of great abili-
ty, who had made themselves its advocates,
we had in this country conceived the idea
that it was almost impossible to under
take any scheme of irrigation, which
should not certainly succeed, and that
any expenditure of money on works of
the kind was iustifable and wise. / re-
greet to say that this was my belief eight
years ago, but I saw that that belief was
very much shaken in the minds of Lord
Northbrook and the councillors who sur
round him, and though, of course, my
own opportunities for observation are
much smaller than his, still my study of
the subject has led me to the same %convic-
ton. The difficulties which surround the
question of irrigation are very great. We
can scarcely yet be said to have a genuine
instance of financial success. The irriga-
ton prospects that have been carried out,
if they had for their basis the former works
ofnative rulers, have in very many in
stances been a financial success but then,
of course, that favourable appearance of
the account has been obtained by the
former expenditure of native rulers ; but
in those cases whore we began the projects
of irrigation for ourselves we have not yet
reached, [ believe, in any one instance,
the desired result of a clean balance sheet.
One Of the difficulties is a difficulty which
we ought to have foreseen, but did not
foresee at first, and that is, that you may
provide the water, but the cultivators
won't take it; and, Of course, irrigating
machinery where people won't irrigate,
naturally does not answer. The people
are slow to believe in anything, sIowest
of all to believe in anything that their
rulers do. The first idea is, that anything
done by Government is some subtle device
for getting money out of their pockets,
and they cannot be persuaded, partly from
natural torpor ana partly from suspicion,
into taking water that is brought to their
very doors. OF course the suggestion has
been made that if they won't take it you
might force them to do so, on the princi-
pie that you force a man to pay his rates
for lighting and paving, though he may
never go out, and may never use his eyes.
But compuIsion Of this kind involves poll
tical questions of a serious character, and
is said to involve questions of a breach of
faith; I should be sorry to sanction the lat
ter view, because l doubt whether it is
true: but it is necessary in considering
irrigation schemes to bear in mind that,
until you have obtained the consent of the
people to the use Of irrigation, it is hope
less to expect that any return upon the
capital can be obtained. There are one or
two other difficulties of a curious charac-
ter. 1t is found that in irrigating a dis
trict, as might be expected, you are apt to
turn it into a marsh, and, however good o
marsh may be for rice, it is not equally
good for human beings; and the result has
been that in some districts, having paid an
enormous sum to bring the water in, we
have to pay an equally enormous sum to
take it out. The effects, though admira-
BILE upon vegetation, are SO bad upon the
population, that a very large additional
expense upon the original estimate has to
be incurred for the purpose of drainage.
There is another more obscure difficulty
which we have to bear in mind and that
is that in one or two places irrigation,
instead of being a fertiliser, has turn
ed out to have an actually oppo-
site effect. 1t produces an e%flores-
cence of alkaline salts upon the soil,
which will turn fertile land into a desert.
Whether this is peculiar to the soil irri-
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