Los Angeles daily herald., 1886-04-09

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innumerable
Great areas are already made fruit
full, and enterprising thousands under
the protection OF the doctrine Of APP
propriation produce generous live
lihood for themselves and great slli'
plus for export, which adds to the
common wealth. Millions OF dollars
are invested in canals and bitches
primarily devoted to irrigation, while
the systems which were built Tor
hydraulic mining debouch upon
plains that are athirst, and tnat, used
Tor irrigation, will create greater
wealth than gilded the dreams OF
their projectors.
But the acreage already subjected
TO irrigation Is insignificant compared
with the desert unreelaimed. Within
the rim Of our great interior valleys
there are "a 900, 900 acres, an area
equal to that of Maine, New Damp-
shire, Vermont, Massachusetts,
Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York
and Pennsylvania combined. Yet
those States have u population OF
10, 427,1 70 A population which sup
ports the three imperial trade centefs
OF the country-Boston, New York
and Philadelphia, besides scores of
local points for the concentration and
distribution of the immense com
merce generated in the necessities and
the energies OF those millions OF peo-
pie. Going abroad Tor comparison,
this habitable area in California,
naturally tributary to San Francisco,
is one and a fourth times the size OF
Great Britain, with her 10000, 900 OF
people. Yet our valleys have only
2S4 900 souls and our whole area only
SD persons TO the square mile The
whole Atlantic slope has pa to the
square mile; the Merrimac Valley
has g2.6; the Connecticut Valley,
50.5; the Valley of the Hudson, 173
the basin of the st. Lawrence, 80
the Ontario basin, 1872; that of Lake
Erie, 800; the Valley Of the Miami,
lOg.67; while the Valleys of the Sac
ramento and San Joaquin have only
40 to the square mile
10 continue the suggestive com
parison: If our two great valleys
were as densely peopled az the basin
OF the st. Lawrence, their population
would he $3.50, 900; If equal TO the
New England coast, they would have
3, 53S 900; ii equal to the Ontario
basin, 4,523 ,000 ii equal to the Val
ley OF the Delaware, lO,20S,00O. 10
sum up: The present unoccupied
area of these valleys should support
II 900, 900 of people, population
which would make San Francisco the
most desirable business city in the
world. and the mart of an immense
commerce, as varied in the products
which create it as the globe CLEANED
trade of London.
These results can only be secured
by irrigation. BY its aid only can
crops be raised at all in large part
OF the area just described, because OF
the light rainfall and natural dryness
of the climate in the desert half OF
the State. While irrigationis needed
TO make returns from the soil sure
where tickle rainfall now enables u
| full crop only one year in seven.
All OF this area Is capable OF high
| farming. 1t will produce a CONNER
cial surplus OF every necessity, lux
ury and delicacy listed in the food
supply that grows outside the tropics.
| Noble mountains rise on either side
of those valleys, clad with timber,
which shelters the cool sources OF the
waters for irrigation. The seashore
is a short journey distant. Thermal
springs pour out their medicinal wat
ers near at hand, and here lies
richer soil than Belgium has, under
kinder skies than Italy can boast.
| The thought is insufferable that UNI
congenial law shall permit human
seltshness to forbid the bans be-
| tween these gifts OF God, and by
keeping land and water wastefully
apart deny the world the benefits and
blessings of their union.
The streams which traverse these
valleys have their heads in perpetual
snow, Riparian ownership denies
their flow to the thirsty earth and
condemns it to evaporation and ennis
sion in the thankless sea.
What is the law, and what ought it
to be2 These are the questions to be
settled. Shall the streams be legally
open to appropriation, or shall the
law of riparian ownership lock the
water within the banks? Shall the
flow be useful or useless? The intel
ligence and enterprise of the State
have already answered these ques-
tons: "The water shall be for irri-
CATION" This answer is only the re-
Election OF the first impulse of our pi-
oneers, who appropriated to useful
purposes the waters they found vast
ing. This custom has been projected
to the comprehensive systems that
are now making parts of this wilder
ness to blossom, and there even
women to-day guard the gates through
which flow the very waters of life
that support the vine and fig-tree UNI
der which their children play.
The efforts OF the last two years
have recruited the ranks of irrigat-
ors until we are an army. The force
is ready now for organization, which
should be made in all interested To-
calities. Organization is power. We
must now make our force effective in
the politics of the State, since inpoli-
tics the Legislature to which we APP
peal is generated We must demon.
strate the fact that there are political
triumphs greater than the conquest
OF spells, and this is to be done by
going unitedly into politicts to stay
until our rights are secured. The
counties vitality interested in irriga-
ton cast upwards of 10000 votes.
They control elections, for narrow
pluralities between parties are OF late
years the rule in California. In our
First Congressional district in 1884
plurality of 145 elected in total vote
OF 30, l03 In the Second district the
winning plurality was ll9 in vote of
1908. In the Sixth district
it was 400, in a vote of 3d.,
4I4. So let no irrigator de-
spair that his vote counts so little.
To get the full benefit of our strength,
this committee advises that irrigation
Snti.riparian clubs be formed in every
town and county throughout the
State, to membership in which every
one, no matter what his occupation,
shall be eligible, provided he faith
fully opposes riparian monopoly Of
water and favors appropriation for ir-
rigation, and the measures referred
by us to the last Legislature. These
clubs should form at once. Never
mind ii club be few in number. Its
strength is its righteousness OF pur-
pose, and the aggregate membership
when Il keeps step all over the State
will shake the foundation OF parties,
and these clubs can say who shall be
Governor, Attorney General and the
Judgesoi our Supreme and Superior
Courts, and who shall sit in the leg
islature. In addition to the constrIc-
ton ofthis club organization, in the
further performance Of our duty, we
hereby call and appoint State Govern
ton composed of all who favor the plat
form and objects of the Fresno Con-
vention Of Irrigators, and support the
measures proposed to the Legislature
by this organization. This Conven.
ton will meet in San Francisco on
Thursday, the Goth day of May, 1886,
at IL o'clock A. N. We urgently re-