Arizona silver belt., 1888-09-29
THE IRRIGATION PROJECT.

ilizatien and wealth have followed m its wake, have been impressed by the uniform permanency and the steady growth of tasse oases dotting the will derness of sand comprising what is k-own as the arid region. This un- varying, albeit sometimes slow, pre- gress of these agricultural communi- tiss has been in marked contrast with the erratic course of mming towns which, as rule, have experienced al- ternate periods of excitement and de- pressien. These facts have impressed themselves upon tho reflective mind, and many, doubtless, have indulged the dream of the ultimate sublugation of the arid region to the purposes of agrleulture, and pictured to them selves the wondrous beauty and pres perity of the Great West when prairie, mesa and valley had been clothed in amaranthine garb.
 The project of retaining expanses of this vast area was viewed, however, even by those whe entertained such thoughts, as problsmatieal and unlike ly of achievement. It was recognized that private enterprise must soon en- counter difficulties with winch it would be unable successfully to cope. and that the acreage reclaimed would be lnhniteSimal compared with the immense area which must ever remain sterile, unless some occult power came to the assistance of the husbandman,
 Naturally Government and suggest cd itself, and this idea has been crys- taliung for years, but Rot until the present sesslen of Congress was 1t given direction in the form of a reso- lution authorizing preliminary ex- ploratioE by the Geological Survey with the view of locating and reser- wing from immediate sale the most advantageous sites for reservoirs and canals for the impourding of the sur, plus water and irrigation of the arable lands west of the ane-hunereath me. ridian, where the rainfalii is insufficient for the natural cultivation of the soil | The resolution was amended so as te exempt from entry and occupation the pubic lands adjacent ts these catch ment basins and available for irriga | ton, and also the watersheds of tht Rocky Mountains and parallel ranges which play so olmportant part in tht distribution of the water supply.
 The lands coming within tue scope of this enterprise aggregate 130,000, GOO square miles. or about one-third 0 the surface of the United States, ex cluding Alaska It's greater by one third than the combined areas o Great Britian, France, Italy, Austri; and the German empire--fve of tht greatest nations of the earth, with | combined population of nearly 200, e00,000 Within thls arid region ar three sovereign States, seven organ ized Territories, and portions of oths States and Territories.
 | It IS not ts be inferred that all e this vast area is susceptible of cultiva ton. The surface cOnhguratlen is s
 broken that obviously conslderabl portion is valueless for agriculture
 Maj. J. ". Powell, Director of tn
 Geological Survey, whe is the origina
 tor Of the scheme to reclaim thss
 lands by utilizing the water whlc
 now goes to waste, estimates that 100
 100000 square miles arc arable, hu
 coming down to practical propos
 tion, he believes It feasible to reolalr
 l50,O00 square miles, or 96,000,00
 acres-an area greater than one-ha.
 of the land now cultivated Tn tn
 United States, This land, he est , mates, will be worth S2,8S0,000 00(
 when water is brought upon 1t. Thes
 figures he sets forth, ostensibly, 2
 an argument to show that the prt
 ject would likely be profitable UT
 dertaking for the Government.
 But Maj. Powell and some othe advocates of the enterprise, overloo the vital point upon which much ( : their after-argument is based, namsl,
 that the reclamation of this cnormou . body of rich land will inure to th benefit of the laboring class and lik'
 wise to the general prosperity of tE !, country, by atiSrding small holding of desirable land to the unemplsyo
 of our great cities, and thus relieN the congestion that exists in so man
 industrial pursuits problem whic is yearly becoming more difficult solution. Were tho Government
 fix $50 as the price of every acre r clalmcd, it is manifest that the benil cent feature of the scheme would | largely neutralizsd, if net wholly d fsated Ike number of families in u humber walks of life who could alfoi to buy land of the Government at 5; per acre IS extremely small. lndes
 such price would be to them prohl