Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-04-14
INTERESTING FACTS.
Elk Surveyor General ShaDklin
Pumped ON Three subjects.

ex-Surveyor- General OF the State, yes
terday, and interviewed him on
several interesting subjects.
"I understand" said the reporter,
"that es representative OF syndicate,
you ran lines from the Colorado river
in order to determine the feasibility
of bringing water to large body OF
land near the boundary of Lower
California.
eyes, there is large body of land
there that is now desert, hut which
could be made wonderfully produc-
tive with water l should say that
on one side of the line there are 200,-
000 acres in a bunch, and about half
as much on the Mexican side. !
lever saw finer soil. 1t is a sedi-
mentary formation deposited by the
the flow of the river long ages
ago, and is marvelously rich.
1 saw wild spinach there, the
stalks of which were from six to eight
inches in diameter. With water it
could be made the finest early-veget-
able and fruit country in the world.
1t would be the home of the orange,
the grape and the lime, and would
yield prodigiously anything planted" "
"What are the chances for getting
water on it?"
"Well, they are good. There are no
engineering difficulties. 1t would re-
quire canal forty miles in length,
and that would be easily cut. But as
the greater portion of it would run
through Mexican territory, it would
be necessary to obtain the right of
way from the Mexican Government,
which believe can be secured"
"Are there any other difficulties ?"
ayes, there is one. 1t is serious
one, too, but it can be overcome. The
Colorado river carries in solution a
substance the deposits of which would
choke up canal in very short time.
If it were sand, or other substance,
there would be no difficulty in hand
ling it; but as it is a very fine silt,
weshall have to handle it with settling
watts on large scale. 1t is far
more difficult to deal with than
the slickens of the Sacramento river,
as it is denser and constitutes much
larger proportion Of the whole volume
of flow than does the Sacramento
river sediment"
"Is it this sediment that has formed
the rich soil in the lands of which
you speak ?"
81 believe il is. The Colorado has
often changed its bed and course,
and at one time, doubtless, had an
outlet through the valley l refer to,
and gradually built it up from its de-
posits. II we can make satisfactory
arrangements about the right of-way
through Mexican territory, two hum
dred thousand acres of land that are
now desert will be brought under a
cultivation as profitable as the world
can show"
81 understand" said the reporter,
"that you spent most of the winter in
Washington attending to certain land
cases before the Secretary OF the In
terror"
"It is true l had a very important
case before that department, involv-
ing several thousand acres of land in
Fiesno county. The work in the In
terror Department is about a
year and a half behind, and
my object was to get this
particular case advanced on the file,
if possible. was told that if could
show a case ready for decision which
turned on the same question as mine,
they would both be taken up together
and decided l fortunately found an
exact parallel, and presented it to the
Department. l feel assured that they
will both be decided before long, and
I have thus gained a great deal of
time"
"What seems to Re the cause of
the work getting behind in the Inte-
rior Department
well, the country is growing rap.
idly. In every State there has been
an increased demand for public land
and the business of the Department
has multiplied, while the facilities for
expediting business have MT kept
pace with the increased pres
sure. The fact is, Congress expects
the Department to do wholesale
business with retail facilities.
1t is almost impossible to get that body
to take a common-sense, business
view Of things, and make such provis-
sion for the conduct Of important de-
partments as is consistent with the
growth of the count y. The country
goes ahead and Congress stands still
that's it in a NUTSHELL"
"Are there many California cases
in arrear in the Interior Depart
ment?"
"No, not great many. Yet those
that are on file are important to the
parties in interest and ought to be
decided promptly"
"What are the facts about the
doubling up in the price OF desert
lands ?''
''That is very curious thing, and
is worthy of attention. The Desert
Land Act anth ,rizes the sale OF desert
lands $l.25 per acre. The Interior
Department, however, has decided
that where these lands are on Gov
ernment sections inside the outside
limits of railroad grants, they shall
be sold at $3.50 per acre. Hence
the first payment on nearly al!
the desert land in our State has been
increased from rs to so cents per acre.
OF course there is no authority of Law
for thus doubling the price of these
desert lands. 1t is mere Department
law. The law says desert lands shall
be sold for $1.25 per acre. No excep-
tion in favor of railroad grant limits is
made; but it is for desert lands per sc.
Now, whether these lands are inside
or outside the railroad grant lines,
there can be but one lawful price for
them. and l am satisfied that when
Congress comes to review this legislat-
ive action of the Interior Department
there will be chance for reclamation
upon the Government"
rs there much inquiry about des-
ert lands ?"
Eyes, there is. We all thought