The Clifton clarion., 1888-05-09
Artesian Well Projects.

mepts in New Mexico and Arizona.
 In submitting its report the com
 mittee cites various reasons for the favorable recommendation. It
 estimates that over 70,000,00O acres
 of land in Arizona, and "A, ,000,000
 in New Mexico, all of which
 might be made susceptible of cul-
 tivation, must forever remain unfit
 for human habitation unless water
 can be obtained for irrigation pur-
 poses. In this connection the
 report of the committee says:
 The territory of New Mexico was
 organized in 1850, and in thirty
 years thereafter had population
 of only 119,565 souls, or less than
 one person to the square mile, and
 its population during the two de-
 cades preceding 1880 only in
 creased 26,000, all of which in-
 crease occurred after 1870, and
 consisted largely of persons con-
 nected directly or indirectly with
 the construction, maintenance and
 operation of railroads leading through said territory to the Pa cifc ocean. While the population increased as above stated, and, also, by reason of large mining enterprises, yet, as shown by said census, there has been an actual decrease of the agricultural ele- ment, the number of farms in 1880 being actually less than in 1860. This can be accounted for only on the fact of scarcity of water for agricultural purposes.
 "The same condition exists in Arizona, except that its population is about l per cent. to two square miles of area. The waters of that territory have been almost entirely appropriated to agricultural pur- poses, yet millions of acres of most fertile land are uninhabited, because the poverty of the people will not permit experiments in water development, and does actu- ally prevent any effort toward re- clamation of these vast deserts. The climate of this desert coun- try is adapted to the growth of the vine, fig, olive, orange, lemon and various other tropical and semi tropical fruits, while the products of the temperate zone grow in richest profusion wherever a water supply can be obtained. The val leys of these territories are ex- tremely fertile, and with proper encouragement can be made pro- ductlve beyond probably any other land on this continent.
 With these facts before your committee, drawn from official sources and sustained by actual observation, the conclusion is reached that the public interests require the adoption of some wise measure that shall test the ques- tion of the practicability of mak- ing this vast area of waste and desert land productive.
 By such means England has succeeded in making India the grainery of the world, and the Ganges canal, with its branches over $500 miles in length, has more than doubly paid the cost of its construction. Artesian wells | have proved a success on the des- ert of Sahara, as we'll as in France, Spain, Germany, England and in many parts of the United States, where proper lnducement has been held out to capital. The commit tee sees no reason to fear a failure | in thls instance, and considering the magnitude of the benefits re- sulting from successful experi- | ment in redeeming millions of l acres of now worthless lands and | converting this vast area into fer tile fields, titled by an empire of | intelligent, prosperous and happy | freemen, your committee recon mends the passage of the substi- tute herein set out"
 The bill as reported is very sim liar to the one introduced early in the session by Delegate M. A. Smith, of Arizona It proposes to appropriat S1OO,OOO to carry out the provisions of the bill, one-half of the amount to be expended in each of the territories. Ten thou sand of the amount appropriated to each territory is to be used to defray the expenses of a hydro graphic survey, and the remaining SSO,O00 in sinking experimental wells and demonstrating the practicability of a reservoir system for purposes of irrigation.