Arizona silver belt., 1889-06-15
The CovcrRmeRt and She IrrigatioB
 E-rOblct,l.

Americans are naturally adverse to the paternal theery of government. They do not want the government to do anything for the citizen which he can do for himself. Thus, when the question of providing means for the construction of a system of irrigation arises, the first impulse is to insist that they shall come out of the pockets of the people who wlll primarily and most directly be benefited by the es- tablishment of that system. But Tn the first place, as has already been stated, thls plan leads to the organlza- ton of number of small, inconsls- tent, and incongruous systems, which interfere with each other, and which waste the water; and secondly, the number of land owners who hold an acreage large enough to warrantthem in going to the expense of irrigation works is quite small
 It is pretty well understood that re- newed efforts will be made by the 5lSt Congress te amend the land laws, and it is said that an attempt wlll be made to repeal the limitation now set on the amount of land which the gey ernment can sell to single purchaser, It is argued that if the government could sell two, three, or five hundred thousand acres in block to such pur- chasers. Of donate alternate sections in the greaf deserts, syndicates would be formed to take the land, and to mrigate it, thus enhancing the value of tue surrounding country.
 To this scheme there are two oiJec- tious. In the first place, no new sym dicate could find any water not already appropriated in this State, withoui going 10 the Colorado River. There are more inches filed upon in the Sac ramento, San Joaquin, Calevaras, Stanislars, Tuolumnc, Fresno, Kings, and Kern rivers and m tue rivers ot Los Angeles, than those streams can furnish. And the owners of the fl- Ings would not part wlth them except at a price which would cover any pos sible profit the syndicate could make, Secondly, proposition te amend the land laws so as to authorize the gov ernment to sell large blocks of the public domain to synGicates would al once arouse the alarm of the preleta- rian class, and set every aemagosue in the country bowling. Every labor union weuld pass resolutions denounc- ing the scheme to beSte@ the remain der of the domain on spectators; every Congressman who had an eye 10 re- election would feel bound to testify his independence of corporate in fuence by opposing #.
 It would be idle 10 argue that small holders cannot afford to irrigate, that no man or party of men will spend millions on reserYolrs, canals, dams and ditchcs, unless they can see thell way to reimbnrsing themselves; tha the chief beneficiary of irrigation syn dicates would be the small settler, wht could raise family on twenty acre. ol irrigated land. All this reasoning
 would fall on deaf ears, if ever thu cry arese that the government was go ing to return to the policy of givin! away the blrthright ot future citizen
 to companies and mllhOnaires.
 If theso several propositions ar
 sound; if the public sentiment coul'
 not tolerate the sale of large tracts o
 arid land to syndicates; If anyway th syndicates, if they got lhe land, couh
 not get the water to irrigate It; if an.
 new scheme ta irrigate separate dls
 trlcts by independent organizations 0 1 farmers residing in the same water
 shed would fail, as the Wright schem i fin California failed, from the impos
 sibiiity of clothing the organization
 with pecuniary responsibility; and i
 finally, local schemes of irrigatio
 would clash, and for every acre whic
 they irrigated would deprive five othe
 acres of the means of irrigation; ther
 it would seem, we are driven, as
 forced alternative, to follow the exam 1 pie of England in India, and France l
 Algeria, and to look to the genera
 government for comprehensive sy:
 tenn of irrigation fer the Coast. -Joh
 Bonner Tn Overland Monthly.
 The Sonora (Mexics) wheat crop
 now being harvested. It is immens'
 This is the first time in the history (
 Mexico that there will be a great SUI