Lyon County times. [volume] (Silver City, Nev.) 1874-1907, 1889-05-04
ENORMOUS, BUT PROPER.

err The Los Angeles Tribune, commenting
.pon a recent article in the Call, observes
pat If the National Government is going 10
Undertake water surveys Throughout, tn,
ounlry west Of the Missouri, it .has under
AIKEN an enormous enterprise" Very likel,
This is an enormous country, with enormdu.
tioos.ibli,ies and enormous coming response
,ilnies. 1t will not do for the Government
aro shrink from graphing with The problems
4 the day because they look enormous.
nj here is an area OF land which may be rough
sly described as 1900 miles long by 700 o,
300 miles wide, lying west oil the Missouri
River; and there Is another area of land.
1000 miles long and several hundred miles
wide. lying west of the Rocky Mountains;
both these areas might be largely productive.
oyet are not; both might be densely peopled,
'but are not; each might be seat OF empire.
instead Of being the home Of reptiles. To
J convert these deserts into luxu,iani field, is,
Of course, an enterprise to which the term
enormous may htly be applied. But if the
thing can be done, il is the business OF the
Government to dot, no matter how enormous
it looks.
Enormous enterprises are no new things in
this country. Only few years ago we car.
ried on the greatest war ever recorded in his
tory. The Union had at one time nearly
million Of men in the field, and in four years
- Il, -, II Of AL
lars to preserve the nation. We have more
miles OF railroad than there are in all Europe,
and we have 5000. ooo, 900 Of money invest
ed in Them. Our river tonnage nearly equals
all The sea going tonnage Of all the maritime
nations OF Europe. We grow one fourth OF
the entire wheat supply Of The world. and
the value Of the annual product Of our work
shops is not less than 81 900, ooo. 900. Such
a nation is not likely TO be appalled, by III
magnitude OF any enterprise which commcnds
itself to lis judgment, and which promises TO
yield adequate returns.
american agriculture began on the bleak
shores u the Atlantic, where in very shorl
while the supply Of phosphaies in the soil
became exhausted. 1t moved early in this
century to the upper waters Of the Atlantic
rivers, and the Cenesee Valley was the cham
pioa wheat district of the country. With the
construction Of the Erie Canal the fields OF
Ohio, Indiana and Illinois came into play
and superseded The Eastern wheat fields, and
with The extension OF the railroad system
Michigan, Wisconsin. GENIAL and Southern
Illinois, Krnlucky and Tennessee became
the GENRE Of pro lucliveness. Wheat crossed
the Mississippi just before the war; the best
land for its culture was then found in Kansas,
Nebraska. Iowa and Minnesota. The west
ward movement was steady and uninlerrupt.
ed. As cultivation exhausted soils they were
abandoned and the culliva,or moved West
a surplus OF water that no necessity for its
regulation ever arose. Droughs were rare
and floods were limited to narrow areas. Bur
when the one hundredth parallel was reached
new set Of conditions came into play. The
supply OF water from precipitation was not
always insufficient, bu, to perform its duty ii
required control and regulation. Providence
did not dir,ribuie the precious full in the
quantities, at the times, and in the direction
in which it was needed. AS soon as this was
realized the necessity for Government sys
tenn Of irrigation became apparent.
Il has taken some time 10 waken Cong IS,
to its duty in The matter But it is now NOV
ing, and, though it may move slowly, il viii
probably take no backward step. The $25o,
600 appropriations las. February for irriga
ton surveys is understood to be the first in
stallment OF $1,000 .oco which is 10 he sp~nl
on surveying. The point for CaIfornans is
to see that We get our share Of the monty.
The Los Angeles Tribune will service The
State and its parliclar section if it exerts its
influence to expedite that portion Of the water
survey which emh aces this slope.
e. 49,. .IA~~ <G al