St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-12-12
URGING IRRIGATION.
People Of the Northwest Want
the Arid Wastes Re-
claimed,
But There Is a Wide Differ
enee Of Opinion as to the
Methods.
Grants to the States Seem to
Be the Most Popular at
Present.
Fears That the Nation Would
Not Act With Sufficient
Speed.
SneeIal 20 The Glone

irrigation OF the arld lan0S III the NOrIIl-
west can best be accomplished by the
national government, by the states. by
the counties and towns or by private
enterprise, is subject that will call for
serious consideration by congress and
by the various state legislatures. Col.
Mcknight. counsel of the Northern Pa
cifc. IS of the opinion that If left to the
national government, ten or fifteen
years would elapse before anything
would be accomplished. Representa-
tive Clifford, of South Dakota, comedies
with this view Of the matter, saying
that the national government is too
large q machine to be put into operation
with any ease. The suggestion made
by Col. Mcknight is one that has COM
mended itself to the people OF at
least one state. 1t is that
all the arid lands to he decided
at a nominal price to the states In
which they are located, that a careful
survey be made as expeditiously as pos
Sible and that the states take hold of
the matter themselves. The constitu-
ton OF Montana contains a petition to
congress for this very thing. The mat
ter was discussed in the convention at
great length, and the opinion prevailed
by a large majority that the state could
take care of irrigation within its borders
with much greater chance of success
than the federal government. MOn-
tana'S constitution also contains the i'm
pOrtant provision that all such irriga-
ton companies, their fumes, reservoirs
and all appUrtenances actually used
for the purpose of irrigation shall be
forever exempt from taxation. Fur
thermore all waters are declared to be
plbiic property So far as use for
irrigating purposes is concerned. 1t is
evident that the trainers of MOntana'S
constitution saw the necessity for i'm
! mediate action. and also realized that if
| left to congress generation might elapSe
| before anything would be accomplished
| that would be- of material benefit to the
| people. Montana would like to irrigate
| for herself, and from what Mr.. Clifford
| says, South Dakota would like to do the
1 same. This irrigation problem is greatly
misunderstood. 1t is a mistaken i'm
| preston that by irrigation any large
| extent of land can be made fit for wheat
/ culture. Southern California is irri-
gated about as thoroughly as any place
except the Nile valley. Yet the area of
| land reclaimed from the desert by this
| method would scarcely make respect
! able county in Minnesota or Dakota.
| 1t is scattered in belts all over
| the state, however, and fruit trees
of all sorts are grown by this means
where nothing would otherwise grow
| but sage brush. Alfalfe is grown in
many parts by the same method. The
| practicabiiity of irrigation in Dakota
| depends largely upon the feasibility of
constructing dykes of sufficient size and
! Ieugth as 10 permit of flooding large
areas of country. In this connection
Mr. Clifford says: "If we could be as
sured a heavy snowfall every winter
we would only ask for one rain between
that time and harvest. But we cannot
depend upon a heavy snowfall. Thu
districts which must be irrigated should
be renowned as worthless for raising
wheat. and farmers should turn their at
tentiOn to stOckraislng. If vast areas
could be flooded early in the winter, so
as to give the ground thorough soak
ing, when il thaWed out in the spring
it would be in fine condition
for growing grass and Vegetables" Mr..
Clifford suggests a long flume from the
Missouri river right across Dakota into
the valley of the James river, so that
the wafer Of the river could be let out
over many square miles of territory.
Such canal or flume would have to tap
the river to the north of the range of
low hills that forms the watershed to
the east of the Missouri. and would have
to be brought east of these hills SO as to
do away with any tunneling. Such
flame would be part canal. part aque-
duct and would cost many millions, but
Mr.. Clifford expresses the opinion that
| it would pay handsome profit to the
builders. "If," says he, ''they built
100 miles of it as a starter, the income
from this would be abundantly suffi-
cient to enable them to finish the
rest without further expense" Mon
tana is a different matter. ANY project
for irrigation there would involve skill
full engineering and vast expenditure.
But it is none the less necessary. The
Chinese in Montana have irrigated
little on small scale, but only in small
patches here and there. Yet the results
are astonishing. In the midst of waste
and bowling wilderness, covered with
Withered and Sun-brOwned grass. pricklY
pear and sage brush, they have pro-
duced little GASES of green, where they
grow vegetables of the juciest descrip-
| ton. This simply shows what can be
done. In certain parts of Dakota,
| around Aberdeen. for instance, the ar
tesian wells have been utilized TO
| scarcely any extent for irrigation, and
| yet there is q natural and apparently
| lneXhaustible supply of water at less
! than 1000 feet below the surface, which
! is only waiting to be spread over the
| country to torn it into a garden. While
| some congressional action is a necessity.
and is felt TO be by all, the cOnsenses of
| opinion among those best Informed ap-
| pears to be that the proper form for it
! to take is in the shape of grants of all
| arid lands to the states, and then to
| allow the states themselves or private
enterprise TO carry out the details.
| go
Senator Davis is one of the busiest
men in Washington. He is chairman of
| the committee on pensions, which is
| probably the hardest-worked committee
| of the whole lot. He is at his committee
room in the capitol by 9 O'Clock every
morning. and often before that hour,
whether congress is sitting or not. He
takes breakfast at s a. H., and works all
| day, never leaving before p. m, with
only few minutes recess for luncheon,
| which he takes in the Capitol restau-
rant. After his dinner he works again
| till late at night in his snuggery at
| home. A mistake was made in stating
| that he had rented house on MaSSa-
| chuSettS avenue. He is only boarding
| there, but has a fine suite of rooms,
| and as he and Mrs. Davis are the
| only boaTders they are almost as COM
| Portable as at home. Senator Davis
| correspondence is vast. He says he has
| frequently to ans yer $50 letters day,
each of which not only requires to be
| answered. but entails work of various