The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1891-09-19
rnE lRRIGAnoN CONGRESS-

TifE lRRIGA TTON CONGRESS-.
Recently at the request Of Governor
Thompson of Utah, the governors of
seventeen states and territories west of
the Mississippi, appointed each thirty
delegates toa congress 10 be held ut
salt Lake City, Utah, which congress
assembled at that poiut Tuesday. The
Object is to devise plan 10y which the
general government will turn all
arid lands over TO the states wherein
they are situated, the states in turn 10
Use the lands, or the value thereof, in
tueir reclamation. TO do this the lands
would have TO be given 10 individuals
or corporations, or rather certain ,areas,
preferably of large dimensions would
have to be turned over to them for IT.
,iamation, and a maximum value fixed
Tor said lands when reclaimed; the
lands being disposed of 70 settlers III
..Aed quantities. The question is u
,.Llicult one to deal with for the reason
tuat the American people have very
justly become stenuously opposed TO
parting with any more of the govern
inent domain to corporations. While
/, Is true the lands would not be given
10 the corporations, and while the
maximum value would be fixed, and
tLe right of the citizen to purchase pro-
tected, 1t would be hard to make the
luOlic understand this, and SO over
come their opposition. And yet it is
easily seen that without some such
action millions of acres of highly pro-
,.uctive lands will remain idle, and
hon productive. Lying west of the
mississippi, is what was thirty years
ago known rs the "Great American
Desert" vast country at present
producing but Il trifie, yet shown by
conservative estimates to be capable of
supporting the present population of
lne entire United States. This vast
AREA lacks one thing, and one thing
only, and that is, rain fall. To over
come this it is proposed to utilize the
streams, to gather the water from the
vast watersheds and store it up for use.
TO do this will require large sums of
money, and necessarily the interven-
tion Of wealthy corporations. The
congress will have adjourned ere this
is in print, and we sincerely hope will
have originated some plan by which
the work may be commenced. 1t was
Il happy thought TO have the meeting
at salt Lake City, for there is the home
tine nucleus OF irrigation in this
country. Whatever else may be said
OF the Mormon people, it is certain that
they found the Salt lake basin desert,
and they have made it a veritable gar
den. To accomplish this they have
utilized the water courses, and furnish
ed their land that moisture which is
denied it by natural process. We be-
lieve the meeting at SaltssLake City
Tuesday, to have been the most impor-
tant gathering held in this country in
the last thirty years. If its plans are
successful, an agricultural empire will
be created where now drOuth and desc
lation alone prevail. Ifhe who makes
two blades of grass grow where one
grew before, is philanthropist; what
snail be said of those who produce
seven tons of hay, or 800 bushels of po-
tatoes, or 40 bushels of wheat to the
acre from lands that heretofore pro-
duced in prolific years half dozen
sage hens to the square mile? Yet
this is exactly what the successful car
ryiIg out Of the ideas of this irrigation
congress would do.