Omaha daily bee., 1891-02-12
THE ADVOCATES OF DITCHES.
They Are Assembled in Full Force at the
State Capitol.
MANY IRRIGATION ENTHUSIASTS.
A Remarkable Conve ntion Now I'm
Session Burglars on Trial In Free
mont Cattle and Flour
Thieves i'm Custody.

m'Ilu LINCOLN LnlS dlJeFHOOu WIS, III many
respects, the most remarkable and i'm portant
that was ever held in Nebraska. 1t was
gathering of progressive an far sighted men
whosee In irrigation the means OF develop.
ment of the now almost dormant agricultural
wealth Of the state. 1t was representative
body and included among its delegates, old
l-njQleers men of wealth and gentlemen rep
resenting almost every industry in the state.
The meetings were held in representative
hall at the state house and alth Rough not as
large as expected proved an interesting and
enthusiastic convention. Many persons liv-
ing in the western part Of the state were
kept away by the snow blockade. The open
Ing session was held at representative hall
at2p. m., Hon. H. II. Oakley, president Of
the Lincoln board of trade, calling the meet
ing to order
Mr.. Oakley extended a hearty welcome to
the delegates in a Drief speech and asked the
pleasureOf the convention.
Professor Hicks of the state university
nominated Ex-Governor Robert w. Furnas
the pioneer advocate of irrigation, for the
position Of chairman. The motion was put
and Governor Furuas was unanimously
elected AS he came forward to take the
chair he was greeted with enthusiastic ap-
plause.
Mr.. Furnas, after thanking the convention
for the honor bestowed upon him, tersely
mentioned some of the great benefits to be
derived from irrigation and declared that
this convention meant the ultimate
doubling of the products of the state
He added that as the delegates had come to-
gether more for action than for speaking that
1t was best to launch at once into action and
after the election of the necessary officers TO
proceed to the taking OF proper action for the
promotion OF irrigation
On moi ion of SnrrptnrV (,ilphriet Of the
+ state board of transportat ion Walt M Seeley
I OF Lancaster was chosen secretary. Mr. G.
A. Atkinson of Lancaster was chosen assist
ant secretary The roll of counties was then
called. Mr. Hathaway of Lancaster made
motion that any persons present from
any unreprcsented county be allowed
the full rights of representation.
Tuis motion prevailed. Among
these substitute delegates was presented the
name of Mrs. Fannie o. Lynn of Chadron.
W. name was presented by Rev ID. f.. DIFF
<len bacher in very neat speech, and her ap-
pom tment was greeted with applause.
Mr. Parker of Perkins coun ty modestly in
umated that he would be pleased to be added
TO the list OF delegates from Perkins. The
three delegates from that county gladly
added Mr.. ParSers name to the list Mr.
William E. Smythe, whose vigorous articles
In The B ZEE on the subject of irrigation have
attracted so much attention, was added to
the Douglas county delegation. Governor
Furnas was chosen to represent the Ill1r-
ganized territory. Up TO 4 D. H. the time
was mainly consumed in organizing and in
getting the decks ready for action. Up to
that time the following list of delegates had
arrived and were accredited:
Lancaster couuty-O. p, Mason, r. B.
Graham, A. j. Sawyer, Joseph Burns Thomas
II. Hyde, 9. w. Mosher, H. d. Hathaway,
J; III; McClay, L. o. Goodell, G. A. Atkinson,
William Mclaughlin, L. c. Pace John Fitz,
gerald n: S. Harwood and S. ID. Cox
Red Willow county-William Weyrent.
William Fitch, Ora Clark A. T. Harden, j.
II, Everest II. II. Pickens, j. p. Squires, A.
ney Dodge
Scots Bluffs County-w. ]. Richardson.
Dundy County-F, Ed Talbot j. D. West,
Simon GWnR! Biekel, j. D. Graves, /; Moore.
Webster Connty-W. S. CARRIER, G. w.
N'orkins County-C. S. Purnell ]. L.
Beard, e. II. Hill, w. l.. Rutledge
Hitchcock Connty-W. d. Wildman, C. G..
Crews, NJ NJ. House, George G. Eisenhart,
"A. l., KING, S. Il. Salomon H. Lebmann J.
NJ. kellogg, Noah Mishler, F.. b. Risley,
C.. w. ShurtlIff, II. Knowles, G. H. Reck
Box Butte county-R. M. Hampton, w. f.
Hitchcock, A. p, Field, c. A Porter Thos.
Beck r. Cotton, j. Il. Van Buskirk, L. w.
Gllchrist, Jas. Hathaway.
Logan couuty-C. d. Shrader
Casper county-Samuel Goddard
Stanton county, G.. Matthew son.
Cass-H. w. Hyers
Adams-T. L. Converse
Banner-Cyrus Van Pelt
E'rontier-J. G. Hamilton.
. Greeley-J. w. Wallace
n Other delegates came in and reported and
i complete ls' will be reported to the conyen-
ton in the morning.
On motion of Mr.. Wildman special COM
mittee OF twelve was appointed to prepare a
Dill TO be presented to the legislature Chair
man Furnas appointed the following men,
bers of that committee:
\, MGCooH district,J, l., Lehew, G, w,
friss~E MssHef J. sSSrs @SFse ofallAa e. RrotSas Sis
ton, Thomas Simpson. Sidney dis
trict-- Henry st. Rayner l.. B. Corey, W. Il.
Smyihe. State at large-Thomas Beck of
Box Butte, o. p Mason of Lancas ter aud
William vii oman of Red " iIlow.
The following committee on resolutions
was appointed; L. B. Corey, l.. Moore l..
w. Gilchrist, L. h. Hicks, L. j. Murtin and
Mrs. Fannie o. Linn.
Mr., G. j, Jones of Garden City, Kan. was
- called out and made some very extended re-
marks in regard to the work of irrigation in
Kansas. He said they had 600 miles of canals
now in operation in that state that were a
signal success, and all they had to do was to
open the flood gates and let the water pour
forth. This work hau been done with for.
eign capital, but he feared such a course as
unwise and radical legislation by the farm
ers. He exhorted the Nebraska farmers not
to pass laws to scare capital.
lists, and said that eastern money
would now In II 1t could
be assured of a profit of per cent He said
In irrigating bitches in Nebraska In his
opinion the proper way would be for the
county to to vote bonds as a bonus to tempt
eastern capital and give the capitalists fun
control OF the water supply.
Professor Hay, also Of Kansas. spoke at
length. He was glad the people were waking
upon this question during the winter months
In Kansas they no longer say they do not
need irrigation. There was a stretch of
country reaching from British America to
Texas and 400 miles in width that was
trackless desert, without irrigation and that
an experimental commission sent out by the
agricultural department of the government
OF winch he was member had made an in
vestigation as to the feasibility of sinking
artesian wells throughout this vast territory,
and had made a favorable report. Irrigation
is no longer uebatabe question. 1t must
be done The people are not going to let
100000 acres OF productive land lie idle for
alltimel
o. Il. Mason took Mr. Jones severely to
task for proposing to place the whole control
OF water supply in the hands OF cas- tern cap
italists who could levy perpetual tribute on
the land, and drain the country OF all its
surplus wealth. He believed the county
T. boards should have full charge of the rules
and ,IfaVt.