The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1891-09-17

am IN favor at all times In this convention
OF first disposing of the irrigating ques-
ton; and then il we have time to dispos,
of other subjects, let US take them up IL
their order, and mark out the lines Of policy
for the great parties. Applausel. Now
my friends, just think of it. We of tn,
| great west are unit practically upon the
| silver question, as my friend here has vel
said; but if we undertake in this conyen
ton to ask Congress to donate to the great
west all the arid lands, and at the
same time give US control of the
irrigating systems that are to be
adopted In these states and territories, anC
at the same time tell the east that we are
against them on every proposition in which
they are interested, and what kind of show
are we going to have to win side of the
fghtl l tell you politics in Utah, politics
IN this convention, and politics in the great
commercial centers of the east are very diff
ferent propositions. One thing is to con
troll this convention in the right, anC
another thing is an attempt to control Con
gress. When you get there Congress has
its own views.
WALL STREET WILL BE THERE
with her money bags. There is no doubt
about it. l might say, and if l was not a
Republican l would say, Tammany might
be there, but won't say 1t. Laughter.
/
dency, Brother Irish, says Quay will be
| there. l have no doubt OF that.
But the proposition now is, my friends
what Is best to be done here to-day on the
question of irrigation in the great west
and the first proposition, as has been LAID
down by the great authors and experienced
men on this subject is how to control the
water! You give US control of the water
and the land will pretty nearly take care OF
| ,;,k
the water. The states and territories must
have the right to the practical ownership
OF all the waters in the great streams head.
ing within those states and territories fol-
the purpose of irrigation, and the legislat-
ures OF the states and territories
must see that the right remains
In the public and is not diverted
into private uses. Applause l tel
you, my friends, you may talk until you
are blind, you may appeal to Congress unit
appeals shall become an utter failure fol-
the donation of the arid lands, the desert
lands will be useless if you own the lands
and private interests own the water The
two propositions come together, and as INV
friend said here moment ago in address
ing this convention, the question of con.
trolling the timber lands-that is those
lands upon the heights of the mountains
where the snow falls and where the waters
accumulate for summer use--is as neces-
sary, nay, Infinitely more necessary, tina
it is to control the valley lands which ara
desert that lie at the foot of the mountains
| lApplausel And hence it will be an abso
lutte necessity, in my humble Judgment, fo1
this convention to
ASK OF CONGRESS TO DONATE
to the great west, not only the arid lands
but the timber lands resting within these
vast regions. Take the Sierra Nevada
mountains, the eastern line Of the great
state of California and the western line of
Nevada and you give those timber lands
into private hands or let them remain in the
hands of the government so that they soon
will go into private hands as has been well
said by our illustrious chairman, sir, you
place out Of the hands of those who wish 10
control the water for the purposes of irri-
CATION, the very power, the very greatest
purpose which controls and leads to the ir-
| rigatlon OF these arid lands that lie along
the foot Of the mountains on either side OF
the Sierra Nevadas.
Now then, first am in favor Of asking
congress, and l think it would be wisdom
to do it, to donate to the states and terri.
| tories all the arid lands within their dis
trict, and all of the timber lands within
their territory or state. You will never
get any more than you ask for, laughter =,
and l would ask for that much and cannot
see why congress should not be as willing
! to-day to
GIVE THE DESERT LANDS
| to these far western states and territories
as they were thirty or forty years ago to
give to the western states and territories
all the swamp lands that lay within those
states and territories. IApplause.l Con-
| gress gave to the western states then the
| swamp lands on the theory that there was
11oE
government had no power to get the water
off, and they were willing that the states
themselves should get the water off, so
they gave us the lands. Now we say, we
want the desert lands that have no water
on, so that we can bring the water on to
those lands because the general government
cannot OF itself bring water there Tap-
plause and again, is IL asking too much for
Congress! Isee before me Senator of the
United States, who, when the time comes,
will tell you doubtless that for the last
oh many years Congress has been donating
annually large sums of money, for what
purpose! Why, for the keeping of the
waters of the Mississippi off Of the arid
lands OF the Mississippi valley. Why
wouldn't it be quite as wise on behalf OF
Congress to give TO the people Of the great
west these arid lands which of them
selves the government never can sell I'M
are giving away practically nothing, as it
is for them to donate annually large sums
of money for the purpose Of keeping the
waters of the Mississippi river within its
channel. Why, fellow citizens, how can
they say that it is Oeneftting the great
west and not the whole countryi Are not
we, sir, part and parcel of the Ameri-
Gag Union! Didn't many of US march
west, sir, when mere boys and develope
this great country! Haven't
WE WATCHED ITS CIVILIZATION
as it trended westward, and haven't we
helped plant the mile stones of civilization
over two ranges of mountains until the
great west blossoms as the rose! Who
have done thiss Why, sir. the people of
the west, the pioneers, the men of strong
brawny arm, of brain power, of energy
have done it, and we have done it, 1t is true,
to benefit ourselves, but at the same time
we have benefited the whole nation. WHY
should not the government look upon the
west as well said by the gentleman who
just preceded me with the same careful
and paternal interest that it does upon
some of the industries of the east! A pro
tective tariff is adopted Il am not going to
introduce politics, speak of it as fact)
because it assists very materially, or is
claimed to assist, certain industries exist
ing in many parts of the union. We do not