, 1892-03-17
FROM BOTH SIDES
The Arid Land Question So Con-
sidered by Two Citizens.
Reasons Advanced by State Engl-
neer Mead In Favor.
And Those Submitted by a Cor
respondent In Opposition.

tOoPoiiuo"e oPPocss'o"'
Every day the people warm to the agi-
tation of the Warren arid land bill. Its
feasibility is reviewed and dissected from
every side.
State Engineer Mead gave his views
upon the bill yesterday to a reporter for
THE LEADER.
It wiAbe remembered that Mr.. Mead
is one of the strongest advocates of the
rights of a state to own and control the
lands within its boundaries. The gentle
mans views upon the practicability OF the
Warren bill follows!
WI should at least. In q limited de-
gree judge the future by past events In
doing this allow me to cite one instance
which will expose the fallacy Of the old
homestead law. The fact is under our
present system. controlling the public
lands. both the actual settler for whom
everybody in general has the greatest
compassion and love and whom nobody
cares about in particular is virtually de-
barred from seeking a !home here. Not
only that, but the capitalist will shun this
state like he would a barren desert.
These are plain, cold u~ndisputable facts,
which are proven to the satisfaction OF
everybody all the year round. Here is
the situation in . nutshell.
The capitalist who con to Wyoming
to construct a ditch is confronted with the
felicitous announcement that if he builds
such = ditch every mother sson of a mar
who lives near 1t has the privilege of tap
ping it at will and getting a supply of
water upon what lands they wish to irri-
gate free of charge. This is true, for the
fact is the settler has to either get his
water free or boycott the ditch corpora
ton. He cannot buy the water, being a
poor man presumably, and he dare not
MORTGAGE the land he is cultivating; for,
alasl it it not his to mortgage. Conse-
quently the fact is the poor settler gets
his water for three years for nothing
that being necessary for such poor set
tier to prove mp his land titles. Another
foolish point is that when the three years
have rolled round it is provided that a
man after getting water from a stream
for three years can compel such corpora
ton as WINS or CONTROLS such water sup
ply to keep on letting the water comes.
las to the bill Senator Warren has in
troduced introduced into congress. l think
it is the best thing that we have ever
had upon that subject And while it
would undoubtedly be impossible to draw
up q bill that would be acceptable to
everybody. l am pretty sure that this bill
will be endorsed by the majority of the
people who favor ceding the arid lands to
the states. One point l want to dwell
upon for a moment is that the people in
Washington have been slowly drifting
toword paternalism in general and upon
the public arid lands OF the west in par
ticular for years. They protect these
public domains as if they were the most
fertile lands in the world. when In reality
they would not fattena a grasshopper in ten
years, especially in their present condition.
1t has been the case for years that when
we ask congress to legislate a little Tor us
BY giving US our rights and the lands that
they claim they hold for 'actuai settlers.
they refuse by calling us thieves. Yes.
these congressman, the majority of whom
come from states given to their fathers
by the general government. too. Strange
to say some people out here seem to take
the same view of it. They believe a
bureau situated 5000 miles away 10 the
city of Washington, more competent to
the public lands in their countries
than their state legislators. The Wash
inRton bureau publishes reports gotten up
by this Office and claims all the credit of
a special survey and have never given
us any credit whatever for our work.
Yes sir, l am 10 favor of the state owning
its own lands, managing its own affairs
aud taking care of itself. That is, if we
are going to be a state grant us the right
of any other state; if we are going to
continue under every old restraint, what's
the use in Disgusting ourselves under the
mantle of statehood
Then as an abstract proposition |
believe the people of each state are
better fitted to l~egislate on this question
than congress is for all of them aud that
consequently the cession should be unre-
stricted, but in view OF the fact that
many OF our people seem to be afraid to
trust themselves to deal with the