The herald., 1893-12-17
ARID LANDS AND THEIR USE,
Facts in Support of Govern
ment Irrigation.
Homes for the Homeless on Uncle
Sans Domain.
Satisfactory Congregational Action Ex-
pected soon-A Novel Plan
Before the House
Committee.

growing In Importance and ennstlng
the attention Of thousands who until
recently never gave it much II any
thought. As the population OF the
United States increases and the older
cities become overcrowed there is cor
respondinsly rapid increase in the val
ues of land contiguous to the populous
centers. Hence the growing tendency
among people of limited means to "go
west" on land they can call their own.
Unquestionably it is the duty of the
government to 80 dispose OF the public
lands as to afford home-seekers the beet
possible opportunity for establishing
themselves in desirable locations,
where labor applied to land shall be
fairly rewarded. One honest, indus
t-ious home-builder is worth more to
any state or territory than are 1000
land speculators and town lot "boom-
ers."
The public domain is rapidly passing
into the hands of private corporations
and individual speculators, which means
narrowing down of the opportunities
for those who desire to settle on and
ILL pfOt0 Jno dIdOl0 ldnQE COAttOlioO 30
yet by the government. People are now
looking toward the vast tracts of public
lands in the west which are unpro-
ductive in their wild condition, but with
irrigation may easily be made to pro-
duce prolific crops of grain, vegetables
and fruits. The irrigation of arid land
by private parties has proven so sue.
cessful and satisfactory that nobody
IA lilo 18th ko "a ts dtcnouad
fix any limit to its possibilities.
Z California. though not the only state
where irrigation is practical, is foremost
in the list, and detailed report Of what
has already been accomplished in this
state would fill good-sized volume. 1t
lis we'll known that by means of irriga-
ton hundreds of thousands of acres once
regarded as worthless for agricultural
purposes are now producing abundantly
of such things as are needed to feed the
nation. To realize what transforma-
tion can be wrought hy the application
of water TO 'desert lands, zone need only
visit any OF the numerous places where
such work has been done. Here stands
a thriving little city, within whose
limits are beautiful orange groves,
orchards of deciduous fruits, long lines
OF charming shade trees, vegetable gar
dens, green lawns and fragrant flowers
OF almost every variety.
few years ago the land now within
the limits of the city presented the same
dry, desolate. almost rapulsive appear
ance as does now -theterritory surround
ing it.
The lines are clearly defined. 1t is
scarcely 10 steps from barrenness to fer
tility-from desert to Eden. This
striking contrast is explainable in one
wofd-irrigation tho intelligent appli-
cation OF water to arid land. By this
process California has become known as
the most productive region in the
world.
In the light of these facts the action
OF the Irrigation congress held in Los
Angeles few weeks ago is of far reach
ing Importance. The more valuable
facts concerning arid lands everybody
should know. 1t appears that the arid
and semi-arid public areas still under
the control of the general government
aggregate 542, 1000, 900 acres, and that
they are divided among IL states and
territories.
With her matchless climate, unsur-
passed soil and immense resources,
California could support ten times the
present total population of the state
without being crowded. 1t Is not
strange, then, that Californians are
intensely interested in the subject of ir-
rigation.
Enough of the arid lands in the states
and territories which the government
still owns could be converted into homes
and farms for many millions of settlers.
Such portions as cannot be cultivated
are more or less valuable either for
stock ranges or forest reservations, 30
that future generations can utilize them
all in one way or another. 1t is for the
government to decide whether or no the
many thousands who need these lands
shall have an opportunity to settle and
build homes on them under conditions
that enable occupants to reap sstisfac-
tory results.
The platform of the irrigation con-
gress, which is in the form Of an ad-
dress to the people of the
United States, reads like an emsnation
from men who fully realize the import
ance of the subject they are dealing
with, who know just what they want
done, and who will not be likely TO relax
their efforts till their object is accom-
plished.
The great problem OF conquering the
arid regions by the only available meth
cd should no longer be left to individual
effort and local enterprise. 1t reaches
beyond the boundaries OF any state, and
of all the states and territories. 1t
touches the interests of the entire popu-
lation of this country. 1t is problem
of national Importance. The finger OF
destiny points to these regions as the
future homes of millions who must in
evitably be forced away from the con-
gested districts and overcrowded cities
Of the east, where living is expensive
and employment difficult to find. But
without water on them these lands are
worthless to home builders. With proper
irrigation facilities millions of acres can
be made to blossom as the rose. -
| While the work of providing such facili-
ties is left to individuals it must neces-
sarily be only partial and by no means
satisfactory.
The public lands are the heritage oI
the people. The opportunity to have a
home somewhere on the earth is the
birth-right of every human being. No
general plan of fitting arid lands for
settlement can be made successful under
state supervision, - each state has its
own peculiar laws concerning irrigation,
many of which are absurd; others are
inimical to personal rights and liable to
engender serious interstate contentious.
Existing laws fail to meet the require
ments of people who need the lands.