Arizona republican. [volume] (Phoenix, Ariz.) 1890-1930, 1893-10-06

i1a1ioH ne d IcrIltoTy uuIll Juu6, 5Us
1892, the settlers of Arizona have paid
to the general government, 1857 $40. 76
for the lands they occupy, and in re-
turn, the government has expended but
$134, 34l.24 In surveying these lands,
the greater portion of which has been
expended in surveying railroad grants
in order that title might pass to the
corporations claiming the same. In no
other way has it directly expended q
single penny in improving or making
habitable public lands. The balance Of
the money paid for public lands over
the cost of survey, has been disbursed
in meeting public expenses foreign to
the public domain.
To ask that the government shall now
utilize portion of this $3.50, 767, SIT 10
in building irrigating canals for the
benefit OF the west, as it has built re-
servoirs and canals for the benefit of the
east, would be only asking that even
handed justice be done. It would be
simply asking that the government of
the United States do for its citizens,
what the governments of France, Spain,
Algeria, Australia, Argentina, Peru and
of Great Britain in India and Egypt
have done Tor their citizens.
1t is no more than just and right that
the government should grant such re-
quest, but to ask it would be to court q
fiat refusal
What the Convention Should Do.
+ There Is one way, though, which the
government can assist in the matter,
without the expenditure of public
moneys, and that ia by allowing the
use of its faith and credit in securing
private capital to build such canals,
with the understanding that all canals
shall ultimately become the property
OF the farmers cultivating the soil under
them.
With the government directly paying
annually from $40 100000 to $l2, O0O,-
600 in bountes to the sugar producing
farmers of the older sections of the
Union, there can certainly be no just
objection to its lending this much as
sistance to the settlers of the arid west.
In the past the government has loaned
it's faith and credit to the extent Of
millions of dollars to the private build
ers of railroads and similar enterprises.
A bill is now pending in the lower
house OF congress asking that this ''gov-
ermental faith and credit" be pledged
to the extent of 500, 1000, 900 to assist in
the building of the Nicaragua Canal.
With such presidents the Los Angeles
convention is justified in asking that
the faith and credit of the national
government be pledged to assist in the
reclamation of the arid west. In such
a request it will have the support not
only of the entire west, but of the
liberal-thinking portion of the union.
In order to bring the subject directly
to the attention of congress, the con-
vention should have prepared a bill
looking to this end, to be submitted to
congress, and in support OF such bill an
address to the residents of the arid
regions should be prepared and pro-
mulgated asking their united aid in
urging its enactment.
The saliant features of such bill
should be:
O. A provision preventing the
residents of any state or Territory inter-
fering with the vested rights of the
residents of other states and territories
IN the waters of all streams whose
course may be through two or more
states.
(2). The creation OF a national board
OF irrigation, minority of whose MEM
bers shall be engineer officers of the
army, the other members to be selected
from the citizens of the arid west dis
tinguished for their experience in irri-
cation. The duties of which national
board of irrigation shall be (a) to
investigate all irrigation projects pre-
sented to them by the authorities of
any state or territory; (b) to decide
after such investigation the area of land
reclaimable by the proposed plan of
irrigation, the available water supply,
the net value OF the annual products of
such lands when reclaimed together
with the cost per acre of reclamation,
and (c) on this knowledge decide
whether or not the government can
with absolute safety guarantee state or
territorial bonds providing for the con-
struction of the proposed work of irri-
cation.
~. On the approval of the plans of
such projected works and the recon-
mendation of such national board Of
irrigation, each state or territory to be
authorized to issue bonds guaranteed
by the general government, bearing four
per cent. per annum interest, to an
amount not less than $500,000 per
annum for each state or territory in
the said arid regions. Interest and
principal of such bonds to be a first
lien on all lands reclaimed by the
canals 30 assisted, the payment to be
provided for by the levy in each state
and territory of an annual tax on the
lands reclaimed. The government to
retain a general supervision over the
construction and administration of all
such canals-in connection with the
state and territorial authorities-until
the bonds are paid, and on the payment
of these bonds the canals to become the
property of the irrigators under them,
as appurtenant to the lands irrigated.
(4). No entry by an individual of
lands under such canals to exceed
eighty acres.
Under such a system, the national
government, without advancing any
money, would realize an enormous