The herald., 1893-10-11
tus south 1900 miles to the warm waters

open, practically unsettled after this
long time.
We shall ask you before we get
through with this convention to give us
your help to solve the proEisaS q wha'
we shall 90 in it's behalf.
You Californians understand the
question of irrigation. want to press
upon your minds on the Threshold OF
this meeting that you must not forget
that even the word irrigation" is o
new word to the American people.
Ii you 20 on the other side OF the
ssfather of waters" intelligent men
newspaper men, lawyers and doctors
will ask you what irrigation means.
These questions imply on their part an
almost utter ignorance of what the mat
ter is that is now to be submitted to
your deliberations.
know, and it is no new thing for me
10 say, that irrigation is as old as the
human race.
1t is no new thing for me to say here
tonight that civilization was born, or at
least had its first development, upon
arid lands. IL is no new thing to say
that agriculture had its birth, its de-
velopment, upon arid lands. 1t ia no
new thing to say that the dense popula-
ticn which inhabits the world was fos-
tered and developed and grew under the
inspiration of--allow me to use the
words-watering the soil by artificial
means.
allude to this because in my own
state the question is often asked !:
"Where are you going to get your water
to irrigste the great west with? Why
there is not water enough to irrigate
that country"
l try to answer these questions the
best can but on taking up the lrriga-
tion Age, young paper recently started
but very vigorously, though only IN Its
fourth number-and, by they way,
probably tell nothing new when | cay 1t
is edited by our friend Colonel Hinton,
he says:
There is today more water running to
waste weet OF the Tooth meridian than was
ever in use for agriculture by irrigation
within that Persian empire whose sol
diers once overwhelmed the civilization
of the Mediterranean. More, too, than
supplied and supported Babylon and AS
syria in their palmiest days. There is
water sin sight" sufficient to supply
from the surface flow alone, for the irri-
CATION of 75,000.000 acres. There is
water enough in the streams and other
natural sources OF our arid empire to
make fertile with proper storage facili-
ties, not less than 100000 acres, all
nearly or quite as fertile as the valley
of the Euphrates. These acres will
easily, under irrigation, produce accord
ing to locality, climate and crops, from
four to ten times as much per acre as
the same product-producing areas will
in the humid and older portions of our
land. This is not alone the writer's
statement or assertion; it is the sum-
married testimony of thousand wit
neHseH.
Gentlemen of the congress, if that is
q correct statement, then the irrigation
question has hope indeed; and it has
hope indeed and promises of an early
development, even in the sub-humid
belt, the great plains region that these
great trunk lines OF railway bear US over
in bringing us here to the west. l men
tion this, because the chief objection is
the question, "where are you going to
get water2"
l travelled yesterday and the day be-
fore 1000 miles across arid and semi
arid countries. don't pretend to be a
prophet, but | can dream, and | have
faith that my dream will prove reality.
that the boy is now born, aud running
up and down your streets, that will see
this region from here the 9th meridian,
bloom and blossoming like the rose. ZAP
plause.l
want to quote Mr.. Villas here. Mr..
Villas, you know, was secretary of the
interior during Mr.. Clevelaud's first
term. Mr.. Villas is upon record ae ex-
pressing the opinion that the subject
OF irrigation as it would be developed
would take hold of the headwaters of
these rivers that pour into the Missouri,
and from the Missouri into the Pacific,
and turn some of these head waters and
have them used in irrigating this great
plateau east of the Rocky mountains.
And Mr.. Powell of the United States
geological survey-who, am very
happy to know, is going to epeak to-
morrow-is upon record aa saying that
every acre reclaimed by irrigation from
the sources of the Missouri river will
save another acre at its mouth in the
tBopics. [Applause.l
l mention this, gentlemen, because
you have got big battle to fight. You
are entering upon the discussion of an
enterprise here today that is not going
through the Washington government
without contest. The eastern states
are part of the union. They are part
of us. l love them. l respect them.
But the idea of spending money upon
the west, upon those arid plains be-
tween here and Albuquerque, and be-
yond, is something that is not apt to
strike the thrifty Yankee as a good
thing to do! [Laughter.l He is apt to
think that that is too much like throw
ing away money. Butyou convince him
that there is money in it and he be-
comes as vociferous in the applause OF
what is done as you Oalifornians are in
applauding what you have accomplished
in this beautiful city. Applause and
laughter.
When l rode last night from San Ber.
nardino down here, through a beautiful
garden Of orange groves and orchards,
felt as the Queen of Sheba must have
felt when told of the glories of Solomon
/ felt that the half OF California had
never been told to me. TApplauee.]
No, my friends; what you have done
here is proof for US who go back to the
"Sunfower state," to Nebraska, to
Texas and other states, to fight the fight
that we have to make there, in order to
make the people believe that the AL
mighty does send rain enough from the
heavens-if you will take care of ito
raise crop ell over the country from
here to the Missouri river. Applause.
Then there is another matter that i'm
presses me whenever | speak on the
subject of irrigation.
A.