Santa Fe daily New Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1885-1897, 1895-09-16

the cause of irrigation are to be equal,
congratulated in the fortunate circum
stance that this beautiful city has beer
selected as the place of holding thi
meeting; it is II fortunate and propitiou
occurrence that an irrigation congress
should be held here upon the banks O
the "American Nile," to discuss the neces
stiles for and the possible results of {
perfect system of irrigation.
| THE AMERICAN NILE.
Here you have before you vivid object
lesson. Lowing through this valley, you
see the Rio Grande river, whose waters
are 80 rich with fertilizing matter that il
has acquired the name of the american
Nile" 1t being asserted by many that ii
is even richer in fertilizing matter than
the Nile itself.
! Upon either side are situated beautiful
valleys and elevated plateaus, rich in
nutritious soil, we'll adapted to irriga-
tion, with an ever pervading sunshine
and most salubrious climate, and yet
nine-tenths of the waters of this river are
flowing to waste through valleys and
pains, nineteen twentieths of which are
unqccupied and unused, needing only the
intelligent application of water to trans
fer them from their present condition
into productive fields, making homes for
hundreds and thousands of our fellow
countrymen who are now homeless, eke-
ing out bare existence in the over
crowded cities OF the more populous
east.
What better or more forceful object
lesson could be found, pregnant as it is
with the necessities for this congress and
the vast Importance of the subject before
you for consideration? Here nature has
placed in juxtaposition all the natural
elements required for fruitful, prosper
GUS country, healthful, salubrious eli
mate, fertile plains, and an abundance of
water, needing only the intelligent appli-
cation of the one to the other to change,
as if by magic, the desert waste into bear
ing vineyards, fruitful orchards, waving
fields of wheat and corn, the homes of
happy, prosperous and contented COM
munity.
The object lesson soforcibly presented
here is repeated in hundreds, yea thou
sands, OF localities throughout the arid
regions. Nature has been most bountiful
in supplying the natural elements, re-
quired for the creation of prosperity and
the production of wealth, wanting only
the intelligent application of labor to in
sure the desired result.
May we not hope that the enterprise,
energy and industry, that have done SO
much in the past few years to change the
landscape by the energetic application of
mans intelligence to natures elements,
will continue the good work until the way
shall have been marked out for the saving
of every drop Of the flood waters of the
summer, and the SHOWS of winter, and
their employment in producing food and
comfort for our fellowmsn.
IL has truly been said that irrigation
is the touchstone of successful agricul-
ture." In America, it is but in its infan-
cy, and yet the development, which this
great science is obtaining here, is one of
the marvels of the age.
COMMANDING ATTENTION.
1t is commanding the attention of the
best minds of the age; it is the outgrowth
of a necessity, brought about by the eli
matic conditions of the great west, cou-
pied with the fact, now being prominent
ly presented to the people of this coun-
try, that the vast domain of a government,
which few years ago was considered
sufficient to furnish homesteads fot ages
to come, has SO far as the temporal re-
gions are concerned, been exhausted, and
the government has to- day NO more home
a., Ao A,, &ko no
arid region, where irrigation is neces-
sity.
Many of those whom see before me
to-day are for the first time within the
limits of our territory, and doubtless feel
an interest in knowing some of its char
Experience has taught me how little is
known in the older states, and even in
our sister territories, of the extent and
diversity of New Mexico, her native
wealth, the character, life and habits Of
her people, and I believe that this is fit
occasion to talk with you about New Mex
leo and her people; about what they have
in the past and what they
hope to accomplish in the future.
New Mexico, though one of the oldest,
is one of the least known of all the terri
tories. In many respects its history is
unique. The Spanish cong uestadores, in
their search for gold, silver and precious
stones, traversed the entire length of this
country as early as 1541, and were said to
have left two of their number, two Fran
ciscan monks, in the city of Santa Fe in
1916.
Within it's territorial limits are to be
found three different orders of civiliza-
tion, the oldest being that of the Pueblo
Indians, who occupy twenty-six different
villages within its borders, and who wore
found here cultivating the soil and lead
ing agricultural lives when the territory
was first visited; the second being the
civilization of the Spanish or Mexican
descendants of the original conquerors;
while the third is composed of the Ameri-
can or Anglo-Saxon civilization, as rep
resented by the recent immigration from
the states.
OLDEST TERRITORY AND YOUNGEST STATE
1t is also unique as, while being the
Oldest of all the territories, We hope that,
in the early future, it will be the young
est OF all .he states. It has vast do
main, having an average breadth of 1926
miles, length upon it's eastern border of
345 miles, and upon its western border of
800 miles. 1t is only exceeded In area by
three states, Texas. California and Mon
tana.
OF this vast domain, it is estimated that
the land grants cover over 19,180,8S4
acres; the Atlantic & Pacific railroad
grant, 2,349,8 $3.50; Indian reservations, g.
832, 1905; military reservations, 1882;
government land entered, 2,9OS, 1892; total,
81, ,4O6,S53, leaving as public lands and
now available for entry under the home
stead, desert land, preemption and min
eral laws of the United States, 51,376, ,442
acres.
No state or territory in the Union
possesses more natural undeveloped re-
sources. Within our mountains is found
a greater variety of useful minerals, pre-
cious and industrial, than is found in any