Arizona republican., 1896-12-13

M. G. Hill were in Phoenix today MT. and Mrs. Hauxhurst and their daughters, Misses Adele and Ella, were visiting in the capital city today. SOMETHING ABOUT IRRIGATION. A Matter of Domestic, or Local Con- cern, Says the Denver Republican. The annual meeting of the National
 Irrigation Congress will be held in
 Phoenix within a few days. Renewed
 attention will thus be drawn to the inn
 portant subject of irrigation, and for
 this reason alone these annual meet.
 ings are of value, if for nothing else.
 Recently the reclamation of the arid region has attracted less attention
 than it did few years ago, for the req
 son that agriculture has been profit
 able in no part of the country. It has
 been felt that there was little use in
 retaining arid lands in the far west
 as long as there was no profit in farm ing in the central states of the MisSis- sippi valley.
 But still the subject is one of great
 importance and should not be allowed
 to drop out of sight Ultimately pros-
 perity will return to American agri- culture, and then people desiring to
 engage in that pursuit will have to come to the far west in order to pro- cure the land they need. This land will have to be irrigated, and there fore the problem of it's reclamation should be solved now in anticipation of the day when reclaimed lands in the arid region will be in demand
 Already the limit of irrigation di- t rectly from streams has almost been reached, except in Wyoming and prob ably in Montana. In the future the l problem of impounding water in stor-
 age reservoirs will have to be consid- ', cred and solved. This is one part o1 t the great work for the reclamation ot
 the arid regions which must be done in the near future. Another branch O. n the subject to be considered is irriga
 tion from artesian wells. This is re D stricted to a few favored localitie! r where such wells can be sunk, bu l. there is little doubt that in this way ; j. very considerable area of valuabl,
 land may be reclaimed in the easter1 W part of Colorado and the western coun > ties of Kansas and Nebraska
 Probably at the approaching con Il gress the question of national aid fo
 irrigation will be brought up. Ther Y always will be some one to insist tha $ congress should make appropriation to construct irrigation ditches and res
 ervoirs. It is a fascinating theor, T. that it is the duty of the governmen Ii to do work of this sort, and thereb
 relieve communities and states of tn
 burden. But it is a matter with whic
 congress can properly have nothing t " do. It is matter of domestic or lo b. cal concern, and all legislation affect le ing irrigation should be left to tn IS state government
 Id In this connection attention may e, called to the Wright irrigation law Id which was recently declared by tn r. supreme court of the United States ss be constitutional. The object of thi e, law is to enable communities not ye h. supplied with water to issue bonds fC S. the construction of irrigation work ed The bonds are to be paid for by spec ut ial tax levied upon the property bene e. fited; thus the united strength of a ve agricultural community may be st as cured for the construction of irrigatio lg ditches and much may be accomplishe
 which otherwise might fail for lack ( n. combined effort.
 ri- There are several localities in Colt an rado where the principle of this la VII might be invoked to great advantag ed Since the act has been declared const er, tutional by the highest tribunal in u ot United States, there is no reason WI ut the legislature of Colorado should ii ,le follow the example of California w placing the Wright law upon it's sta k. utes.-Denver Republican.