The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-02-23

state Omc4rS.
The state solons were nothing if not
patriotic in their observance of the
birthday of the father Of their country,
that is, as far as abstaining from work
was concerned. Very few took the
trouble to visit the joint building yes
terday and those who did, found the
doors of the assembly and committee
rooms alike, locked. The day was
given over entirely to holiday and
those members and officers who did
not avail themselves of the opportunity
to visit their homes, spent the day
pleasure seeking or resting for the
renewal Of activities Monday.
MONsoN WILL RETALIATE.
When the house convenes tomorrow
those members who voted to expunge
from the minutes Mr.. Monson's reso-
luton censuring Utahs United States
senators, Will have occasion to regret
their hasty action in thus establishing
precedent, provided DR.. Condons
resolution for a semi-centennial APP
pears in full in the journal as it doubt
less will. If such proves to be the
case, Mr.. Monson proposes to move to
eXpunge the resolution from the min
utes as did Mr.. CritchIow with refer
ence to the resolution introduced by
him. The gentleman from Cache is
not in any sense opposed to the resolu-
ton for the exposition but he is not at
all satisfied with the treatment his
resolution received in this respect and
as a precedent was established he pro-
poses to see that an are treated alike
or put the house on record as being
capable of what he considers a very
rank discrimination.
WANT OFFICERS TO WORK.
If all the bills are passed which are
now pending before the legislature,
creating commissions and making the
governor. secretary of state, auditor
and attorney general, exofficio mem
berS thereof, the states chief officers
will have a merry time of it if they
faithfully attempt to perform all the
duties imposed upon them.
In all there are five such bills now
pending. Mr.. Bolitho's house bill No.
104 creates the state board Of horticul-
ture, the membership of which is to be
composed Of the governor, secretary of
house bill No. So creates a railroad
commission, with the attorneys
and treasurer as eX-oficio members of
the board. Mr.. Allison's senate bill
No. 76 provides that the governor, sec
rotary of state and Encouragement
shall constitute a board of examiners.
Mr.. Bolftho's house bill No. III creates
a railroad transportation board, with
two of the chief officers as ex officio
members; and now it is proposed to
make the governor, secretary of state
and attorney general memb ers of the
land commission.
Should all these bills be enacted into
law 1t will be in order to require the
officials named to do their own jan
itor work during their spare time.
IRRIGATION IS KING IN UTAH.
Representative Mansfield is in re-
ceipt of a letter from Charles w Irish
of the United States agricultural de-
pdrtment at Washington, in which
that gentleman expresses a deep inter
est in irrigation matters in Utah and
comments very pertinently concerning
laws best calculated to encourage and
foster the system. a portion of the
correspondence is given herewith:
'Are you engaged in legislation upon
water rights and water laws? If you
are, [ would like to know something
about it. Having Travelled through the
entire arid regions and compared the
various systems which [ found in use,
l made up my mind that the system
operated under in Utah was the best
of all of them. [ found it carried on,
as you might say, by tacit consent,
and hope that it may be put under the
protection and cover of the law. 1 see
no hope for the irrigation farmers if
the laws are made in such shape that
they are denied the control of the water
with which they WITTY their lands.
That principle should stand foremost
in all legislation covering these sub
jects. [ think that he who irrigates
farm should have complete control
of the water of irrigation through the
act of himself and his associates. State
engineers and state commissions stand
ing between the water source;N and the
farmers are bad things and fail every
where they have been tried, to give
satisfaction. The Wright law of Cal
ifornia, battled against as severely as
it has been by large land owners. is
the only law of the kind which had
the proper principle contained therein,
and I am very much in hopes that the
supreme court Of the United States,
before whom it's legality was lately ar
gued, will uphold it as law. At any
rate, should the law fail in its present
form, it contains the germs which can
never be destroyed by legal enactment
or otherwise, and these germs should
be again crystalized into law
six hundred years experience in
Italy and Spain, despotic as those gov
rnments have been, have failed to CO.
cree the people into any other form of
operation in the matter of irrigation.
Whenever the laws have been made
stringent and officials placed between
the source of water and the farm, the
result has been revolution and a
breaking down of the law and a sud-
den fight of the officials placed to en-
force it. This has become so well un-
derstood that for the last hundred
wears no attempts have been made to
interfere with the manner in which the
farmers take and use the water in
those countries.
England tried the plan in India and
placed arbitrary measures and over
bearing officials between the water and
the farmers, with the result that the
farmers arose in their might and tore
down the dams. destroyed the meas
uring apparatus and took all the
water they required, but the English
men were sensible enough to see the
mistake they had made and acquiesced
in the act of the injured farmers. No
one was punished for the rebellion and
matters have been so arranged ever
since that the farmer has no reason
for complaint.
mo one ON the face of the earth
knows better than the farmer the
quantity Of water needed and the time
in which he will apply it to his crops.