The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-06-12


kins university, there appears a con-
tribution by Mr.. Charles Hillman
Brough of Ogden, Utah, entitled, 'Irri-
cation in Utah. This description Of
Utah's wonderful industrial system last
year Won for Mr.. Brough the fellow
ship in political economy in the johns
Hopkins university. carrying with Ii a
prize of $500. The study is based on
church records and manuscripts sup
piled by the church historian, and let
GERS received from representative irrl-
gators in all parts of the state and the
arid region, and required two years of
careful research in its preparation. 1t
is written in a fluent style and, in con-
venient book form, has already at
tracted a great deal of attention
throughout the east, not only as por-
t-'ayinS the possibilities of irrigation,
bat also the advantages of co-opera-
ton. which was the primal principle of
Mormon colonization.
Several chapters are devoted to de-
scription of the cooperative system,
through which the pioneers were en-
aDled to construct the necessary irri-
cation works without eXpending any
money, contracting any debts or float
ing amy bonds. The distinguishing fea-
lures of this system, as stated by the
author were:
l. Associated labor in the construc-
ton of canals and irrigation works, en-
abling the laborer to become his own
employer.
2. A small farm unit devoted to diver
sified protection and intensive culture.
8. The privity of rights system, under
which water was distributed, among
the irrigators in the order of settlement
4. Water right appurtenant to the
land so as to prevent speculation in
either land or water
1t is shown in the monograph how
this principle of cooperation organiza-
ton carved out of the necessity of piO-
neer life. and first applied in the irri-
cation of farms. has since been extend
ed throughout the entire economic
structure of Utah Mercantile enter
prises, of which lions Cooperative
Mercantile Institution is a type, and
banking and insurance institutions are
organized on the principle, with the re-
suit that consumers are protected
against the extortionate profits of mid
dlemen, and at the same time produc-
ers are insured a fair remuneration for
their labor. Sinoo its commencement in
1863, the annual sales of z. c. NJ. l. have
averaged SO. .000 and the average of
cash dividends paid to stockholders has
eating, in July, -. 163, 600, besides stock
dividends to the amount of SALE. 900. One
thousand dollars worth of stock in
vested in u. C. NJ. 1. in March, 1859, was
worth S2,014.30 in July 1897.
IRRIGATION SOCIALISM.
The author is warm in his praise of
irrigation socialism, as typified by the
cooperative system, but thinks it
> H.
reclamation of large areas of land, be-
cause of the waste of seepage involved
in a multiplicity Of small canals and
bitches.
In an interesting chapter on "Capi-
talistic Irrigation" Mr.. Brough traces
the natural evolution of irrigation in
Utah from a. small stream that a single
farmer or group of farmers could di-
vert and use, to the larger creek call
ing for the combined effort of the COM
lnunity, and finally 10 the larger I'M
dertaking by which thousands of acres
are reclaimed under a single system OF
works. He points out the invaluable
aid capital has rendered in construct
ing storage reservoirs, introducing bet
ter agricultural appliances and Secur-
ing an economical affiliations of the
water supply. He makes a suggestive
comparison of the cooperative and
pie of Utah need to have no fear of eX-
cUbitaut water rentals being charged
by bona fide irrigation companies, of
which the Pioneer Electric Power COM
pany, the Bear River Irrigation COM
pany, the Mt. Nebo Beet-SuSar & Land
company and the Lake Bonneville
Water & Power company are types.
The large irrigation plants already in
operation, as well as those in process
$500
and a particularly valuable supple
ment to the chapter is found in the
appendix. giving the names, dates of
Incorporation. capital stock invested,
par value of shares and places Of bust
ness of all Incorporated irrigation
companies Of each county in the state.
This list is official, having been com
piled from the records of each county
in the state by the county clerks.
The development of agriculture and
horticulture in Utah through irriga-
ton, the average yield of the staple
crops. the expenses and revenues Of
irrigated farms. the difference between
irrigated and dry farm" yields is in
dicated in convenient form in tables
which have been compiled from the
government and other official records.
one of the most striking of these Ia
bles is one comparing the averaged
yields of the staple crops IL the United
States at large with the average irri-
gated and dry farm" yields of the
same crops in Utah.
IRRIGATION LEGISLATION.
Several chapters are devoted to trac-
ing the history of irrigation legislation
in Utah, particular stress being given
the Utah district law, passed Jan. 20.
$50, under which over 200 acres have
los
slation enacted by the last legislature
7 he connection between irriga ton and
ether factors of Utah's industrial sys-
lem, the influence which irrigation has
had in working out Utah's present ma
terial prosperity and the debt which
the arid region as a whole owes to the
pioneers Of 1877, is graphically yet
truthfully shown. Mr.. Brough's re-
searches have led him to assert that
the Mormons were the first Anglo
Saxon irrigators in the new world. for
v-hile he finds earlier traces of irriga-
ton in the gardens of the mission
fathers of southern California, in the
canals of the aborigines of Arizona
and in the utilization of the water of
creeks by various Indian tribes. these
are evidences of Latin rather than of
Anglo-SaXOn civilization. The Nor
mons, he claims, were the pioneers in
The art of irrigation in the sense in
which the term is used today, viz: a.
The power of applying water in ex
actly the right quantity. 90 The power
of applying exactly when needed. (3)
The power of giving water to some
crops and Withholding it from others
PROBLEMS FOR IRRIGAToRs.
AS the first part of the monograph is
historical, the second is constructive.
dealing with the problems confronting
Utah's irrisators. These problems he
finds 10 be: I. The reclamation of the
whole body of irrigable land in the
state 3 The formulation of system by
which the lands already ceded may be
administered. 3. The correction of the