Arizona republican., 1899-06-13
GOV. MURPHY AND ARID LANDS

of Sunday, in 8 three-column editorial
 critic1ses Governor Murphy because of his advocacy of the policy s cf ceding the arid lands to
 the states and territories. The - Times pins it's faith to the propaganda
 of government construction of reser-
 voirs for the arfd west, and blindly re- fuses to see any other solution of the
 problem, and this has been it's policy
 for long time. Stated terse1y, it's | position is, that Governor Murphy and
 those who are following his leadsrstip D
 in advocating the cession of the desert
 lands as one Of the means whereby the , construction of reservoirs may be en- couraged and promoted, are working
 against the interests of the people and are laying themselves open to susp:c-
 ion.
 Govrnor Murphy needs no defense at
 our hands nor in any place where he
 Is known. His record is an open book He has done mora for Arizona than
 any other man in the territory or out
 of it. He made a national reputation !
 one of the strong men of the country.
 Nobody doubts that ha will continue to devote his energies to the upbuilding
 of the territory and to the benefit of all
 it's people, and it is because of his rec
 ognized leadership on the arid land question that the Times attacks him.
 With the propagandists of the gov
 ernment reservoir idea neither Gov
 ernor Murphy nor any other sensible
 psrson in the irrigated regions has any
 quarrel IL is deplorable, of course,
 that in pursuing the will-o'- the-wisp
 of appropriations out of the national treasury for the construction of res- ervoirs, the apostles of the idea have 1 become one-idea people; it is depIor-
 able that as the natural sequence of en- tertaining but Cne thought. these propogandists have succeeded to a fa-
 naticism which sees no merit in any other proposition, and to it's corouary. suspicion of the motives of everybody who does not accept their dogma as the one infaliib.e means to salvation: but fanatidsm- always bears the same fruits, and there is no occasion for surprise.
 Neither Governor Murphy nor any body else in the west, so far as we have observed, is opposed to the con struction of reservoirs by the natfona! government. ,Rut a wholesome sanity forces him and great majority of the people of the western states to recog- niZe the fact, unwelcome as 1t is. that 1t is folly 10 expect any material aid | from the government in the line of direct appropriations-at least for many years to come. Eventually. tt | may be that great cash contributions | will be made from the national treas | ury to the building of reservoirs. But | nobody having even a moderate un- | derstanding Of the difficulties which | beset the effort has any hope that such | action will be taken in the naar fu- ture. Practical people are inclined to look at the situation as they find it. They are compelled to see that eastern and middle-state congressman are. and will be, ready to lend willing ear to their constituents who are clamor- ing against further competition from the rich, irrig2ble lands of the arid west. and that something quicker must be acceptable to the east and to the middle states, upon whom we must de- pend for everything in the direction Of national assistance
 On the other hand it is altogether practicable to persuade the national congress to take effective steps toward the construction of reservoirs on grand scale through the medium of cession of the desert lands to the states and territories wherein they are To- cated. This could be done, very prob ably at the forthcoming session of congress, could the one-idea fanatics be induced to restrain themselves to some degree. There is already strong sentiment throughout the east in favor of this policy. The New York Sun and other prominent newspapers which have much to,do with moulding public opinion, are urging that this fa- Tor be granted to the west They have nothing but ridicuIe for the small and hopeless movement for 6irect con structionl by the government That their attitude and the attitude of the men on whose votes we must depend, will change soon enough to benefit the generation now living, no intelligent and reasonable citizen can expect.
 To assume, as does the Los Angeles Times, that it is impossible for con gross to protect the interests of the public by proper terms of restriction in the act itself, or to assume that the . people of any state or territory would supincly allow themselves to be cheat ed out of their rights, is to assume ] that popular government is a failure. The insult to Governor Murphy and the governors and officials of the other western states and territories impI.ed