The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1899-06-01
CALIFORNIA FIG SYRUP co.

IALlFONItIA Thu - NOI OOs
SAN FRANCISCO, Cal.
LOUISVILLE. Ky. NEW YORK. N. s9
now extends to the eastward as far as
the Atlantic seaboard.
81 have said this could be done How
can it be done? Simply by bringing the
water necessary to irrigate the new home
Of the settler to the arid lands within
reach of his individual effort so that when
he sets his plow in the desert the water
will follow the furrow. Create conditions
which will, without, loading them down
with debt, give to the settlers who are
now tilling these arid lands with INSULT
Gent water supplies. enough to insure their
prosperity and enough to enable new set
tiers to go out and take up homes on the
public lands and build for themselves AMI
with their own labor and teams and scra-
pers, the distributing canals AMI late-als
necessary to bring the water 20 eheir land.
Tbs may easily be done by the constrlIc-
ticn by the federal government of the stor-
age reservoirs to save the waters now
wasted in winter foods, and by allowing
the states to lease the public grazing
lands, and use the revenues to build the
large main line car ais necessary to bring
the water within this individual reach Of
the settler.
This whole plan has been gradually
evolved through a series of years by the
National Irrigation Congress, which has
held seven annual sessions, and is en1bod-
led in its resolutions; and IS in brief ae
follows:
'''(a) Where the government owns the
land. it should, wherever it is necessary,
build the irrigation works to reclaim 1t,
and sell the land and water together to
actual settlers only in small tracts for
the cost of construction of distribution
systems added to the government price of
the land. The cost of storage reservoirs
should not be put on the land.
"'AH storage reservoirs should be built
as internal improvements, and perma-
nently maintained by the state or federal
government, as an absolute assurance. of
safety to communities on the land below
them. In no other way can the inherent
fear of settlement under reservoir systems
be overcome.
GO The government has .o0,ooo,OO0 acres
q
by irrigation, and could ST. and settle &
just as fast as it could reclaim it. An
Oklahoma stampede would follow the
opening to settlement of every tract so re-
claimed.
Money paid by the government for
labor would come back to pay for land.
Men wanting homes would seek this en-
ployment to get money to buy the land.
90 Federal storage reservoirs to save
the waters which now go to waste and do
damage and destruction below should be
built as part of the established national
policy of internal improvements, the use
Of the water so stored 10 be free to the
people forever, without toll or charge of
any kind, and to be distributed under the
laws Of the states, as recommended in
the report Of Colonel Hiram NJ Chitten-
den on Reservoir Sites and urged by the
resolutions of the Irrigation Congress-
The share which ought to go 10 the
arid states and territories out of the ag-
gregate disbursements from the national
treasury for internal Improvements should
be devoted to the building of these stor-
age reservoirs within their borders. Why
should the arid west not have its share
of the vast sums of money expended for
internal Improvements? What rca,on is
there why the west should continue con-
tr.buting to build internal Improvements
for the east and south, unless the west is
gwen an equitable proportion Of all mon
eys expended for such purposes?
'(c) Forests should be preserved and
reforested where necessary, as natural
reservoirs and sources Of water supply:
and the public grazing lands should be
leased and the revenues derived there
from used to build large irrigation works.
such as reservoirs, main canals. and Ereat
dams or diversion works, which would be
beyond the scope Of the resources Of the
land owners Such works should be main
tanned, controlled. and operated by the
states, just as they are by the British
government in India
"'(d) Systems for the distribution and
delivery q water 10 irrigators, after the
water supplies have been made available
10 them through the adoption Of the policy
above set forth. should be organized as
cooperative water companies. with the
stock perneua}ly sppurtenant TO the land.
50 that farmers could build tie canals
t'-tr- N-e~--tc t-st-ilN'E4fVSr - = as Done 1N
the early Mormon settlers, and thus get
irrigation without debt. and share the
burdens and benefits Of the Nste- system
in the proportion Ct Their respective acre
age holdings.
This proposed policy = the only way
this problem y the settlement OF the arid
region can lee solved Il Is no: question
Of caoioe o. ways There Is no choice q
Ways. There IS but ere way. and rhis =
thar way. Whether il IS accom2zsheE in
81 few years o. u MANY. depends entirely
on the amount o. public interest aroused
IN IL There are few who realize how
important the p-oblem Is, and now serious
and widespread are the evil conditions
which exist today al through the arid
west. ana which VIII. 50 long as they
continue 10 exist, prevent any fun tide q
immigration from again coming 70 that
region.
Every interest which would re bere-
fitted by the rapid development and per
manent prosperity a. the vast should