The Florence tribune., 1899-07-22
pnorslx. Ariz.. dnln I4. 1899.

PHoENIx, Ariz., July Il, 1899. ] To sae Editor of the Enterprise.
 Al the risk of being called mau with hobby, fdesire to reply to an editorial in the Republican of last Thursday morning under the caption of Fighting the Man of Straw in which the Republican replies to an article in the Los Angeles Times. In that article the Times among other things says: "No section of the l United States would be benefited more than Arizona through complete and well considered plan of federal irri- gation." That assertion is so self evident that even those who favor the plan of giving the lands to the terri tories do not deny it. Again the Times in the same article says: "It is some. what surprising to find any support in that territory for a plan which would place the lands in the possession of individuals, or companies, whose only object would be to reap the greatest | financial benefits" If the Times is in possession of information to the effect that there is any support in this terri tory among the people or among the newspapers, except the Republican, for such a policy, it has information that is not public here. Up to the present time no newspaper in the terri tory except Mir. Randolph's has ad- vocated the ceding of the arid lands to the territory. A few years ago the Arizona Daily Star, while it's editor was governor, did advocate such policy, but that was when the Cary ac was first passed. Since the complete failure of that act the Star has not, to my knowledge, advocated the giving of arid lands 10 the territories. From the article in tue Republican it appears that the main objection to system of national irrigation is that it will take too long to bring 1t about. Just how long it will take 70 induce the United States government to inaugurate aud carry out national system ci irri- gation, of course it is impossible for any man to say, but if well organized opposition to such system is inaugur- ated it does not require much foresigt to see that such system will never be inaugurated, while on the contrary, if the people in the arid belt are united and their representatives and senators work intelligently to that end, the time when such system will be com menced is near at hand. No man knows better than Mir. Randolph that the most effective way to oppose a na- tionel system of irrigation is by ad- vocating the giving of the arid lands to the territories. No man knows better than Mir. Randolph that the minute the national government parts with its title to the arid lands just that minute the government loses all interest in the matter of their irrigation.
 The Republican says the people of Arizona want the lands irrigated now and that they do not want to wait for the dim utopian future. That is. true, but does not the Republican know that . the irrigation canals ani dams that have been constructed by private in dividuals and corporations, though they have done much to reclaim a small part of the desert, cannot and do not furnish water enough to irri- gate one-quarter of the lands their n canals cover and are supposed to fur nish water to irrigate.
 Has anybody assurance that if the arid lands were ceded to the territories and the territories turned them over to other corporations, that they would be any better supplied with water than those already reclaimed? Does the Republican think that the average Arizona legislature would be safe body of men to guard the interests oi the territory when a body of land worth from five to ten millions oi dollars was placed in it's charge and was atits disposal?
 1 am not of those individuals wht ' think the average Arizona legislature i: thoroughly ;bad on the contrary, I thinl y the average Arizona legislature. is al ? good as the average Arizona citizen but do think that if congress should absolutely cede all the lands the gov n ernment owns in Arizona to-day in N way the Republican advocates, tha
 not one acre of it would be reclaime, and the title of not one acre woul'
 remain iE the territory after the laps
 of two years.
 |. But is the time when the governmen
 may take hold of this project in "th
 dim utopian fnture2" l don't believ q. # ic Eva,. cir.ra ovroiva ii fsa of ti1