Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1899-10-05
An EMpinE WITHIN nEACn.

An EMPIRE WITHIN REACH.
Tho subject ~ the reclamation Of arid
lands o. one which. before very Ions.
viii occupy the attention M Congfcas.
n there 81 land enough 20 make over o.
million FARMS, were it practicable 90
uiiilzo for irrigation purposes the watof
now running 90 waste. the country has
uh expansion problem 20 solve. which
cannot by any reasonable cltlaen be- put
aside aa imperialism"
"a the Into irrigation congress nt
Muoula. Montana. Hon H. McCori
governor Of Arizona. In o. speech which
has attracted much attention argued.
that the work of roclhimlne arid lands
should ho undertaken by tho general
government ne reasoned that there
arc 100000 acres ~ land that can Dc
made arabic at cost of g. an acre. and
that the land thus reclaimed would Hci
nt s. nn acre. or more. 40 a financial
pfopoaltlon. therefore. % would Dc
most excellent Investment
1ie ana not favor the usilnr " this
land 10 the States. Tor the reason thnt
that might lead 90 tho corruption Of
legislatures by syudicatca. which would
become the rani owners OF the land. The
government ought 90 retain the land
until actually settled by homo-aookerr.
lie also opposed the proposition 50
have tho work done by private cntcr-
prise. lie said he could not Imagine
grcntcr calamity 90 State. or a Terri
tory. than 20 have the absolute control
OF lts water in the hands u contcnilur
corporations. united only against the
users " tho water, 10 yet tho largest
possible returns on the corporate capital
Invested.
The governor further pointed out that
a national system OF Irrigation would
be- Of benefit not only 20 the area u
arid bend. out also TO the REGIONS that
now suffor from the annual overflow OF
the great rivers, whose spring noodr
would b. collected in reservoirs. and
thus be prevented from rushing down
from tho mountains 10 inundatc the
iow-lands. on this point he said In
part;
'It iu believed that tho annual dam.
axe by overflow amounts In dollars and
cents 20 sum largo enough 90 build
reservoirs al over the Northwest. ruiii-
Client % regulate tho waters 10 spring
time. tho time ~ rainfall and netting
snow, 30 MOI 90 cncctunlly prevent such
destruction ~ life and property by
Hoods. This IL also true of the streams
flowing into the no gnudo, the
colorado and others whose waters IND
thclr way into either the Gulf of Cali
furnln or the Gulf OF Mexico. n ~ be-
lievcd By sclontinta ns well no by our
nhle1t and most practical engineers.
that the reservoir system. b. properly
Introduced, viii obvlntc any future
danger from Hoods along the Mlasia-
Hlpni river, un wen 40 the waters west
ward, Col. Chttsndon. of the engineer
corps. has formulated a plan Tor res
orVnlr fariy-HcVcn miles square and
thirty-oue feet deep. which he claims
would control the greatest Hood that
has ever been known on tho Missouri
river. This can also be done ON tho
waters Of the Rio Qnnde and the rivers
iiowiug westward. II Col Chlttonden
q right, ana ! think an HcicntstH who
have given the matter consideration,
believe he IT, and the towns along the
Missouri and Mississippi rivers can thus
be protected from their annual alarm
aud damage. why IL II not a scheme N
untold advantage 10 states that are
not dependent upon irrlrnUnn7 And n
the government can annually nppropri.
ate millions ~ dollars 20 protect these
towns and cities and the commerce
along these great rivers by building
dykes, inttlcH ana lovcor, why can Il not
appropriate money 90 accomplish tho
same thing In a cheaper and moro Cf-
fcctlve way, via by building dams and
reservoirs 10 impound and control tho
water whore q can be most easily aud
surely controller N % ~ canstituti1p-
NJ ANA not an lucuultuhlH expenditure uf
money 20 build q dyke or an omhaniS-
mcnt along The Mississippi river in the
State u Mississippi. FOR the purpose N
controlling the waters and protecting
property Il o. certainly not unconHtitu-
tlnnnl 0r an iurquitnhlc expenditure %
public money 90 accomplish the Hlmo
thing by expanding the money iu nnnth-
err locality. n 10 D. constitutional and
an equitable expenditure ~ public
money 60 dig out r. hnrb1r or deepen "a
channel for the benefit or commerce.
why u q not constitutional aud eqult-
ahle 20 eNpend public money Tor the
benefit u ugrlculture2'
II o. necessary that tho attention Of
tho people should be- called 20 the aucs-
lions Involved In the irrigation problem.
n there 10 an empire within the borders
of tho United states. that can De re-.
claimed NJ Il cost less than that of the
war with Spain. ana tho reclamation Of
which would ada millions 90 tho nation
al wealth, u ~ high time TO formulate a
policy Of truly benevolent asslmlla-
ton aa applied TO this domain.