The times., 1900-12-26
ARID LAND RECLAMATION
Vast Western Areas That Might
BE Made Profitable.
inerensinE Difficulty in Securing
Water Causing n Halt in Attract
Ing setticrs-ConEress Likely to
Come to the Aid of states by Ap-
preparation Funds for Irrigation.

halt has come in the settlement OF
the arid lands in the West. This is due 10
Increasing difficulty of securing water for
| irrigation. The point has been reached
where large capital is required for the
reclamation of most of these lands, and
where The domain of public policy is in
| Yaded in the further appropriation and
| conservation Of water by private interest.
The situation can be briefly expressed in
figures. The United States still owns 6oO.-
| c00,O GOO acres Of public land geographically
! possible Of settlement. One hundred and
| sixty-six million acres are forest Of more
or less commercial value. Sixty million
| acres are desert of no value under present
i circumstances. Three hundred and seven
ty-fonr million acres of these lands are
suitable for grazing, though OF such aridity
! mat they are not available for farming
( pfsneaes. Tine census of 1890 showed three
| million acres OF irrigated land In the
! United States, and the census of 1900 will
/ Show seven million acres. Irrigated land
! Is intensely cultivated and supports a
( population averaging one person to each
/ acre. 1t is estimated that by the year
1925 the population of the United States
| Will be 150,000,000 The photographic de-
! partment of the Government states that if
| the present supply Of water be properly
conserved and regulated 100, 0000, 900 acres
| now suitable only for grazing can be used
as farming land and thus support an ad-
ditfonal population of loo, ,OGO, geo people
The history of irrigation in the United
states demonstrates that, whereas irr,ga-
luH enterprises on small scale have
| been uniformly successful. enterprises on
| g large scale have been almost without
exception disastrous failures. Wherever
Il has been possible to secure water at
small cost or by associated labor. settlers
have crowded ins appropriated the av.til-
able moisture, built their bitches and r.
claimed their land with great profit TO
themselves. Government land bringing
from s125 to $3.50 an acre has by these
Efforts been increased in single year
10 salable value of from 500 to 500 an
acre. depending on transportation, market
facilities and the character of the CROPS
raised
The opportunity for development Of this
land has practically disappeared with the
exception of we'll digging, which is Sill
possible in places like Western Kansas.
where there is an enormous underfiow OF
water close to the surface OF the ground
AS soop as 1t was realized that the op-
portunity for individual effort on small
scale had passed capital was attracted by
the enormous returns promised in The
putting OF water on large areas of cheap
land. Opportunities were apparently
abundant. Great rivers wended their way
through fertile plains, the waters OF The
rivers being free TO all, and the land TO
be secured from the State or Federal Gov
er,ment at minimum prices. On this ba-
SIS II was easy to prepare a prospectus
which would show returns OF several hun
drcd per cent on the money invested in
ING construction of dams and canals. Pro
rs~ru a
entering this field, and not only were
large amounts of American capital sent
into the arid waste for this purpose. but
European investors eagerly grasped the
APPARENTLY golden opportunity.
The history of these Investments is one
OF disappointments and disaster. few
of the great canals which have been con-
structed in this way have been the means
OF reclaiming large amount of land and
a very few have returned some profit to
the men who furnished the capital The
latter cases are exceptionally rare the
rule being no profit, and In most cases a
direct loss of money expended, and the i'm
possibility of securing the return of any
OF the original capital. English investors
have been particularly unfortunate in this
matter. and the wrecks of promising en-
terprises are now scattered from Eastern
Washington to the Rio Grande until it is
almost an impossibility to secure from
capital moments consideration OF an
irrigation enterprise For this reason an
apparent limit has been reached in the
immediate reclamation OF more arid land
in the West
For many years Congress has been asked
to cede to the various States the arid lands
within their borders The purpose of this |
was TO allow State enterprises 10 under |
take their reclamation by the placing OF
bonds or some other encouragement to |
capital based on guarantee of adequate |
returns. Direct Government aid has also |
been favored by many for an equal length |
Of time but the opposition of the humid |
States. with their preponderance OF repre-
sentation, has heretofore rendered this a |
hopeless contention. The idea of ceding |
the arid lands TO the individual States ap- |
parently made considerable headway at |
one time. Congress received many me-
MORALS in Its favor and numerous COM
mittees have 1ourneyed to the Capital from |
distant points TO lend the weight of their |
personal influence to the movement. The |
experience of recent years, however. has |
been sueh as TO make the transfer 10 the
States of Federal property or authority
unpopular. Where States have owned /
large bodies of land the trust has been
shamefully abused. Leases of this land in
large tracts have been secured by political !
influence and bribery, and it has been
given away TO individuals or corporations
without adequate return to the people. The
State Governments have shown nttle con-
ception of the Importance of reser'-ing to
the homesteader the virgin land :: ,he
or of encouraging The small highly
cultivated holding which increases the
population and community wealth at a
ratio. The advocates of the
cession idea fought long and hard before
defeat, but within the last
year they have given up all of the
success of their scheme and have turned /.
their attention to securing Federal aid
III the reclamation of land within the arid
States. Ten years ago such proposition
as this met with scanty attention from
Congress. Less than three years ago the
Assistant Secretary OF Agriculture made
the statement at one Of the irrigation con-
crosses that the farmers OF the East would
never consent to the enlargement through
aid of the competitive agri-
cultural area of the country.
4 change has come over the spirit of
the nation in the treatment of such mat
ters and there seems TO be no longer any
hesitation in giving serious considera tion
% anything which may improve the COM
niercial facilities OF the country or In
crease the habitable area to make room
for a rapidly growing population En-
by this attitude the movement
'or Federal improvement of arid lands is
taking shape and has become tangible
influence in national legislation and
while it is possible that nothing will be
lone at the present short session of Con-
gress it may be regarded as inevitable
hat scme time in the near future Il por-
ion of the national surplus Will be ap
Dropiiated TO start a movement which. il
ully carried out, will lead to an incgsase