The Yale expositor., 1900-08-03
RECLAIM ARID LANDS.
Hopeful TidIngs for western States and
Territories.

ing, speaking of the work of the Ma
tional Republican Convention, said:
1.-The platform adopted by the con-
vention conveys to the people of my
state, and of every Western state and
territory, the most hopeful tidings
given them for many years. This Ii
contained in the declaration that. In
further pursuance of the constant pol
icy of the Republican party to pre-
vide free homes on the public domain
we recommend adequate national leg
islation to reclaim the arid lands Oi
the United States, reserving control OF
the distribution of water for irriga-
ton to the respective states and ter
ritories.'
THE fact that the Republican party
puts no idle words in it's platforms and
redeems every promise it makes to
the fullest degree is appreciated in the
West, and with the positive declara-
ton that the party is committed to
reclamation of the arid lands of the
country, all doubts that this will be
Had l had such a declaration to
back me up at the close of the seth
Congress, when l attempted to secure
an appropriation for the building OF
storage reservoirs in the West, sue
cess would have been assured. With
such declaration now plank in the
platfrom of the Republican party, sue
cess is in sight, and | confidently be-
l'eve that before the 56th Congress
closes, it will provide means for the
Inauguration of system of reclama-
ton of our arid lands which will do
as much for the arid West as the
adoption of the Homestead Law did
for the great Middle West country.
THE Republican party has already
taken the preliminary steps in the
work of retaining the arid lands OF
the West, and what it has done is of
such practical and useful nature that
a substantial foundation is already es-
tablished upon which the work of rec
lamation can be continued and be
made of lasting material benefit to
the West. The first definite action
taken towards reclamation of arid
lands by the government was secured
by the Republican party, in 1896, when
by the provisions Of the River and
Harbor Act, under section which
had the honor to present, an appro-
priation of $4,000 was made for ex-
animation of sites and report upon the
practicability and desirability of con-
structing reservoirs and other hy-
draulic works necessary for the stor-
ege and utilization of water. to pre-
vent floods and overfows, erosion Of
river banks, and breaks of levees, and
to reinforce the flow of streams during
drought and low water seasons, at
least one site each in the states of
Wyoming and Colorado.
"The examination thus provided for
was made by Capt. H. N. Chittenden,
Corps of Engineers, and this report
made by him showed most convlnc-
ingly the practicability, utility, and
economy of land reclamation by means
Of storage reservoirs to be built at
government expense. The report of
Capt. Chittenden is regarded as the
most valuable contribution of infor-
nation obtainable upon this subject,
and is in so great demand that the
seth Congress has directed that 5000
additional copies be printed
THE next practical step in the di-
rection of arid land reclamation was
taken in the 55th Congress when b9
provisions of the Agricultural Appro-
priation Bill, appropriations of $4,000
and $4,000 were provided to make
Series of Investigations by experts in
practical irrigation. These invesuiga-
tons were placed in charge Of Prof.
Elwood Mead of Wyoming, recognized
as the leading authority on irrigation
problems in America. The present
Congress has increased the amount
for this years Investigations under
Prof Mead to $4,000, and the scope
Of his work has been enlarged to
cover many new irrigation expert
ments and problems.
'In addition to these investigations,
Congress has encouraged and sus-
tanned by liberal appropriation the
work of stream measurements and in
vestigation of water resources of the
country, conducted by the United
States Geological Survey.
THE Republican party, as | have
said. never makes promise it does
not fulfill. and ! confidently anticipate
that at very early day, the practical
work of irrigation investigations un-
der Prof Mead, the collection of data
of water resources by the Geological
Survey, and the location and survey
of storage reservoir sites in Wyoming
and Colorado by Capt. Chittenden,
will be followed by the erection by
the government, on the headwaters of
our principal Western rivers, of stor-
age reservoirs which will serve to re-
claim millions of acres of land now
arid and useless, and transform them
into productive farms and homes. The
increase in value OF land as soon as
1t is reclaimed and is insured a perma-
nent water supply is enormous and