The Florence tribune., 1900-07-07
The Nationa, Irrigation Movement
IFrom the Los Angeles Tines.l

eAAS A<Ob Ahectus I AtAtDssl
 With little effort on part of .he peo- ple-especislly residents of the South west, who are so directly interested in the question-there is no doubt that the next Congress may be induced to take a serious interest in the question of national irrigation and grant a liberal appropriation for the pur- pose. To secare this, however, it will be necessary tA keep up steady and persistent campaign of education, as the subject is one which is even yet comparatively little understood by the mass of the people, in spite of the large amount of literature that has been disseminated by the National Irrigation Association, aided by large portion of the press. As The Times recently observed. it is not altogether creditable to the enterprising people of the Southwest, to which section irrigation is of such vital import, that they should actually be taking less. 1. interest in the subject than many resi- dents of the East and Middle States.
 In recent letter from leader In the national irrigation movement, now in Washington, he says: of there were only some way by which the leading men of Los Angeles could be led to appreciate the real situation in reference to this irrigation move ment they would put their shoulders to the wheel in dead earnest"
 Two facts are absolutely demons trated. The first is, that the influence of the California delegates in Congress is insufficient by itself to secure the inauguration of the national irrigation movement. The secoud is, that the necessary support from the East can be had through the influence of the business men of the West, who are constantly buying goods from the merchants and manufacturers of the East.
 MT. Maxwell, the executive chair man of the National Irrigation Asso- citation, is constantly receiving letters
 from eastern manufacturers and mer.
 chants containing the most positive
 assurances of the support of the Con
 gressmen from their districts for tn e
 Eational irrigation movement. If the
 merchants of the West would take the
 matter up systematically, they could
 build up movement which would bt ! so strong that it would sweep every,
 thing before it and we could get BIO,
 100000 a year appropriated for irri. | gation in the West. Maxwell write. as follows:
 ''I wish that could be in California for few days at least to try and i'm press this upon some of the leading men of Los Angeles, but it is impossi 3 ble for me. togo there. I feel that Emust stay where my effort will accom- plish the greatest results, and thinl 7 this is in the city of Chicago. The t success which met with in, enlistin ] the interest of the merchants of St Paul and Omaha leads me to believ 3 that we can get the great commereis { intesests of Chicago to take hol
 strongly of the proposition But tn f people of Southern California mus | appreciate that the people of the Eas r will not take the lead in tue matte a either in Congress or elsewhere. Tn r people of the West must unite an' z inaugurate bold and aggressive can l paign for the inauguration ok the na Q tionsl irrigs tion policy on a broad an r comprehensive scale, and if they vii
 do this the necessary support from u c East can be brought to them.
 n "The situation was well illustrate d in the last session ofCongress. In u # Senate the friends of the measul IS. stood by like stslwarts and demaude
 the full appropriation of $250, ,00 l- which we asked for irrigation survey