The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-12-04

construction should co far as possible be repaid by the land reclaimed. The dis tribution of the water, the division of the streams among irrigators. should be left to the settlers themselves In conform ity with State laws and without interfer- ence with those laws or with vested rights. The policy of the National Gov ernment should be to aid irrigation in the several States and Territories in such local communities to help themselves. and as will stimulate needed reforms in the State laws and regulations governing ir- rigation.
 The reclamation and settlement of the arid lands will enrich every portion or our country, just as the settlement or the Ohio and Mississippi Valleys brought prosperity to the Atlantic States. The in- creased demand for manufacturer articlss will stimulate industrial proouction' while wider home markets and the trade of Asia will consume the larger food sup plies and effectually prevent Western compstition with Eastern agriculture ln- deed. the products of irrigation will be consumed chiefly in upbuilding local cen- ters of mining and other industries, . which would otherwise not come into ex- lstence at all. Our people as whole will profit for successful home-making is but another name for the upbuilding of the Nation.
 Should Make Haste Slowly.
 4 The necessary foundation has already been laid for the inauguration of the poll icy just described. It would be unwise to begin by doing too much, for great deal will doubtless be learned, both as to what can and what cannot be safely att tempted, by the early efforts, which must
 A- oxp porfynanfal in character. At the very beginning the Government should make clear, beyond shadow of doubt, it's intention to pur- sue this policy on lines of the broadest public interest No reservoir or canal should ever be built to satisfy selfish per- sonal or local interests; but only in &C., cordance with the advice of trained ex- perts, after long investigation has shown the locality where all the conditions com bine to make the work most needed and fraught with the greatest usefulness to the community as a whole. There should be no extravagance, and the believers in the need of irrigation will most benefit their cause by seeing to 1t that it is free from the least taint of excessive or reck- less expenditure of the public moneys.
 Whatever the Nation does for the ex- tension of irrigation should harmonize with, and tend to improve. the condition of those now living on irrigated land. We are not at the starting point of this devel- opment. Over two hundred millions of private capital has already been expend- ed in the construction of irrigation works. and many million acres of arid land re- claimed A high degree of enterprise and ability has been shown in the work it. self: but as much cannot be said in ref erence to the laws relating thereto. The security and value of the homes created depend largely on the stability of titles to water but the majority of these rest on the uncertain foundation of court decisions rendered in ordinary suits at law. With few creditable exceptions, the arid States have failed to provide for the certain and just division of streams in times of scarcity Lax and uncertain laws have made it possible to establish rights to water in excess of actual uses or necessities. and many streams have already passed into private ownership, or a control equivalent to ownership.
 Whoever controls a stream practically controls the land it renders productive. and the doctrine of private ownership of water apart from land cannot prevail without causing enduring wrong. The recognition of such ownership. which has been permitted to grow up in the arid regions. should give way to more en- H8Hteneu anu ICtOSlhllOh Ol tHC rights of the public in the control and disposal of the public water supplies. Laws founded upon conditions obtaining in humid regions, where water Is too abundant to justify hoarding 1t, have no proper application in dry country.
 The Right to Water.
 In the arid States the only right to wa ter which should be recognized is that of use In irrigation this right should attach to the land reclaimed and be in- separabie therefrom. Granting perpetual water rights to others than users, with out compensation to the public, is open to all the objections which apply to giving away perpetual franchises to the pub lie utilities of cities. A few of the West ern States have already recognized this. and have incorporated in their constitu- tions the doctrine of perpetual States ownership of water. es> ..r
 The benefits which have followed the unaided development of the past Justify the Nations aid and cooperation in the more difficult and important work yet to be accomplished. Laws so vitally affect ing homes as those which control the wa ter supply will only be effective when they have the sanction of the irrigators; reforms can only be final and satisfac- tory when they come through the en- lightenment of the people most concerned. The larger development which national aid insurcs should, however, awaken in every arid State the determination to make its irrigation system equal in justice and effectiveness that of any country in the civilized world. Nothing could be more unwise than for isolated communi- des to continue to learn everything ex- perimentally, instead of profiting by what Is already known elsewhere. We are dealing with new and momentous oues- tion. in the pregnant years while institu- tions are forming. and what we do will affect not only the present but future generations.
 Our aim should be not simply to re- claim the largest area of land and pro. vide homes for the largest number of