Arizona republican., 1901-12-14
SPREADING EAST
The Doctrine of the Rec!amd-
 tion of the Arid Region
The Recent Utteranoe cf President Roosevelt It is Thought Will Give It Considerable Impetus in Con gress.

Washington, Dec. 13.-President Roosevelt in his message has declared for new national policy in the handling of the public domain by the national government. The annual re- port of the secretary of the interior and the secretary of agriculture dealt em- phatically and at length with these questions. The president devotes n large part of his message to congress to mat ters affecting the preservation of the forest and the conservation of the flood streams of the arid west with view to their subsequent use in the cultiva ton of the arid public domain He says: Great storage works are neces- sary to equalize the flow of streams and to save the flood waters. the con struction of which has been conclusive ly shown to be an undertaking too vast for private effort. Ncr can it best be accomplished by the individual states acting alone. Far reaching interstate problems are involved, and the re- sources of single states would often be inadequate. It is properly a national function. It is not enough to regulate the ffiow of streams; the object of the government is to dispose of the land to settlers who will build homes upon it."
 While it is true that the national irri gation movement originated in the west. it is no longer an exclusive west ern idea. A great deal has been said about westeTners getting together to fight the east. The necessity for such n fight has gone, for q larger number of members Of congress- from eastern states are now in favor of national irri- gation than the total representatives cf the arid states in that body The assumption that the east is against the west in carrying out this policy is an error. The principal support of the irrigation movement has come from people living east of the Mississippi river. Four-fifths of the members Of the national irrigation expectations are found east of the Missouri river.
 President Roosevelt and the members of his cabinet have emphasized this fact in a. most striking manner by adopting the arid land platform as their own. They have reclai,ed emphatically for the construction of reservoirs and main line canals by the national gov errment and their operation under gov ernment control. The eastern men who have rallied to the support of the ma tional irrigation movement have been brought to this position by a realization of the enormous value, to the eastern cities and their many industries of the great and growing markets west of the Missouri. which have been built up all most entirely through the irrigation of arid lands.
 The president and his secretary have declared for q clear cut national policy upon which the whole country can unite. and it remains to be seen whether congress is ready to adopt this policy in it's cons truciion of the ap- propriation bills.
 The effect of this attitude of the presi- dent is already apparent in the speech es and actions of quite a number of members of congress who one short year ago were openly antagonistic or selfshly indifferent to the national irri Gation movement Marry of these men acknowledge the inevitability of gov ernment works at government expense. and some of them admit their desira- bility. Those who still oppose appropri- ations for this purpose base. their oppo- sition purely upon economic grounds. l but with the money available and the pressure of public sentiment demand ing tangible returns for government in- vestment, it is improbable that serious opposition will be made to an initia- | tory appropriation for carrying into effect the policy for improving the arid public domain so as to render it avail able for home builders.
 The nationalizing of this policy by the president practically assures it's adop- tion by the present congress, even though the first appropriation be small. The irrigaticnists have been contending for a principle They will be well satis- . fled to see this principle adopted. leav- ing to future sessions the question as to the amount of money to be spent
 
 J. D. WHELPLEY.