The leader. [volume] (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1895-1905, 1901-12-04

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under the department of agriculture. The /
president should have by law the power
OF transferring lands for use forest re-
He already has such power in the case of
a sanpi IN ne eS by the departments Of war
Irrigation in connection with the waste
iahos Oh the west Is question to which |
the president gives considerable attention,
ana makes strong recommendations Tor |
government assistance in retaining the !
waste lands by assisting in their irriga- |
ton and the control of water rights wher- |
ever that Is possible, and of this ne says:
In the arid region IL Is water not land |
wnich measures production. The western |
mar OF the United States would sustain a
population greater than that of our whole
country to-day IL the waters that now run
70 waste were saved and used for irriga-
ton: The forest and water problems are
OF the United States.
In cases where natural conditions have
Peen restored for few years vegetation
deer are coming back, and hundreds of
persons, especially from the immediate
neighborhood. come each summer to enjoy
the privilege of Camping. Some at least
OF the forest reserves should afford per-
petual protection to the native fauna and
diminishing wild animals of the larger
| KINGS and free camping grounds for the
ever-increaslng numbers of men and wom-
en- VINO nave learned to find rest health
| ano recreation in the splendid forests and
nower-clad meadows of our mountains
Inc forest reserves should be set apart
forever Tor the use and benefit of our peo-
pie as a whole and not sacrificed to the
| shortsighted greed of a few"
| Ihe forests alone cannot. however, fully
regulate and conserve the waters Of the
| arid region. Great storage works are nee
| essary to equalize the fiow OF streams and
to save the flood waters. Their construc-
| t1On mas been COncIusfvaly IN, ba q N
Undertaking too vast for private effort.
Nor can 1t be best accomplished by the in
interstate problems are involved, and the
| resources Of single states would often be
Inadequate. 1t is properly a national
1t is as right for the national government
to make the streams and rivers of the
| arid region useful by engineering works
ryers and harbers Of the bnma u reaon t by
| engineering works of another kind. The
storing of the floods in reservoirs at the
headwaters of our rivers is but an en-.
| control under which levees are built or
| the lower reaches of the same streams.
The government should construct and
| maintain these reservoirs as 1t does othel
| public works Where their purpose Is tc
regulate the flow of streams the water
should be turned freely into the channels
| in the dry season to take the same course
under the same laws as the natural flow:
THE reclamation and settlement OF the
arid lands will enrich every portion OF
| our country, just as the settlement OF the
| Ohio and Mississippi valleys brought pros
perity to the Atlantic states. The in
| creased demand for manufacturer arti'
| cles will stimulate Industrial production
| while wider home markets and the trade
of Asia will consume the larger food sup
plies and effectually prevent western
competition with eastern agriculture: In
deed, the products of irrigation will bs
| consumed chiefly in upbuildng local CEN
| tiers of mining and other industries which
| would otherwise not come into existencs
at ALL Our people as whole will profit
| for successful homemaking Is but another
name for the upbuiiding of the nation
at the beginning but advises that we lie,
experience on small plan teach the pos
sibilities of greater undertaking. He also
| cites the conditions under which the set
tiers of the west are attempting to build
homes on these arid lands, and says:
THE security and value Of the home:
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
| the arid states have failed to provide for
the certain and just division of streams in
| times of scarcity. Lax and uncertain laws
to water in excess of actual uses or ne
| cessities, and many streams have already
| passed into private ownership or control
| equivalent to ownership
| "Whoever controls a stream practically
| controls the land 1t renders productive. and
the doctrine of private ownership of water
Wnons
of such ownership, which has been per-
mtted to grow up in the arid regions,
larger Recognition Of the rights of the pub
lie in the control and disposal Of the pub
lie water supplies. Laws founded upon
where water Is too abundant to justify
boarding it: have no proper application in
| dry country.
/
which should be recognized is that of use.
| In Irrigation this right should attach to
the land reclaimed and be inseparable
fights a0 to other than pe1 Users without ut
compensation to the public is open to all
the objections which apply to giving away
ties of the cities. A few of the western
| states have already recognized this and
| have Incorporated In their constitutions
the doctrine OF perpetual state ownership
| of water"
| The Colonies.
| Considerable attention is given the col
| onies. and especially the Philippines. This
| section of the message begins by citing
| the needs of Hawaii and Porto Rico, of
| which he says:
I'm Hawaii our aim must be to develop
| the territory on the traditional American
| lines. We do not wish region of large
| estates titled by cheap labor. We wish a
| healthy American community of men
| who themselves till the farms they own.
|
| be shaped with this end in view. The well
| being of the average homemaker must
| afford the true test of the healthy devel-
| opment of the islands. The land policy
should as nearly as possible be modelled
| on our homestead system"
| OF Porto Rico he says the island is thriv-
| ing as never before and is being admins
| tered efficiently and honestly. He deems
| no legislation necessary except that con-
| corning the public lands of the island.
| He calls attention to the fact that In
| Cuba the Independent government of the
| island, will soon be in control, and in the
| same connection urges strongly the need
| of reciprocal trade relations with the new
| nation, upon which subject he says:
| "In the case of Cuba there are weighty
| reasons of morality and of national inter-
| est why the policy should be held to have
| a peculiar application, and most earnest
| Nv ask your attention to the wisdom. indeed
| to the vital need. of providing for a SUBJ
| stantial reduction in the tariff duties on
| Cuban imports into the United States.
| Cuba has in her constitution affirmed what
| we desired that she should stand in inter-
| national matters in closer and more friend
| Nv relations with us than with any other
| power, and we are bound by every consid-
| Grafton of honor and expediency to pass
| commercial measures in the interest of
| her material well being"
| For the Philippines he recommends much
II AZ l.V,A