The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1901-02-26
IRRIeATING ARID LANDS.
A Strong Article from the Philadel
phia North American.

phia North American.
The subject of irrigation has created
an unusual amount of discussion during
the present session of congress. 1t has
been found that there has been an or
ganized effort 10 secure appropriations
| by the national legislature for the con-
struction of western irrigation works.
Attempts have been made in every
possible way to secure such apprOpria-
! tiOnS. If defeated under one heading.
/ the effort has been vigorously renewed
/ in some other way.
The question before the public is.
what is this irrigation problem? Is 1t
legitimate one for the government
| to consider? Is it one whose support
viii be a benefit 20 the country Along
what lines is it drawn? In short, is it
question Of really national import?
~ q q
It's western advocates. regardless of
political Affiliations, declare that it is
| the most important national question
| today. Eastern legislators, regardless
of party, are inclined to smile broadly
at this assertion. If the internal his
tory Of the American republic is studied
! carefully, however, the conclusion viii
be reached that national irrigation,
properly wrought out, is likely to short
~ come to the front as one of the most
important national questions Of the
day. 1t embOdieS, in its tTuest sense,
the question of home building, and the
American people have been, up to the
present time, essentially d nation OF
home builders. In no country in the
world is the desire for home building
so strong. The wish to own and have
and live upon homes has led thousands
of Americans to endure trials and hard
ships and to brave dangers almost be
yOnd conception. This controlling wish
of the American people has conquered
a continent. The hardy pioneer, with
his family and his earthly belongings
slowed in his wagon, looking for
home. has accomplished this. The loco
motive has only followed the prairie
schooner.
Now, what has this to do particularly
with irrigation Simply that the OppOr-
tunity for home building under the old
order has disappeared. New cheap
homes within the means of the hardy
settler are, under favorable conditions,
no longer available. The opening here
and there to settlement of q strip OF
good land, such as Oklahoma, and the
following rush of immigration, attests
to this, and also to the fact that the
country is still full of hOme-seekers.
Where, then, viii they now turn?
q o q
The new homes of the future must be
found on irrigated lands. There are, &C
cording to accepted government re
ports some $4,000, 900 acres of rich west
ern land capable of irrigation If the
western waters are properly conserved.
Irrigation is not an experiment in the
United States and there is no question
raised as to the feasibility of this re
cIama ton, but irrigation development
in a private way has reached its limits.
But since, under irrigation, yields are
very large. a few acres of this land
r-1~-
that with the lands irrigated rural
homes would be provided for millions
of citizens, waiting and anxious to 80
upon them.
The advocates of the national irriga-
ton policy urge that the government
should, where possible, build storage
reservoirs to catch the flood waters OF
the western streams and thus provide
for the reclamation of these lands Inc
Newlands bill, now before the mouse
committee, and its counterpart the
HansbrOugh bill, on the senate side,
provide for the setting aside of the pro-
ceeds from the sale of public lands IN
the arid states and territories as an
arid land reclamation fund to be
used for building such reservoirs, and
that the cost of such construction shall
be put upon the land reclaimed by them
and the land then offered for sale by
the government in small tracts to bona
fide settlers upon easy terms.
. g g
Who would come to the support of
such a Dolicy?
More persons and a greater diversity
of interests than supported the home
stead act, and such legislation would
be even more popular than the free
home enactments. What other prOpo-
sition is before the country upon
which labor and capital can better unite
and which they can support, hand in
hand, without clash or jealousy?
Every labor union in the United
States which has discussed the question
has unanimously supported 1t; every
combination of capital, of whatever
sort, which has considered it, has given
it unqualified endorsement.
The opening of the vast area of west
ern lands by irrigation would PROVIDE
cheap homes, certain OF returning ahe
owners 2. comfortable livelihood. 1t
would create q valuable and growing
market for every kind and description
of manufactured product, and would
thus be favored by all classes of manu-
featuring and commercial interests III
the country. It would insure cheaper
living in the west, which would re-
suit in the opening of numberless min
ing properties whose grade of ore is
not sufficiently high to warrant devel-
Opment under present conditions. 1t
would bring to its support every rail-
road interest.
Can any proposition ever before the
American people claim the support of a
greater diversity of interests than the
irrigation and reclamation of the vast
and waste areas of arid land under an
honest policy which would insure their
settlement in small tracts by genuine
home builders?
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