The Courier. (Genoa, Nev.) 1899-1904, 1901-03-29
Irrigation in the State Of Nevada.

IN 4 letter 10 the eulbOf OF The OdTooh
1ppcui, the Hon + G. Newlands gives
an outline of the irrigation bills intro
duced by him during the last session
of Congress-. These bills apply in two
instances particularly to the State of
Nevada and in one instance to the
whole United States. The two special
bills provides $4,000 to be expended
on the Humboldt river and $4,000 to
be expended on the Truckee river.
The general bill provides for the appli-
cation of the proceeds from the sale of
all public lands to a special fund to be
called the Arid Land Reclamation Fund
to be under the direction of the Secre-
tary of the Interior, not only for in
vestigation but for actual construction
of such projects as he deems practi-
cable.
In concentrating his efforts upon
governmental assistance for the recla-
nation of the arid lands throughout
the United States, Mr.. Newlands is
building better than he knows. There
Is no subject at the present time more
worthy of consideration by Congress
than this, and no object more worthy
of assistance. To anyone who has
travelled the State of Utah and seen the
beneficial effects of irrigation on the
arid lands, the wonder is, that the gov
eminent of the United States has not
long ago made this a national matter,
and extended liberal national aid to
the reclamation of millions of acres,
which can be made to blossom like a
garden by the application of water.
We believe that the equilibrium of ma
ture is always maintained, and that
where water does not exist upon the
surface, that it exists beneath the sur
face and can be had for the seeking
The writer drove across the State of
Nevada from Aurora to Utah, and be-
lieves that underlying vast territory
of sage brush plains, there is an i'm
mence reservoir of artesian water 1t
has been demonstrated that these
great sage-brush plains, when irrigated,
will produce anything that will grow
in their zone and it is the duty of the
national government to demonstrate
that artesian water exists in sufficient
quantity to irrigate these waterless
wastes. The national government
lends its aid to commerce, manufac-
turers and mining, and it is just, and
right, and equitable that it should lend
its aid to agriculture, not meagerly,
but literally; because that is the found
alton upon which all the others rests
Mr.. Newlands in his letter speaks OF
"the dissensions and jealousies of the
different States, aroused by the nam
ing of specific project in any one
State" This is to be deplored and in
dicates a condition of narrow minded
ness on the part of State Representa-
tives, which is extremely regretable.
There should be no dissesnsion or jeal-
ousies in a matter of this kind 1t is a
subject of national interest and should
be unity of action, which should be
friendly, liberal, and cordial. Every
State should have annual national
conventions, where all could be repre-
sented and where the delegates could
freely discuss the subject of water stor-
age, irrigation and the reclamation of
arid lands.
We hope that Mr. Newlands will
continue his efforts until he compels
both Houses of Congress to under
stand the Importance and magnitude
OF this question, and will give it the
attention it deserves. Mr.. Newlands
is doing magnificent work not only for
the State of Nevada, which he repre-
sents in Congress, but for every State
in the Union, and he deserves the sup
port and commentator of every one
of his constituents and every man,
woman and child that earns or eats
bread each day of his life He is work
ing in their interest and for them, and
no man in the Congress of the United
States is pursuing a policy so lofty, so
broad, and so universally beneficial as
the policy now being pursued by him
in his efforts to reclaim by national as
sistance the arid lands of the United
States. 1t is to be regretted that the
subject is so great and so broad that
the average Congressman cannot
grasp it with comprehension of its
magnitude.-.S F. argus, March IS,
1901.
Andrew Carnegie has given away
$S1, DOC, 900 for educational institutions,
libraries schools musauns apd fo. q