The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-09-25

priation. by which water may he diverted
from ITS natural channel and used for ir-
rlEaunu on lands away from the streams.
This is fully covered in the report. The
amount Of water that any individual may
claim. and as a result more water is
claimed from the nine streams studied
than could Toe found in all the streams of
the entire arid West. In Honey Lake pa
sin. where the ordinary spring flow Of all
the streams is only about 10000 inches
the enormous amount of 2>.up0.eoJ inches
Is claimed. which. on the present duty of
water In this region. is enough 20 irri-
gate over 10000 acres of land. on Cache
Greek, where the summer flow is under
lnH1 inches. I'm addition TO one claim Of
over +.'NHWH"Nu cubic feet and others
aE@reEajinE 2.010roo. uniute,ligiIIc units.
over LuLWI inches are claimed The fiji
inES ON San Joaquin River amount to
over eight times its greatest flood flow,
and those on the Swt,twHter River call
for 5000 times the existing supply. Yet.
with all this multiplicity of claims, the
law provides no way for their gdiudiCa-
tluH other than appeals to thc ordinary
courts of law. which. the history OF Cali
tUruia irrigation as set forth in these re-
ports shows. ends only too often i'm even
greater complication and UuC, rtaluty than
existed before the courts were appealed
90. The whole system is wrong" de
CIar,s the report 1T Is wrong in pTinCi-
pie as well as faulty in procedure IL as
Sumes that the establishment OF titles to
the SHOWS on the mountains and he rains
falling on the public lands and the Wa
ters collected I'm lakes and rivers. on the
use Of which the development OF the State
must in great measure depend. is a p-i-
Vate matter. IL ignores public interests
IN resource upon which the enduring
prosperity Of communities must rest. It
is ike a suing for control Of property
which belongs to &.
It is said that ne law or institution has
given so much trouble To California irri-
gators as the English C0mmDu-laW doc
I.
cd by the first Legislature of the State
II spite of having been supposedly abrO-
gated by later legislature. il has com
pIlCdtCd almost every attempt to settle
water titles in the State, because il is
diametrically opposed to the California
law Of appropriation and wholly iTrecOn-
cilabie with the use Of water in irri-
cation.
In closing the review Of the situation
the expert in charge declares that the
reform Of the irrigation laws Of Califor-
MIA involves the future Of a great Com
monwealth- The possibilities which wait
on SuCC, and the evils which Will surely
attend failure ought 10 enlist the efforts
and iutellectS Of the ableSt and best men
exercise of constructive craftsmanship
which rarely appears in the life of any
Commonwealth The task is not to piece
together the diSCOrddnt fra gmentS Of laws
and decisions which now control but to
create an irrigation code worthy Of an en-
lightened and self-Eovcrned people. Sue
cess will mark the beginning Of an eco
uUmIC revolution whose influence Will be
felt throughout the West. II the creation
of institutions worthy OF the time and
place can come as a part Of the world
wide movement Of trade and population
toward the Pacific Coast. and of material
development Of arid America 1y public
and private aid. which is now being so
strcnuOusly urged. the opening years Of
the twentieth century Will witness a new
era Of hOme-mal-ing in the West"
The report viii contain between 400 and
500 pages. with thirty full-page plates Of
maps and halt-tonc illustrs tions. and also
"a large number Of text figures.
Under the law suly ! 200 copies Of this
report VIII be printed by the department
and q re- can therefore be no general dis
tribut - unless Congress should order
rguTiTr