Arizona silver belt., 1901-01-17
THE ARID WEST.
The Great Problem, How to
 Reclaim 1t.
SOLUTION, NATIONAL IRRIGATION.
Professor F. II. Newell of the United States Geological Survey, Ably Presents the Subject Homes
 for lO,OO0,000 People
The tree is the mother of the foun-

The tree is the mother of the foun- tain.
 Save the forests.
 ''Store the flood waters.
 "Reclaim the deserts.
 "Annex arid America.n
 That is the slogan of the National
 Irrigation Association. The marvel ous growth of the movement fostered by this organization, which held its ninth annual congress at Chicago, No vember 2l to 24, is attracting the at tention of the public in the east. as we'll as the central and far west. The magnitude of the problem the organi- zation has bravely set out to solve and the influence and energy it is bringing to bear are well worth considerate at tention.
 Millions of acres of barren land that might be made arable; miles of terri tory now uninhabited that should sup port many thousands of prosperous families. That is the proposition now being wrought out.
 To persons who are not familiar with the matter many questions nat urally arise The first and most com prehensive is, What is the National Irrigation Association, and what does it seek to accomplish?' Briefly, this organization, composed of men identi- fed with the manufacturing, transpor- tation and commercial interests of the country, as well as those in profes- sional occupations, is seeking to pro vide the largest possible number of homes upon the public domain.
 This can come about only through a wise administration of the resources in water and forests, since upon these depend directly the value of the va cant public lands But why should not these matters be left to the Wash ington authorities to settle? Simply because the congress at Washington has not given serious attention to this matter, and the conditions are becom- ing so ominous for the future that the business interests of the country, as well as the philanthropists, have begun to take alarm.
 The great public domain, one-third of the whole United States, is being administered not to make the largest number of homes, but rather the re- verse. Under wise laws and institn- tons, framed with knowledge of the facts, ten families can obtain good living where now one is scantily fed.
 But why should this not be left to private enterprise? It has thus been left, and individuals have seized upon all they could grasp, and in many in- stances have ruined the opportunities for making homes for tens or hun. dreds of other individuals. The treat ment of the arid public land has been comparable to that of poorly tended orchard, where each apple has been bitten by bird or insect-the amount actually consumed is relatively insig. nificant, but the fruit is spoiled. One man by securing title to a few acres controlling the water supply has virtu- ally become possessed of thousands of | additional acres which might other wise been used for farms. The oppor- tunities for doing this on a small scale | have largely been seized, but by com. binations of capital they may be in- definitely extended.
 Why not leave the development to corporate enterprise, as in the case of | railroads? This also has been tried | and large irrigation systems have been built. In nearly all instances these have been financial failures, although | of great benefit to the country. It is highly improbable that more capital can be brought to construct these costly works unless the most stringent ! and oppressive monopoly can be ere ated. If well administered the bene- fits are such that they cannot accrue solely to water company, but the public gains at the expense of the in- vestor. The latter becomes an invol. untary philanthropist, simply because he cannot control all of the returns which come from his investment.
 In other words, these works, when l successfully built, benefit the com munity, but not the owner. The stu- a'ion is comparable in some respects to that in building lighthouses, i'm proving harbors or public roads the corporation or the individual who eX. psnds the money cannot be sure of se- curing remuneration for his enter prise.
 Why not turn over to the sta tes in which they are situated all these lands, and let each state attend to the matter? This has been frequently a. vocated and tried in small way, but the states in which these lands are situated are for the most part poor,