The Courier. (Genoa, Nev.) 1899-1904, 1901-03-08

OhOh Has oOCu pSiON0 INC COnBTcoS Vi
the United States for many years
Thorough investigation has been made
of this subject by expert employees oil
the government, by army officers, by
the officers of the United States Geo
logical Survey, and vast amount Of
accurate data has been collected,
thorough estimates have been made,
and the time is now ripe for action.
The two political parties of the
United States, recognizing this fact,
made declarations in favor of the re-
clamation of arid lands in the West in
their national. platforms. The Repub-
lican convention met first and made a
clear and unequiyocal declaration in
this line. The Democratic convention
met next, and / had the honor to be
one of the committee of platform of
that convention and plank providing
for the storage of water and the recla-
nation of the arid lands for settlement
by home seekers received the special
consideration of the members of that
committee, received their unanimous
support. And / wish to say to the
gentlemen on this side of the House
that the question is foreclosed, SO far
as party action is concerned, by the
deliberate Judgment of the entire
party, and that.no man can vote against
the reclamation of arid lands without
violating the solemn obligations of his
party.
Now, the question comes up as to
the expediency and wisdom of the
particular amendment. That is mat
ter, of course, upon which we have the
right of elaboration and the right of
Judgment. Committal to full and
comprehensive scheme of the storage
of water and the reclamation of arid
lands does not necessarily commit us
to every scheme for the reclamation of
arid lands, whether chimerical or wise.
We are simply committed to the gen
eral principle and to good faith in de-
claring that principle in legislation.
Now, as to the expediency of this
amendment. WHAT'S this amendment?
1t provides for the storage of water at
the head waters of the Missouri river
What is the Missouri River? A tribu
tary of the Mississippi River. Where
does it take its rise? In the Rocky
Mountains. From what source are
these great navigable streams, the
Mississippi and Missouri, fed? From
the Rocky Mountains, largely. There
are numerous streams flowing from the
Rocky Mountains which are tributary
to the Missouri and Mississippi, rivers
which feed these streams and maintain
their flow.
What is the trouble with the great
navigable rivers? The trouble is at
times they are torrential floods and at
times the water is so low as to impede
navigation. We provide against floods
by erecting levees. | do not contend
against the wisdom of that procedure,
but claim that we should supplement
that by preventing the floods; and, as
the gentleman from Colorado Mr.
Shafroth] says, it can not be done by
one reservoir, but it can by series of
reservoirs throughout the entire inter
region, reservoirs which will
preserve and conserve these flood
waters and hold them on tap, respon-
sive to the demands of science.
Mr.. Chairman, offer the following
Reservoirs on and near the Hum
boldt River, Nevada: For the con-
of a reservoir on Rock Creek,
tributary to the Humboldt River, in
accordance with the estimates of the
hydraulic engineers of the Geograph-
ical Survey, reported to the Secretary
of the Interior and printed in Part ~
of the Twentieth Annual Report of
said Survey, So, 900.
''For the construction of a reservoir
on the Lower Humboldt River, in ac-
with the estimate above re-
ferred to, SAL ,240."
Mr.. Newlands spoke on the amend
ment as follows:
Mr.. Chairman, this is an amendment
asking for total appropriation of
about 100000 for the construction of
two reservoirs on the Humboldt River,
in Nevada. That river is the most i'm
portant river in the State. 1t flows
from the eastern to the western part of
the State, a distance of three or four
hundred miles, and is through valley
whose soil is as rich as that of the Nile.
The difficulty with that river is that
it is flood during the periods of
March, April and May, when the water
is least needed for cultivation, and the
flood waters rush down in the sink of
the desert and form great lake called
Humboldt Lake, about So miles long
and 10 or 10 miles wide. That lake
M ensures the unntilizad v,ote,s r. A.