Kootenai County Republican. (Rathdrum, Idaho) 1899-1903, 1901-08-09
INTERESTING TALK ON IRRIGATION

ou aHlf lotn pelpFe the Trans MISS =
sippi commercial congress at Cripple
Creek, Colo, b. George II. Maxwell.
executive chairman If the national IT,
rigation association, and Is OF vital in
terest 20 the people Gf Idaho We
produce 1t, believing it viii prove BEN
eticial To our readers:
The twentieth century will he an
era Of mighty achievement, but none
greater than the transformation Of
arid America from an uninhahtable
waste into fertile territory, teerhing
with a dense and prosperous popula-
tion.
! AS Secretary of the Interior Hitch
cock has said: That this vast acre
age, capable OF sustaining and CON-
fortably supporting, under proper
system Of irrigation. a population of
at least 50,000, 900 people. should re-
main practically a desert, is not in
harmony with the progressive spirit of
the age, or in keeping with the possi-
| bilities OF the future
The time is ripe for the accomplish
ment Of this great national purpose.
So long as there was an abundance Of
unoccnpied government land open To
| homestead settlers, which did not re-
qulre irrigation TO be productive.
there was no reason why the nation
should undertake the great work Of a
reclamation Of the arid region.
But that time has gone by and
now we see thousands upon thousands
of homeseekers gathering on the edge
of the kio~a reservation, waiting not
for home on the land but tile chance
TO draw lots for one. Many thousands
of these wOuld-be hOmebuilders will
be turned back with bitter disappoint-
ment in their hearts. \ few fortu-
nate ones viii possess the promised
land.
| And Uncle Sam has hundred
million acres left Of his great farm
which he can subdivide among his
children, and give To every industrious
man who wants a home on the land q
chance TO get il, for a generation vet
to come, III congress will heed the de-
mands Of tie people and inangurate a
sound and sensible policy for the re-
clamation and settlement Of the arid
! public domain.
The obstacles in the way are being
rapidly overcome. The east as the re-
suit Of the persistent educational
campaign which has been carried on
| by the national irrigation association
| for the last two years, is becoming
| thoroughly awakened to the gigantic
possibilities Of the increase of our ma
| tional wealth and prosperity. the en-
| largement of the home market for our
manufacturers, the opening up Of op-
/ portanities for employment Of our
workers and for homeseekers To get
land, through the building by the
national government Of tie great stGf-
age reservoirs and mainline canals.
which are necessary TO bring the water
within reach OF settlers.
The people Of the vest. and the
whole country, have repudiated stpte
cession, and will refuse TO be led into
SHOALS and quicksands OF any scheme
which would turn the control of the
solution Of this great problem over to
State politicians or state legislatures.
or put any impediments in'the way Of
the settler who desires to 90 upon the
public land and build his home there.
where can there be found 4 sub
| ject more fitted TO arouse tie enthu-
siasm and pride of every American cit
izen than the transformation OF this
vast desert region into happy and
prosperous homes for many millions
more Of patriotic American citizens.
And If we are to accomplish this
great result. we must take as the Slo-
gan Of the movement. Save the for
ests and store the floods The preser-
yation Of the forests is OF first import
ance. We must remember always the
old Arab saying that The tree is the
mother OF the fountain With the
experience of the past before us. we
know that the destruction OF the for
ests means the destruction OF the
water supplies, and not present desc
lation, but hopeless aridity.
The forests are natures storage
reservoirs. Without them artificial
storage reservoirs will be useless. But
ii we will not only preserve the forests