The Florence tribune., 1901-02-23

ever be ceded to any State or Territory for any purpose or granted away to eny one but an actual bona fde settler or home builder on the land, and only in small farms. The great reservoirs and irrigation works necessary to bring the water within reach of settlers must be built by the national government.
 1.-The reclamation and settlement of this great arid region would benefit every section of our country and every class of our citizens. Every new farm or home in the West would create new customer for our mere hants and manufacturers in the East, and when we can multiply these new homes by millions, the magnitude of the prob lem brings it home to every business man in the country, as matter of immediate individual interest aud im- portance.
 These sentences have the right ring. Mr. Walsh goes on to speak of the evil results from the tendency of our popu- lation to congregate in great cities, and insists that, as Secretary or Agri culture Wilson has aptly said, the rural homes of the country are the safeguards of the nation." It has been mainly the isolation of country life which has driven so many from the country to the city, and irrigrtion will do more than anything else to remove this isolation because with it neces- sarily come intensive culture, small farms, trees, plants, beautiful farm
 homes, good roads, free rural mail delivery, nearby neighbers, schools, churches and an attractive social en-
 vironment. As Mir. Walsh says, who
 ever has seen the irrigated colonies. of
 California or Colorado will appreciate
 this better than it can be described.
 It was, he says, this broad humani-
 tarian phase of the movement that
 first attracted him to 1t.
 To carry out the plans of the as-
 sociaticn, national legislation will be
 necessary, and all members are urged
 to promptly and earnestly respond to every request made of them for their
 cooperation to further any legislation that the association may indorse
 because it is promised that none will be indorsed unless it shall have had the most careful consideration, ani : shall be sound, wise, just and conser ; vative.
 The Times recently published [ B number of extracts from articles O, : national irrigation, which have ap : peared of late in leading daily paper s of the country, more than one huudre of which have. so far strongly indorse' e the movement. In the course of c recent editorial on this subject the St d Paul Globe says
 Without doubt this problem of irr e gation with its coroliaries is the mos IS important and far-reaching propos
 tion ever brought before Congress :, Beside it the lsthmian Canal projec ' seems insignificant.
 {. "One hundred million should be al D propriated atonce to be expended o q the continuing contract system. Tn
 work will of necessity cover man v years. There should be no oppositio q to this enterprise. While the natio ,f is spending millions to subdue u I, Tagals moiety might be venture
 to subdue the rebellious acres in u
 1 heart of our cotIntrv 's
 in
 CT Undoubtedly the first work in. tll l. line which the government shou a. undertake is the construction of ', dam on the Gila River at San Carlc uIe- in Arizona. because this improveme Id would not only bring under cultiy