Red River prospector. (Red River, Taos County, N.M.) 1900-190?, 1901-12-12


Experience has shown the wisdom
Of It's purposes, but has also shown,
possibly, that some of its requirements
are wrong, certainly that the means de-
vised for the enforcement Of its pro-
visions are defective"
Touching the subject Of agriculture,
the message says that the Cabinet de-
partment has accomplished real value
in upbuilding foreign and domestic
trade. 1t has created I'm the public
opinion more just appreciation Of the
value Of forests. The message de-
clares that this should be continued
and immense forest reserves maintain
ed. The reclamation ana settlement Of
the arid lands, the President says. will
enrich every portion of our country
just as the settlement of the Ohio and
Mississippi valleys brought prosperity
to the Atlantic states. There should
be no extravaganza, however, in the
matter Of spending public moneys, and
whatever the nation does for the ex-
tension Of irrigation should harmonic
with and tend to improve the condition
of those now living on irrigated land.
We are not at the starting point Of
this development. Over 5000 200
Of private capital has already been ex.
pended on the construction of these ir-
rigation works and many millions Of
acres of arid land reclaimed. The ma
ton must ultimately cooperate with
the several arid states in proportion as
those states by legislation and admiuis-
tratiOn show themselves fit to receive
1t. With a few creditable exceptions,
the arid states have failed to provide
for the certain and just division Of
Etrtnn ~ In NHFran. - aAuatN a.~ -
uncertain laws have made it possible
to establish rights to water in excess
of actual uses or necessities, and many
streams have already passed into pri-
vate ownership, Dr. a control equivalent
to ownership.
Whoever controls n stream practi-
cally controls the land it renders pro-
ductive, and the doctrine of private
ownership of water apart from land
cannot prevail without causing endur-
ing wrong. The recognition of such
ownership, which has been permitted
to grow up in the arid regions, should
give way to a more enlightened and
larger recognition of the rights of the
public In the control and disposal Of
the public water supplies. Laws
founded upon conditions obtaining in
ANHANhNf ~ MdAGA - lOO
abundant to Justify boarding 1t. have
no proper application in n dry country.
Laws so vitality affecting homes as
those which control the water supply
will only be effective when they have
the sanction of the irrigators; reforms
can only be final and satisfactory when
they come through the enlightenment
of the people most concerned. The
larger development which national aid
insures should, however, awaken in
every arid state the determination to
make its irrigation system equal in
Justice and effectiveness that of any
country i'm the civilized world. No
thing could be more unwise than for
isolated communities to continue to
learn everything eXperimentally, in
stead of prOfiting by what is already
known elsewhere. We are dealing
with a new and m0mentous question,
In the pregnant years while institu-
lions are forming, and what we do will
affect not only the present but future
generations"
Speaking of the new acquisitions the
President says our aim must be to de-
velop Hawaii on traditional American
lines. We do not wish a region of large
estates titled by cheap labor, but a
healthy American community owning
small farms. Porto Rico" saws the
message, lis thriving as never before,
and is being administered officially and
honestly, and I'm Cuba progress has
been made, and we must put the indie
pendent government of the island upon
a firm footing, and before the present
sessions of Congress close this will be
an accomplished fact and Cuba will
start as her own mistress. In the Phil
ippines Il problem is larger. There are
rich tropical islands inhabited by vary
ing tribes. We must help them along
the stony and difficult path that leads
to self-government. Already a greater
measure of prosperity and government
al honesty has been obtained in the
Philippines than ever before in their
history.
THE Monroe doctrine should be the
cardinal feature of the foreign policy
of all the nations of the two Americas.
as 1t is of the United States. 1t is in
no wise intended as hostile to any ma
ton of the old world"
The work of upbuilding the navy
be steadily continued. No one
point of Our policy, fOreigH and dOmes-
tic, is more important tLdn this to the
honor n material welfare, and above
all to the peace of our nation in the flu
ture. Whether we desire 1t or not. we
must henceforth recognize that we
have international duties no less thar
international rights.
Our people intend to abide by the
Monroe doctrine and to insist upon it
as the one sure mean OF securing the
peace of the Western hemisphere. The
navy offers us the only means Of MAX
ing our insistence upon the Monroe
doctrine anything but a subject of de-
rislon to whatever nation chooses to
disregard it.
The death of Queen Victoria caused
the people of the United States deep
and heartfelt sorrow, to which this
government gave full expression.
When President Mckinley died our
nation In turn received from every
quarter of the British empire express
siOns Of grief and sympathy no less
sincere. The death of the Dowager
Empress Frederick of Germany also
aroused the genuine sympathy of the
American people, ana this sympathy
was cordially reciprocated by Ger
many when the President Wns assass-