The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1901-12-04

( flow Of streams and TO save the flood
waters. Their construction has been
conclusively shown to be an under
taking too vast for private effort. Nor
can it be best accomplished by the
individual states acting alone. Far
reaching Interstate problems are in
vOlyed; and the resources of single
states would often be inadequate. It
/ is properly national function. at least
in some of its features. It is as right
for the national government to make
the streams and rivers of the arid re-
] gion useful by engineering works for
water storage as 10 make useful the
rivers and haTbnrs of the humid re-
gion by engineering works of another
kind. The storing Of the floods in res
ervoirs at the headwaters of our riv-
ers is but an enlargement of our pres
ent policy If rive control, under
which levees are hailt on the lower
( reaches of the same streams.
= The government should con- 7
= struct and mair,tain these reser-
= vOirs as it does Their public works. =
= Where their purpose is to regu-
Z late the flow Of treams the water =
> should be turnet freely into the =
= channels in the dry season To take =
, the same course under the same =
= laws as the natural flow. =
Water for Settlers.
The reclamation OF the unsettled arid
public lands presents a different prob
lem. Here it is not enough to regu-
late the flow of streams. The object
Of the government is to dispose of the
land to settlers who viii build homes
upon it. To accomplish this object
water must be brought within their
reach.
The pioneer settlers On the arid pub
lie domain chose their homes along
streams from which they could them
selves divert the water to reclaim
their holdings. Such opportunities are
practically gone. There remain, how
ever. vast areas OF public land which
can be made available for homestead
settlement but only by reservoirs and
mainline canals impractcable for pri-
vate enterprise. These irrigation works
should be built by the national gov
eminent. The lands reclaimed by them
should be reserved by the government
for actual settlers. and the cost of
construction should so far as possible
be repaid by the land reclaimed. The
distribution of the water, the division
OF the streams among irrigatOrS,
should be left to the settlers them
selves in conformity with state laws
and without interference with those
laws or with vested rights. The policy
of the national government should be
to aid irrigation in the several states
and territories in such manner as will
enable the people in the local COM
munities to help themselves, and as
will stimulate needed reforms in the
state laws and regulations governing
irrigation.
VIII Enrich the Country.
= The reclamation and settlement =
= of the arid lands viii enrich =
2 every portion Of our country, just =
= as the settlement of the Ohio and =
: Mississippi valleys brought pros =
= perity to the Atlantic states. The ,
= increased demand for manufac- =
= tured articles VIII stimulate indus =
> trial production. while wider home =
= markets and the trade of Asia will ,
= consume the larger food supplies =
= and effectually prevent western =
= competition with eastern agricul- =
> ture- Indeed, the products Of If ,
2 TigatiOn viii be consumed chiefly 7
= in upbuilding local centers of min =
, ing and other industries, which =
= would otherwise not come into ex- =
= istence at ALL Our people as a Z
: whole viii profit, for successful =
2 hOme-making is but another name =
? for the upbuilding of the nation =
The necessary foundation has al
ready been laid for the Inauguration
Of the policy just described. 1t would
be unwise to begin by. doing too much. I
for a great deal will doubtless be
learned both as to what can and what /
cannot be safely attempted, by the /
early efforts, which must of necessity I
be partly experimental in character. !
At the very beginning the government 1
should make clear, beyond shadow of /
doubt, its intention to pursue this poll /
icy on lines Of the broadcast public in /
terest No reservoir or canal should !
ever be built to satisfy selfish personal /
or local interests, but only in accord +
anee with the advice of trained experts, T
after long investigation has shown 4
the locality where all the conditions /.
combine to make the work most needed /
and fraught with the greatest useful /
ness TO the community as a whole. 4
There should be no extravaganza. and i
the believers in the need of irrigation /
viii most benefit their cause by seeing !
to it that it is free from the least faint 4
Of excessive or reckless expenditure /
Of the public moneys.
Better Laws Needed.
Whatever the nation does for the ex- /
tension Of irrigation should harmonic /
with, and tend to improve, the condi- /
ton of those now living on irrigated 1
land. We are not al the starting point 4
of this development. over two hundred !
millions of private capital has already
been expended in the construction of iT-
rigation works, and many million
acres of arid land reclaimed. A high /
degree Of enterprise and ability has
been shown in the work itself; but
&C much pauuof no ca id in rpfnranpn IN
the laws relating thereto. The secur-
ity and value Of the homes created de-
pend largely on the stability of titles
to water, but the majority of these rest
on the uncertain foundation Of court
decisions rendered in ordinary suits at
law With a. few creditabl excep-
tons, the arid states have failed to pro-
vide for the certain and just division Of
streams in times Of scarcity. Lax and
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, or a control equivalent
to ownership.
Whoever controls stream practi-
cally controls the land il renders pro-
ductive, and the doctrine of private
ownership Of water apart from land
cannot prevail without causing endur-
ms wrong. The recognition of such
ownership, which las been permitted
to grow up In the arid regions, should /
give way 20 a more enlightened and
larger recognition of the rights of the /
public in the control and disposal OF
the public water supplies. Laws found |
ed upon conditions obtaining in humid |
regions, where water is too abundant
to justify boarding it. have no pr0per