The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1902-05-15
The PROMISE OF IRRIGATION

The PROMISE OF IRRIGATION +.
The amended irrigation bill is likely to
come up for final consideration in the
house Of representatives soon. It's friends
are endeavoring to make sure of victory
before they submit the measure to a vote.
The senate, 1t will be remembered, has
already passed the irrigation bill, but the
house committee on irrigation of arid
lands has made some amendments to the
senate bill 1t is not probable, however,
that any serious objection will be made
In the senate to the house amendments.
The outlook is therefore good for the
adoption of an irrigation act by the pres
ent session Of congress unless unexpected
strength should be shown by the opposi-
ton in the house.
The passage of the bill, which at the
worst cannot be deferred beyond the next
session Of congress, will mark the be-
ginning Of a new era in national develop
ment. It is not possible TO- understand
how potential for the welfare of the ma
tion such a measure will be unless it is
we'll understood that there are still owned
by the national government about l ,O00,-
100000 acres Of land, most of which lies in
the arid third of the country and much Of
| which can be made to be as productive as
any other part of the country by the in
! PRODUCTION of irrigation.
| The value of irrigation has been proved
| by a thousand private irrigation enter
prises, in almost every state west of the
Mississippi. In some of these states, as
| in Montana, the state government has
taken hold of irrigation enterprises on its
own account. But it has been found that
for the most part these private efforts
are not conducted on large enough
scale, and that none except the owner OF
large tracts of land to be benefited can
plan, build and operate these works as
they should be operated. 7~-..,- Z
The government is the greatest Of land
ed proprietors in the west Moreover it IS
only by the agency of the national gov;
eminent that the arid acres can be re-
deemed for the benefit of the small pro-
prietors, so that irrigation shall be
means of giving homes, comfort and pros
! perity to thousands and, ultimately, to
millions, instead of enriching a; few large
land holders
Without saying more Of irrigation as
general national benefit, 1t may confident
ly be predicted that the great works
which will soon be inaugurated by the
government will provide cheap homes for
millions of people and give employment to
thousands Of men on works which 1t Will
take many years to construct.
| Because Minnesota lies wholly within
the region of sufficient rainfall our peo-
pie have not thought Of the irrigation
project as one that will directly benefit
them. But Montana, a state which IS
within the trade region Of the Minnesota
railway centers will be one OF the prln-
cipal fields for the development OF lrrl-
CATION. Already in anticipation OF the
passage of the irrigation act the secretary
of the interior has withdrawn from settle
nent seventy eight townships in Choteau
county which it is hoped to reclaim by
the St.. Mary's Lake canal. The complete
DEVELOPMENT Of this scheme will give sum-
cient water to 500,0 900 acres. The state OF
Montana is now planning to irrigate 49,
600 acres in Dearborn valley, near Great
Falls. and in the already uSSelopeu - i
T. cation systems in various portions of the
state there is now maintained rich ana
prosperous agricultural population which
draws many supplies from Minneapolis.
Irrigation means that extensive regions
in Montana, and perhaps in western North
and South Dakota, instead of remaining
J forever unproductive and sparsely settled,
} will become the homes of large and rlcn
} population, producing even more tnan
lands now SO much better because they
have rainfall ample for cultivation With
the international barrier on the north! and
, the competition of other commercial cen
tiers holding the country to the south IN
5 large measure Minnesota's commercial
, centers must depend upon the regions tc
the west for their development without
irrigation millions of acres in those re-
gions will remain unused and useless II
fact their population, except in. mining
and manufacturing cities and as grazing
, country, is Impossible without irrigation.