Fergus County argus., 1902-07-30
MAXWELL'ON
IRRIGATION
The Hopes Of the Irrigation Enthu.
siasts the Subject of an Able
Address at Great Falls.
PLANS FOR EARLY SUCCESS
Man Who Has Contributed so Much
Time and Effort to Passage of
Measure Has the Floor.

During the meeting of the wool.
growers at Great Falls last week. Geo.
Maxwell, executive chairman OF the
National Irrigation association, made
the following address:
Ladies' and Gentlemen: regret
very much that Senator Gibson should
have decided. as he has. TO relinquish
the time which he had intended oc-
cupying and leave more time to me
than ! really need. The fact is, there
isn't much more TO be said now in
relation to this subject Of national
irrigation than there was when was
here about two years ago.
The great difficulty with this prob
lem today is the great danger that the
people Of the west and those who
have been enthusiastic supporters of
the movement for a number of years
past will assume that because we
have secured the passage, in the last
session OF congress. OF what Is known
as the National Irrigation Act" and
that the whole victory is won and
nothing more remains to be done.
Now. my friends. there could not be
a more fatal mistake than that. We
have simply reached the threshold OF
what is necessary TO be done to ac-
complish the results which can and
will be accomplished In the working
out OF this great movement in your
time and mine. provided We take ad-
vantage of what has already been
gained as a foundation TO build on, in
stead Of resting back and imagining
that nothing more Is necessary to be
done and that II will come to us with
out effort.
wish ! had the power to picture
to the minds OF those who are here
this evening as | see II in my own
mind, the contrast between the condi-
ton Of this great state of Montana as
II Is. and as II will be II the irrIga-
tion problem is not solved, and as il
will be IL the irrigation question is
solved. i venture to say that there
are comparatively few who have ever
given the matter thought who real
ize themselves what II is to put water
on a million acres OF land. arr the gi-
gantic and enormous source OF wealth
production that you bring into life
when you have once created. as Il
were, out of nothing. vast area of
fertile and productive land such as
that Now, take II in other states
and see what the figures are. In the
state OF California. ten years ago, the
total irrigated area in that entire
state was only. approximately. mill
lion acres OF land. and yet the value
OF the annual products from the irri-
gated farms OF California exceed the
value OF the annual products OF all
the mines OF that great state-and
yet there was only a million acres ir-
rlgated.
In Montana.
Now, take II IN your own state and
take some of the figures. There has
been for number OF years a gentle
man In southern Montana who has
been earnestly and actively working
In this national irrigation movement.
refer to Mr.. !. ID. O'Donnell. He
read paper at the Trans Mississippi
congress at Cripple Creek. In which
he gave the figures in reference to
their improvements at Billings. They
have irrigated at Billings in the neigh.
borhood OF 10000 acres their annual
product is s750,000 from that land;
they pay in wages s275,00O a year,
and the whole cost of the canal sys-
TEN originally, was only about $780,
900. In other words. when you ap-
ply IL In its relations to the condition
OF the wageearning classes OF this
country. II means tnat every million
dollars that Is expended once In the
construction OF an irrigation plant
creates a demand for labor and a
source OF wage supply equal eacn year
to the entire cost of the whole irri-
gated plant in the beginning.
Now, after | came into this build
Ing this evening. was told of what
is known as the Burton bench, not
far from Great Falls. and how a few
years ago that was a desert waste.
Now. suppose that instead of having
two or three hundred thousand acres
OF land In Montana under irrigation
you had two or three million; sup
pose that instead OF having tv or
three million you had four or Ave
or six or seven million; can't you
realize what IL would mean 10 your
state? Can't you realize what 1t
would mean to your city? Can't you
realize what II would mean to your
stock industry?
In this same article that Mr.. O'Don-
nell read at Cripple Creek he made
the statement that one acre of alfal.
IA well irrigated and well cared for
will produce as much stock feed as
20 or 30 or 40 acres of average dry
range. In other words. the problem
with the stock raiser is not one of
acreage: II is one of the production
OF food for stock and II you can pro-
duce more food for stock on one mil
lion acres OF alfalfa than you can on
forty million acres OF dry range. then
! ask you whether there is anything
OF more Importance to the great
stock industry Of this state than the
making OF II possible that this great
volume OF water that goes to waste
year after year In this state might
be harnessed and carried out upon
your rich plains and prairies and
your bench lands and made to fer
tilize the SOIL so that every acre of
those irrigated lands would be as
good as forty acres of average dry
range?