The silver state. [volume] (Unionville, Nev.) 1870-1903, 1902-06-07
NEWLANDS ON IRRIGATION.
Synopsis OF Nevada Congressman's Speech on
the Pending Bill.

elaborate and comprehensive speech upon
the subject of irrigation that has ever
been presented In either branch of Con-
gress, or any other assemblage having
over ten pages Of the Congressional Rec
ord, and not onl ytouehes upon every ar
but embraces a multitude of points never
before presented by any advocate of the
national water storage system. Its length
precludes our presenting even such an
a,,tline of the speakers remarks as will
,,,,a the reader an idea of their eompre-
bensive scope or Of the time and labor
.axnanaed by our Representative in in
,,astiqat,on of the subject Of such impor-
tance TO the residents of the arid and
.semi-arid sections.
AS the bill was expected to come up
within few weeks and as the limited
time allowed for it's discussion would
not permit of extended debate, Mr. New
lands took time by the forelock, and by
permission addressed the House upon the
subject on the date above mentioned.
In the commencement, the speaker cor
rected the somewhat prevalent impression
that irrigation was a new thing, anu ex-
planned that 1t was as old as time. giving
the history Of its origin, progress, and
statistical statement OF the acreage 1t
renders productive at the present time in
the different quarters OF the globe. He
gave the boundaries of the arid land re-
gion of the United States. which con-
tains about oo,ooo, 900 acres of vacant pub
lie land, of which eo.0o0,ooo acres may be
irrigated If the water supply is conserved
and distributed. MIR. NewIands explained
deliberately where and how irrigation IL
praeticed: It's success in the small scope
resulting from private enterprise. and the
possibilities under larger scale of ma
tional aid and development He showed
eonclusively that unlike other appropria-
tions for internal improvement, the mon
ey for the reclamation of public lands.
instead of being a donation from the
public treasury. that no direct or indirect
loss would be sustained by the govern
ment ,as the cost would be covered by the
sale of the public lands. the proceeds of
which would go into special fund in
the treasury.
The objection that land values In the
East would be lessened by opening up so
large an area to cultivation, was met
by a statistical statement of the increas-
Ing population of the country, showing
that the population of the country and
the possibility of the increase of the acre
age of cutivable land by irrigation or any
other means was not proportionate to the
Increased demand there would be for
land for agricultural purposes. There are
also immense areas of public land fitted
for grazing purposes now useless to the
stock raisers from their remoteness from
water which would find purchasers when
that objection was removed. immediate
action by the government was urged,
as every year increased vested rights.
which you'd clog more and more the
progress of national enterprise.
Mr.. Newlands quoted freely from that
part of President Roosevelt's message
which related to the irrigation question,
showing that favorable legislative action
would be approved by the executive head
Of the government. He showed that the
system of storage of surplus water would
lessen the torrential and damaging flow
In large rivers at certain seasons of the
year. The constitutions objection was met
by pointing out numerous things that
had been done by the government, but |
expressly authorized by the constitution
but which came within the general power
of that instrument especially the power
to promote the public welfare. The con-
stitutional question the speaker argued at
length and In our layman's
opinion placed beyond possible question
the irrigation measure within the limits
of the fundamental law.
Referring to the alleged danger of in
furious competition with existing farms