Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1902-06-25

mer in his message to congress. in
which irrigation was strongly recon-
mended. and the latter inh is speeches
to the senate and to senate committees,
that the work should never be made
g charge against the public treasury.
Without further argument, it may be
accepted at once that there will be no
extravaganza in putting the new law
into operation. and that it will be the
purpose of the administration to show
that the neutrality-suspicious. of the east
ern states have talked inadvisedly.
Several months ago James j. Hill
was in Washington. remaining here
for several days. At the time it was
suggested that his purpose in coming
was to talk about the federal suits
against the Northern Securities COM
pany. Such was not the purpose of
his visit. He came to urge upon the
senate the passage of the Hansbrough
irrigation bill. The most important
project under the new law, so far dis
cussed, looks to the irrigation and
rapid settlement Immediately there
after of half a million acres of land in
north central Montana, and in north
western North Dakota, along the line
of the Great Northern railway. This
is known as the st. Mary's project, and
if carried out, it will add immensely
to the population and material wealth
of the country through which the Great
Northern runs, and in that way in
crease Mr. Hills income.
"The second largest project east of
the Rockies has to do with ar extern
sive tract of land in south central Mon
tana, known as the Yellowstone park
project. It will fertilize a large tract
of land tributary to the Northern Pa
cific railway. MI. Hill is interested,
also, in irrigation schemes west Of the
Rockies. in Idaho, Oregon and Wash
ington, but these need not be dis
cussed in the present article.
Western senators and members of
congress who were interested in irri-
cation made their first definite organ
ization for concerted action at the be-
ginning of the fifty-sixth congress, in
December, 1899. At that time a meet
ing was held at the home of Represen-
tative Newlands. in this city, attended
by about eighteen men. An elaborate
dinner was served, and over the cigars
and wine the subject of irrigation was
discussed fully, and Senator Hans
brough was unanimously selected to
represent the new movement in the
senate. This honor came to him be-
cause in the fiifty-ffth congress he
had made a strenuous effort to attach
an Irrigation rider to a general appro-
priation bill. He failed, being ruled
out on a point Of order, but the matter
went far enough to attract the atten-
ton of both houses and to mark Hans
brough as an earnest and aggressive
irrigation advocate.
Nothing was accomplished in the
ffty-sixth congress. Before the as
sembling of the i~fty-seventh (the pres
ent) congress, President Mckinley was
assassinated. EARLY in October Sen
ator H~ansbrough came all the way to
Washington from North Dakota to
confer with the new president and urge
upon him the advisability of recon-
mending irrigation in his message. 1t
was the first time the attention of
President Roosevelt had been drawn
to the subject in a concrete manner.
He liked the suggestion. and acted up
on it. After congress had assembled
Senator Hansbrough drew up the bill,
which, with certain minor amends
ments, is now the law, and introduced
it. Then came a series of animated
conferences. extending over a period
of more than a month, between the
western members of both houses who
favored some irrigation government
policy. They ultimately adopted the
Hansbrough bill as the basis of their
deliberations and, in the end, although
differing widely as to methods, adopted
it and it was passed through the sen
ate. In the house the chief stumbling
block in the way was the speaker, who,
with the committee on rules, did not
look kindly upon the proposed legisla-
ton, and announced that it should not
come up with his approval. The
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