The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1902-07-01

W. S~AO
in new works in the second ten years,
thus making a total investment in the
second ten years of $50,000,000 in the
cons. ruction of new systems. InAthe
third ten years another $25,0OO,00O
will come in, from sales and the whole
SIS, OOO, 900 invested in the second ten
years would come back for reinvest-
ment, making a grand total invested
in 80 years Of $15O,OOO.00O. This
whole sum would come back to the
government in the fourth ten years and
could be reinvested again and again
until the whole vast area of irrigable
arid public land has been reclaimed
and settled and at the end the whole
sum finally be returned to the gov
eminent.
1t is, of course, impossible to con-
struce such irrigation works to re-
claim the arid. public lands without
including under some of the systems
lands which have been taken up, and
it would be the height of injustice to
say to- the actual settler who went
there and built his home before the
works were planned that he was bar
red for all time from any chance of
getting water for his land from the
government system. The bill has been
most carefully drawn to cover this
contingency. The actual settler who
lives on his land can, en- payment of
his share of the cost of the works,
get water but for not more than 100
acres, and the granting of water
rights to nonresident owners of large
tracts is carefully safeguarded against
and forbidden. n
Every feature and provision of the
bill has been framed with the utmost
caution and care to carry out the
policy declared for in President
Roosevelt's message to congress and
in the last annual report of the Sec
rotary of the interior Of making the
remaining public lands available for
home makers and creating opportun-
tiles for millions of our citizens to
become independent. home owners.
The administration OF the measure
is in the hands of it's friends. There
is not a shadow of doubt that the
measure will be so enforced as to car
ry out this central idea and guard
against every attempt at speculation
or land-grabbing or *land or water
monopoly under it. The president is
known to have his whole heart in this
great national home-making plan and
he may be depended on not to permit
it to misearry.
During the debate on the bill much
was said by those opposed to- it about
the iniquity of taxing the eastern
farmer to create competition fer
him. The fact is that not a dollar
of taxes will be laid on any eastern
farmer under this law and no compe-
tition with him will be created, The
building ct these great government
irrigation works must necessarily pro-
coed so slowly that the new areas
brought under cultivation will not
keep pace with our rapidly increasing
population, and the eastern farmer,
instead of being injured, will be ben
Gifted by the greatly increased de-
mand for the manufactured products
of the eastern factories, whose opera
| tives the eastern farmer feeds.
This was well expressed by the pres
ident in his message to congress,
when he said:
"The increased demand for manu-
featured articles will stimulate in
dustrial production, while wider home
markets and the trade of Asia will
consume the larger food supplies and
effectually prevent western competi-
ton with eastern agriculture. Indeed,
the products of irrigation will be con-
sumed chiefly in upbuilding local cen
tiers Of mining and other industries,
which would otherwise not come into
existence at all. Our people as a
whole will profit, for successful home
making is but another name for the
upbuildng of the nation" :
STRUCK BY LIGHTNING.