The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-09-22
BACK FROM OGDEN
Minnesota Delegates to National II.
rigation Congress Return
From the West.

Believe Congress Marked an Epoch
in Growth Of the
Country.
The party of twenty three twin city and
Duluth business men who went to the
Ogden, Utah, irrigation congress returned
last evening in the special car Wenatchee.
by way of the Great Northern line thru
Butte.
. The delegates We're: From Minneapolis.
H ". Jones. David Percy Jones, r. F..
Northrup, 2. F, Smith, John Leslie. w. G.
Nye; from ST. Paul, G. A. Archer, Colonel
D. w. Halsted. Professor Thomas Shaw,
r. F. Smith, w. A. Soners, r. b. Kirk,
B. F. Beardsley, w. II. Howard; from Du-
luth Colonel c. H Graves, Major j. n.
Upham, Oscar Mitchell, Ray L. Lewis, DR..
Breckenridge, p. G. Valentine; from
Crookston, E. D. Childs; from saltwater
H. H. Harrison. II the car Flathead was
the North Dakota delegation Forum,
H. G. Plumley; Mayville, Colonel w. H.
Robinson; Bismarck, H r. j. Turner
commissioner of agriculture and labor
and Surveyor General E. A. Williams;
Fargo. Professor d. e. Willard, agricul-
ture college; Larimore, N. G. Larimore.
In the same car was the following dele
cation from Montana Great Falls, Sena-i
tor Paris Gibson, Matt Dunn, HI Fl.
Ewing, William Roberts. Herbert Strain,
c.. H. Campbell, Ira Myers, D. r. Edwards,
L. s. Woodbury., H. o. Chowen, Theodore
Gibson; Harlem, T. M. Everett and wife;
Chinook, w. B. Sands and WIFE, Stephen
Carver; Belt, E. R. Clingan; Belgrade L.
S. Campbell; Helena, James Donovan;
Hinsdale, Secretary w. M. Wooldridge;
| Butte, G. H. Edwards.
The Convention.
David P. Jones, who headed the Min
| nesota delegation said:
| "The eleventh annual meeting of the
National Irrigation congress was by
common consent pronounced the most
successful that the congress has ever
held.
1.-The attendance was the largest the
enthusiasm was the greatest and the adj
dresses, and papers presented were the
best
1.-THE principal interest lay in the pro-
tracted discussion of the proposed repeal
by the next congress Of the timber and
stone acts and the communication clause
of the homestead act BY the repeal OF
these acts it is hoped that the benefits
of acquiring government land for home
steads will no longer accrue to the large
| land owners or the corporations which
| take them up for speculative purposes,
! but that the actual settlers will reap
the benefits of the governments liber-
| atty
! by a decisive vote resolution was
| passed calling on congress to modify the
1 present laws regarding the taking up Of
public lands so that actual settlers should
receive every encouragement and every
advantage in their endeavors to procure
a home on government land. The resolu-
ton was Of the nature OF a compromise
with some of the larger land owning corr
operations which maintained a powerful
lobby during the meeting of the congress,
but which was unsuccessful in defeating
this resolution. -s.
! Montana Mans View.
w. M. Woodbridge, United States com
missioner of Hinsdale, Mont, who came
thru to St. Paul with the Minnesota dele
cation, said: ::
II have been attending these congresses
| for a number of-{years. Without doubt
this was the most successful ever held,
i if we are ;toa Judge 5bys the snumber in at
tendance. and I feel free to say that In
its bearing upon public questions Of vital
concern to the western country ten years
hence we will look back to the eleventh
irriga ton congress as an epoch making
convention. The congress held at Chicago
three years ago was the real turning point
in the great national irrigation movement.
It awakened the eastern business inter-
aid and hearty cooperation was secured
from that date and as a result the ma
tional irrigation act was secured.
1.-The questions, however, which came
up at the eleventh congress were entire
. ly different from those which confronted
the Chicago congress. The real fight al
I Ogden was for the repeal of the timber
and stone act, the desert act and the com
mutation clause Of the homestead act
When the vote was taken on these ques.
\ lions the resolution committee consisted
of twenty-one persons, nine Of whom
voted against repeal and twelve for re.
peal. The minority report was prepared
and presented to congress with the major.
, ity report In the congress the deter.
:; mination seemed to be to fight it out tt
: the end. Some of the ablest speakers II
:, !, the United States took part for ant
against the measure, and there seemed
:, to be no evidence of a compromise being
:. effected until a congressman from Col
orado, whose name I do not now recall
/. introduced a resolution asking that thes
+. laws be amended. There is no doub
= but the majority report would have pre-
: vailed in it's entirety were it not for tn
; fact that a great many Of the delegates
- who were from states not interested ii
:. these measures thought the compronis
: measure as fully covered the ground a,
= :. the first resolution and with the advan
:. tage of allaying the conflict between tn
. different factions. The fight for repea
" was led by Senator Paris Gibson Of Mon
tana William F.. Srnythe Of California an
George H., Maxwell Of California. Agains
i the measure were Senator Carey of Wyo
ming, ex- Congressman Mondell of Wyo
I. ming and congressman from Wyoming
when a vote was taken, Montana vot
ed solidly for the repeal The contes
= was very close, the compromise prevail
= ing Several attempts were made to fur
. ther modify the report Of the reso1utfo
committee without much success.
ut was rather surprise to me to hay
. my attention called to the fact by H. {
!. Plumley of Fargo that North Dakota wa
( entitled to s1,220,OO0 under the nation;
a irrigation act, and that as yet it's cit
+ zens were not aware Of the fact. ur
:, derstand that convention is to be hel
!; at Bismarck shortly with view to arous
ing attention and interest in this matte
and undertaking to have some prelirninar
work done in the western part Of Mort
s Dakota" 1865
Resolutions were passed on the home
T ward trip expressing the wish of the dele
gates to take notice of the great wor
Of James j. Hill In building up the un
, lsettled portions of North Dakota an
Z Montana thru the work of the Grea
: Northern road. Thanks were also extend
= ed to the officials of the road for cou1
? tesies extended on the trip.
JOEY TOO PREVIOUS
d English Novelist's View Of Cham
i berlain's Resignation.