Arizona republican., 1903-09-16
MR.. RoOsEvELT's MEssAGE.
e. A. HITCHCOCK.

MR.. ROOSEVELT'S MESSAGE.
The following message from Presi-
dent Roosevelt, received this afternoon,
was then read:
"Oyster Bay, n. Y, Sept. 10.
THE passage of the national irriga
ton law was one OF the greatest steps
not only in the for ward progress of the
states, but TO that of all mankind. 1t
was the beginning of an achievement
so great that we hesitate to predict the
outcome, but it was only the beginning
Now that the law is an accomplished
fact, the law must be given effect. To
that end the reclamation service or
ganiZed under the national irrigation
law of June II. 1892, has been pushing
its surveys and an examination of pos
sible irrigation projects energetically in
each of the thirteen states and three
territories named in the act. Some OF
the projects which promised well at
first are found on careful study to he
Impr2cticable, either because of scanty
water supply or of the great cost;
others must await higher values in
land. while still others stand the test
and are ready for immediate construc-
tion. The feasible projects are always
large and costly, because private enter
prise has already seized upon the
smaller and less expensive ones, leav-
ing to the government the great works
which are to be an essential part in
bringing the nation to its full develop
ment.
Great care and the highest engineer
ing skill are required to plan and build
such works, which are among the most
difficult undertakings of mankind.
They must be built for pernlanence anI
safety, for they are to last and spread
prosperity for centuries. To design and
| build such works body of engineers
of the highest character have been
brought together in the reclamation
service, for only men impartialiy Sc
lected for capacity alone are capable of
creating these great structures. Merit
must govern not only in the selection
of men but still more in the selection
| of the projects. Every reclama tiCn pro
ject selected for construction must pos
sess the qualities which commend it as
national undertaking, certain to re-
claim large tracts of arid land and tc
support in we'll being a dense and Wig
orous population Vast though the ben
efits of the reclamation law. there will
be many disappointments. which neces-
sarily await both the advocate OF
srecial projects and the men whose de-
sire for accomplished results outrun the
| slow and steady development of these
great undertakings. 1t should be borne
in mind that a broad survey of all pos
| sible projects gives the conception o1
| their relative value and that 4 work oi
/ prime Importance to one group of mer
may seem less desirable in the light o.
wider knowledge. Nor is it wise i
large affairs to begin construction frs
| and elaborte details afterwards. Eacf
| important point must be carefully stud.
| led in advance, and the whole plar
| tested and approved before work car
! begin. Yet if we proceed both cauti-
ously and persistently under this bene-
| ficent law we may confidently expect
| the largest possible development of oui
| arid lands and their settlement by in
dustrious, prosperous, self-respectins
! men and women who will exchange the
| products of irrigated agriculture for the
products of mills and factories through
out the United States. Communitie:
fiourishing in what is now the desert
will finally take their places among the
strongest pillars OF cur commonwealth
| lie lTTlSdllOH deNeiOplleHl OI lne ART
, west cannot stand alone. Forestry i.
the companion and a support of irriga
| ton. Without forestry irrigation mus
fail. Permanent irrigation development
and forest destruction cannot exist to-
gether. Never forget that the fores
reserve policy of the national govern
ment means the use of all the resources
of the forest reserves. There is little
profit in destruction compared Will
| use The settlement of the great arit
! west by the makers of homes is the
central object both of the irrigation
and the forest policy of the United
! States. In forestry, as in irrigation
! the immediate private interests of some
! individual must occasionally yield tC
| their permanent advantage, which is
the public good. The benefits of for
estry are not only for the future bu
for the present. The forest reserves
dle for all the people, but first for the
people in the immediate neighborhoot
for whom supplies of wood and water
are among the first necessities of life
| With the wiser and more skillful man
agcmnat OF the reserves by trained mer
the greater obviously will be their use
i fulness to the public. We must never
allow our chagrin at temporary defeat
| and difficulties in the management o
the forest reserves to blind us to tbs
absolute necessity of these reserves tc
the people OF the west. Support of the
forest reserve policy has grown witt
wonderful rapidity in the west during