The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1904-09-09
President Is lrriqation's Most Stanch Friend,
and Thereby a Benefactor to Mil
Ions Yet Unborn.
he HAS LIVED IN THE ARID REGIONS
And Fully Realizes Their Needs-His Great
Work Praised by the Press, Irrespective
of PoIitics-BIoodIess Conquest
Of Vast Empire.

When President Roosevelt was Gov
crnor Of New York he once remarked:
II am Of the sixth generation born on
Manhattan Island, but l BELONG west
Of the Missouri river
This is a key to the depth and breadth
OF the Presidents knowledge concerning
al things pertaining to the United States.
He is the first President who ever resid-
ed west of the Missouri river. He is the
first who ever perceived the incalculable
Importance of the arid west, and he is
chiefly responsible for the national irri-
CATION act which is to transform deserts
into gardens. BY a chain of endless rev
enues derived from the sale of public
lands in the arid States, each arid State
in turn is to be reclaimed and populated
by independent, high-minded, self-sup-
porting citizens.
Roosevelt established himself, in 1884.
on a ranch at the headwaters of the Lit
tie Missouri river in South Dakota. He
was then only Is years of age. After
a residence there of about two years he
returned to New York, not only restored
in body, but a different man mentally
and psychically. He had entered into the
spirit of the West so completely that he
was actually w~esternized. There the
mountains communicated to him the Sc
cret Of their strength and he learned of
the benedictions of the unclouded sun
He made a ranch. herded cattle. mingled
with cowboys and hunted the big game
Of the plains. There. too, he learned the
nlarvels of the arid soil when joined to
the waters Of the mountain streams.
Vast Areas to BE Reclaimed.
It was such experiences as these that
ena bled him to link his name forever
with the great irrigation movement. He
thus was induced to put the presidential
shoulder against the barred doors of
arid America and do one of the biggest
things since the signing of our Declara-
1ion of Independence. Perhaps few of
MS have more than a vague consciousness
of the mighty issues involved in this act.
It adds at once 125. 600. 900 acres of fer
tile soil to our agricultural and horticul-
tural area and opens up one of the most
beautiful and promising vistas ever per-
ceived by the h~usbandmen of America,
or elsewhere. 1t might be said by cavil-
ers that the reclamation of these deserts
wal inevitable. sometime. But it was by
no means inevitable that they should be
reclaimed by means of public works, and
that the ownership of land and water
would be indissolubly united. The great
est thing President Roosevelt has done
here was to write this flaming sentence:
PRIVATE OWNERSHIP OF WAT
Err, APART FROM LAND, CANNOT
PREVAIL WITHOUT CAUSING EN- |
DURING WRONG" That was anoth-
er Proclamation OF Emancipation. Into
the great struggle between private greed
and public good came. at the %psycholog |
ical moment, the mighty words Of the
first irrigation President-and the battle
was won.
Praise for the President.
William e. Smythe. author OF "Con-
quest OF Arid America a pioneer in the
irrigation movement. and now II Demo-
cratic politician of San Diego, California,
writing Of President Roosevelt's visit to
the West awhile ago. exclaimed: Wei
come, Theodore Roosevelt! Welcome,
because yoa a.e the President! Welcome
again, because you wrung national irri-
CATION from an unwilling Congress! And
thrice welcome, because with a stroke OF
your pen you slew the dragon of water
monopoly! Much as the men of to-day
appreciate the thing you did when OPP
UOEtuHlIy VRCuCu Tue uOOl, ~ 10 OHIy tHC
men who are to live, as the long genera
tons shall unfold. who may know the
full significance OF that great deed" 1t
Is universally recognized, irrespective Of
politics, that the passage of the national
irrigation act by Congress, June, 1902,
could never have been accomplished if 1t
had not been for the fact that Mr.. Roose-
veit so strongly recommended irrigation
nnmso1Aksnn IN hsc ,,occo~o IN Tor vpocc
and pat his personal shoulder to the
wheel to help the friends Of the bill
swing the forces into line in its favor.
When his Official signature was duly
amxed to the measure, making it the
law OF the land. the press from the At
lantic to the Pacific, from the lakes to
the gulf, and irrespective Of religion or
politics, sent up one hearty acclaim of
2"well done!" It was a sincere heart
tribute to the man, to his honesty, pat
riotism, craftsmanship. Americanism.
Maine Wed with California, and the Mis-
sissippi valley said "Amen!" The eulo-
gie4 information, exultations, predictions
and prophecies were edifying and inspir-
ing. They emphasized the Monroe doc
trine Of America for Americans" Ex-
tracts from many Of the papers publish
~ II OlHefenI parts OF tue cOuntry-dp-
pearing at the time-are here repro
duced:
President Roosevelt's Triumph.
Al the first distinctively administration.
measure to pass both houses of Congress
during the present session the national
irrigation bill IS deserving Of especial at
tention 1T the moment. Not that it's spe-
cl6c provisions or its passage present
anything new in q matter that has long
been under public and legislative discus |
sion and consideration in this country, |
but because irrigation legislation was one |
~ The comparatively few things to which !
President Roosevelt called the especial I
attention Of Congress- In his first annual
meo1eage. and to secure which he has de-
vokod hin energies and influence unceas-
anG1y tor nearly seven months. His ap-
proynl of the bill by formally attaching
- signature to (which he will nat
~ - With bsccmias promp&nsss-l