Arizona republican., 1904-09-29
Arizona Needs a Strong Champion.

The St. Paul Globe, one of the most influential democratic papers in the United States. calls for halt in the present policy of the government in the matter of distributing the fund for the reclamation of the arid lands. The Globe complains that Arizona and Ne vada. which have contributed practi- .cally nothing toward the fund already accumulated for national irrigation, are receiving most of the benefits. It in- sists that after the completion of the works now under construction the gov ernment should give preference to the states from which the reclamation has been chiefly derived. In one of its lat est articles on the subject our St. Paul contemporary says:
 Whatever may be thought of the method provided in the irrigation act for raising funds as a starter. it should certainly be modified now. Under the law the proceeds of the sales of lands in all the western states are thrown into a pHol. This creates a fund from which the cost of irrigation works ia to be paid. But it Is the government only that can open the jackpot None of the states has a word to say about 1t, and the largest contributors fail to get back a penny of their ante
 For example, taking the figures giy- en in The Globes exhaustive article on Friday morning, we find that the larg- est contributor. Oregon, which has put in more than $4.O0O, 900. has received about half that amount in improve ments ordered. Washington, from which more than $2,50O,OO0 have been collected, has not got back a cent Washington is a state where irrigation is as much needed and as practical as Is Oregon. But Oregon has big political pull and Washington none. The greatest suf- ferer of all is North Dakota. The con- tribution of North Dakota to the recla- nation fund is over $3. 800, 900. There is a project on hand to spend S1 200 OOO on a scheme at Fort Buford Not cent has been spent as yet, however, and the allotment depends upon future approval of the project
 "The largest amounts expended so far have been put into Arizona and Nevada The sections that furnish the money go begging. Now, as we said, 1t can be understood readily that this policy may be defensible at the begin ming. Engineering experts can deter mine where money can be spent to the best advantage Immediately. But there ought to come a point when the selection of Improvements should be governed, to some extent, at least, by the amount paid in. The fund now exceeds $23, ,0O0, GOO. After that has been assigned, the money coming in from future land sales should certain ly be expended with some reference to the source from which it Is deriv- ed"
 The contention raised by the St. Paul paper Is not surprising. It Is merely the forerunner of what may be expect ed from numerous sections of the west. While the fund now in the federal treasury amounts to more than 20 mill lions. the greater portion of the mon ey available has been provisionally set aside for projects already selected. For the money remaining, and for all the funds that may come into the treas ury hereafter from the sale of public lands, there will be the keenest compe- tition among the many sections re- maining to be benefited. Not only will all future applications from Arizona be resisted by the states which have not had their share" but 1t is no secret at Washington that the states which have contributed the bulk of the mon ey are preparing to urge the repeal of the section of the law which permits