, 1904-10-06
THE ACT.

,'''h'S l''h ~ p'hS w ~ ~
credit for the irrigation act is the talk
of the arid west. Never in the history
of American politics has such,a brazen
attempt to steal an important piece
of legislation been perpetrated.
Owing to the fact that Wyoming de
mocracy has been unusually active in
claiming this Legislation and to the
further fact that Wyoming statemen
were at the head of the movement for
the passage Of the law, The Repub.
lican has taken special pains to get
at the exact facts.
In the closing hours of the 5ith
congress, Senator Warren of Wyoming
attempted to secure amendment to
the river and harbor bill in the in.
terest ofirrigation. Upon eseamend-
ments Senator Thomas Carter of
Montana took the floor and talked the
river and harbor bill to death, the
men of the east p~referring to sacrifice
their interest in that bill rather than
vote for irrigation in the arid west.
This action, inaugurated in the
senate by Senator Warren, first
called the attention of the country
very forcibly to importanceo of the sub
! ject of irrigation and the determine
ton of western men to ecure some
Legislation in the interest of the same.
On January 10, 1901. which preceded
the 4th of March on which Tom Car
ter talke the river and habor bill to
death, and when the house had under
consideration the river and labor bill
that Carter afterwards defeated, Con
gressman Mondell offered an amend
ment to it providing for the approp-
ration of S2l3,0OO for beginning the
construction of reservoirs along piney.
This was first amendment ever offered
in the house which was So drafted as
to stand a point of order and it was
the first time in the house that Il
proposition for the construction of
storage reservoirs for irrigation had
ever been brought squarely to IA vote
The vote was not large, but it was an
eye-opener to the eastern brothers, be-
cause it demonstrated that it was
possible to draft an irrigation amend
ment so that it could not be knocked
out on "A point of order, and therefore
to compel the house to vote directly
on the subject. Friends of the river
and harbor bill, for the first time be
came alarmed at the danger of hav-
ing irrigation appropriations attached
to their bill and began to show signs
of disposition to help us with an irri-
CATION measure in order to prevent
the possibility Of attaching irrigation
Appropriation TO their bill.
These acts-Warren's work in the
senate, Mondell's amendment in the
house, and Carriers defeat of the river
and harbOr bill-were the first sub.
stantial gains i'll the work of securing
the attention of congress to the deter
mination of the west to secure legis-
lation. Up to this time Newlands,t then
Il silver republican representative
for Navada, had never peeped in the
house on the subject of irrigation, and
no democrat, So far as learned, had
ever spoken favorably of the subject,
introduced any amendment or assist
i'll pressing the matter. So much
foI the Lexington and Bunker Hill
of the irrigation movement.
Next came the meeting at Omaha
in the summer of 1901. This meeting
was called by Representative Burkett
of Nebraska. Then followed the
meeting in Cheyenne in the fall of
the same year. Mr.. Newlands. who
is attempting to take all the credit
for the irrigation movement, first for
himself, and second for the party with
which he now alligns himself, attend
ed neither of these meetings. At the
Cheyenne meeting it was arranged to
have a meeting of all the representa-.
tives of the arid states at the begin
ming OF the next session of congress,
i'll December, 1901.
This meeting was held in Senator
Warren's committee room. A com
mittee OF seventeen was organized,
one from each of the arid and and
semi'arid states, except Wyoming,
which had two members, Senator
Warren and Congressman Mondsll.