Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1904-09-08
NECESSITY Of. ORGANIZATION.
A. w. Hadley Tells What u Necessary
to be Done BY the People Of the
State In the Interests Of Irrigation.

State In the Interests OF Irrigation.
Mr.. A. W. Hadley, who is special
representative Of the National Irriga-
ton Congress, said to the Tribune to-
day: ii. :<sS 2 Il. T. 4.
''The interest in irrigation expressed
as it now is by the business men of Bis
marck, and vicinity, is very gratifying
indeed to those who are working along
these lines, and could that sentiment
have been awakened several years ago
l am certain that actual results would
have been accomplished before. now. In
Arizona, Nevada and other localities
where operations are under. way and
thousands of government employees are
at work, the people have been organized
for years. They have held meetings,
raised money for investigations, pre-
sented petitions, etc, until, Of course,
now that the authorities have taken up
the work, those states most advanced in
the idea are the first to receive recogni-
tio1l. ~ |=u49 ,.,tfr IVA An.
North, Dakota has no large swiftly
flowing stream available such as are
found in many of the other states, but
she has world of small propositions,
and these vast beds Of Ignite will some
day be the envy of every western state.
Unite this wealth of cheap fuel with
the sluggish waters of the Missouri and
you will have solved the problem of
Transforming the broad fat benches
which line the river for hundreds Of
miles, into veritable hanging gardens of
productiveness. A. :, 9s
ssOur most enjoyable trip UP the river
from Washburn disclosed not only great
possibilities in the way Of pumping, but
also the presence of innumerable creeks,
draws and coulees, which can be
damned and system of gravitatory
irrigation carried on over the adjacent
flats of greater or less extent. These
small streams carry an immense amount
of water in the spring Of the year and
could this waste flood be subserved and
utilized during the dry season, the
beneficial effect would also show itself
in reduction of the destructive floods
further down the river. ,si'. /. II
j. "All these possibilities, however, are as
nothing if the people do not get together
and do something themselves. Organi-
cation is. an absolute necessity in this
work as in all other movements of a
general character. An educational cam
paign should be instituted at once, either
by the state organization or BY co-opera-
ton with the national association.
would suggest the latter plan on ac-
count of it's extensive influence. We
have nearly three thousand members,
and are constantly in touch with more
than twenty thousand people interested
in irrigation. A large part Of this mem
bership is composed of great jobbing
and manufacturing interests in the
country who are pushing the cause for
the simple reason that they want to sell
more goods. They realize that every
new settler in the west must have wag-
ons and plows and farming implements
of every kind They know that his
house must be furnished from top tc
bottom, that his family must be clothed
and fed, and that these manufactured
necessities must be largely furnished
from the east. III 5f@>;. K = a. s ~ y.
'sNow the west needs not only thes.
supplies, but 1t needs the support o.
| those eastern interests because nine
| tenths of the voting strength lies in thu
eastern half Of the country, and thai
strength is controlled by those large
business interests. Soon the people o.
the west will realize that the reclama.
ton fund as it is now accruing, will b
hopelessly insufficient to carry the worl
Ito its fullest extent. It has taken ovel
two years for $27, OOO, 900 to accumulate
and at, least $2OO, 200, 300 can be spen
in the state Of Montana alone. Con
gress will be petitioned to create large
loans from the national treasury int
the reclamation fund to be repaid a.
fast as the land is taken up by actua
settlers. a.:t:, S#z b %e. III NJ. III
Thus the interests Of the east witt
their nine-tenths of the Necessary power
will recommend upon on condition, viz.
That the western people will agree Il
such legislation as will hold rigidy 70,
| the actual home building settler, til,
irrigable portion Of the remaining publ,
land. Those commercial interests bacl
I there want the west thickly populated
| by prosperous farmers and not hell
without settlement for the benefit O
great cattle corporations and specuiat
| ing land grabbers who are at presen
unfolding the anticipated, useless por
i tions OF our land laws
1t IS up TO the, people TO organic
themselves into influential bodies Go
i Operating with tf1e q national ;rr;0at;n,,