The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1904-04-26

government just as fast as the SCI
lers will take the land and pay back
the cost OF thu works to the govern
ment in annual installments as pro-
vided in the national irrigation act,
and that all the remaining public lands |
shall be rigidly held tor the actual
settler ana home builder, the man
who will live on the land and build
his home there.
The Associations Policy.
This is me policy tor which the
National Irrigation association stands,
and all the great eastern organizations
OF manufacturers and business men
who are cooperating with the Ma
tional irrigation association. This
policy i~mperatively requires that the
desert land act and the communication
clause should be repealed because
both of those laws violate the primo
pie that actual residence Tor five years
must be a condition precedent to &C
quire title to agricultural or irrigable
lands.
"The policy with reference to nation
al irrigation and our public land sys-
tenn must be a national policy, which
will be approved by the people OF the
whole country. The sentiment i'll
favor OF home making is deeply ROOT
ed in the American hearts. Nine
tenths OF our population is in the east
ern half of the United States. The
sentiment of the eastern public mind
must and will control in the adoption
OF a public land policy for this coun-
try. And we may as we'll accept the
situation once for all, in the west,
that the eastern public mind willy new
er approve any enlargement ct the
fund available for national irrigation
works, unless the west is loyal to the
home building idea and accepts the
condition that none but actual set
tiers shall get what remains OF the
public lands.
Issue SquareIy Drawn.
The issue is squarely presented to
the west, and l am convinced there
is only one thing for the west to do,
and that is to accept the policy which
the whole country favors. Just as
long as the controversy is continued
by interests in the west that oppose
the repeal of existing land laws, just
that long will the development Of the
west be retarded. The policy which
will put the greatest number of peo-
pie in any section of the country in
the west is the policy which will
bring the greatest benefit to more
than nine-tenths of our western people.
"a great era of home making on
the public lands will bring an influx
of new people into the west, which
will create the greatest human migra-
ton that the world has eve seen, and
it is sure to come. Those who are
retarding it by delaying the repeal OF
| existing land laws are engaged in
a hopeless effort to stay a rapidly
rising current Of public sentiment in
the hearts and minds of S0,OO0,O0O
people and which is certain to sweep
away all opposition in a comparatively
short time.
The East's Attitude.
what could be more just or rea-
sonable that the attitude Of the east
ern public mind which demands only
three things:
First, that every dollar invested
by the national government in irriga-
ton works for the reclamation OF
arid lands shall be repaid to the gov
eminent from the lands reclaimed.
Second, hat every acre of agricul-
tural or irrigable land shall be sa-
credly reserved for the settler who
will a~ctaully build a home on it and
live on it for five years before he
gets title.
"Third, that to insure the carrying
out of this policy, preserve our forests
from destruction and maintain ou1
water supplies, the timber and stone
act, the desert land act and commu'
tation clause of the homestead act
shall be repealed.
1.-The greatest danger to this country
lies in our rapid increase of popula'
ton and it's congestion in eastern cen
tiers of population. The population
of the United States today is abou;
, so, 200, 900. In so years it will be
1901 600, 900; in so years 10000. 900
A million a year are coming from