The Courier. (Genoa, Nev.) 1899-1904, 1904-02-26
Irrigation in the West.

The first boom in building large irri-
cation works in the West was at its
height fifteen years ago. The invest
ment was then very popular and East
ern and foreign money rapidly re-
sponded to the call of the promoters.
With only a few exceptions every
Western State and Territory received
the benefits of this expenditure.
But this development proved dis
appointing on the side of colonization.
1t was found that arid land, worthless
without water, was still without prac-
tical value after the water had been
provided unless there was a man there
to till the soil. And this man did not
come in sufficient numbers.
AS an investment, irrigation lapsed
into unpopularity and the active cam
paign of reclamation by means of
private enterprise came to an end.
Since then two things have happened.
The tide of settlement has caught up
with irrigation. There is now but lit
tie virgin soil open to the homeseeker
except in the valleys of the arid region.
Furthermore, the people have become
educated as to the merits of the irri-
gated farm. They understand what
it means to have their crops insured
by the ditch. They appreciate the adj
vantages of selfsufficiency and of near
neighbors offered by the small, diversi-
fled irrigated farm. So they are moving
into all the places prepared for them
by the enterprise of other years.
California is getting many of them.
But just how many will not be known
until another census is taken. The
railroads report that they brought $780,
900 people to California during 1908, of
whom 10000 had return tickets.
One hopeful report comes from the
newly-reclaimed desert in the eastern
part of San Diego county. On jan
uary LIST, 1901, there was not a single
white man in the neighborhood. On
l oohoutJ iop, Aou~, OiiCIO was OAly IL
a camp with dozen surveyors. JAN
uary LIST, 1908, saw a population of
labout 1000, while January 1st, 1904,
finds about 5000 on the ground. They
are still coming very rapidly and
another year is likely to disclose an
even larger gain.
The beautiful Yakima Valley in
Eastern Washington is witnessing a
similar growth. Indeed, this holds
true of many parts of the Pacific North
west drained by the Columbia River
and its tributaries, including East
ern Oregon and Southern Idaho.
The Rocky Mountain States are
finding strong demand for irrigated
lands. Wyoming, Colorado, Utah and
New Mexico are gaining recruits very
rapidly. And, perhaps, more encour-
aging than anything else is the activ-
ity of settlement in the long-neglected
State of Nevada. Railroads and min
ing development have much to do
with it, but Nevada is also the benefi-
ciary of the general moment of popula-
| ton to the irrigated lands.
The lesson of all this that the in
auguration of the new national irriga-
ton policy is well-timed and that the
duty of saving the public lands for
actual settlers presses urgently upon
Congress. 1t can no longer be claimed
that the people do not crave homes in
the West. They are clamoring at the
doors of this great empire and every
acre that the government shall re-
claim will be promptly taken by those
who are ready to cultivate the soil in
good faith.
If we have needed the Spectator in
in the past as sort of advance agent
of prosperity, we need him no longer.
The land laws under which he has
grown rich should be repealed and
Homestead Law put in place of them,
so that no one except the actual set
tier can get possession of this public
property.
VIM. f. SMYTHE.
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