Cañon City record., 1904-09-01
REPUBLICANISM FATHER OF HOMESTEADS
Grand Old Partys Record Home Builder
Extent of the Arid Regions
and Their Enormous
Possibilities

From its birth the Republican party
hss been the party of homesteads for
che people 1t has enacted and enforced
the LAWS permitting each adult male cit
fa,n Of the United States to establish
his own home and rooftree, at a merely
nominal cost. a
When good homesteads began to grow
scarce- and corporations. by double
dealing had largely usnrped the birth
right Of the individual. the party OF
fnsedom and justice began to look into
de question of irrigation. 1t proposed
0o flank the subtle movements of land
nssuopoIists. and to practically create
new heaven and a new earth." for the
builder of homes, upon which rests the
cRner stone of the republic.
Unele Sam owned the whole arid re-
x5oa, and he owned the water supply,
esol He decided to bring the water to
efe isaai, and by this union to make pos
Gihse q measureless bounty for the pres
e.x, and future generations. He profits
by experience. So he decided to fix
mp this new land business in such a way
ehaf n,oaopolists could never again stul-
tify good citizenship by robbing it of
fks own
Origin of National Act.
In Keeping with the wishes of a Re
UubEcan President a Republican Con-
grea passed law, June II, 1902, au-
chorfzinx the Government to enter upon
this work of reclaiming arid America.
This law restricts the amount of such
Esnd to be owned by any one individual
TO I6O acres, and requires a continuous
residence of Eve years on the same, to
esquire title Such occupants will re-
kund to the Government, in number of
inr rfa1I In, ont a nCfnaI
esst of bringing water to the land. Such
entries cannot be commuted.
Under the act approved June IL, 1902,
Whirh Is properly the beginning of the
pcesent Government Reclamation Serv-
fre, an endless chain" of funds was
Drovhded by appropriating the receipts
from the sale and disposal of the public
lanAs in the thirteen States and three
Terzifnries Of the arid region. These
8fa6es are. California, Colorado, Idaho,
Ksnsxa, Montana, Nebraska. Nevada.
North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota,
Utx1, Washington and Wyoming. Ter
rfhsr5e.: Arizona, New Mexico and
Okiahnma. This fund at present hovers
sun,evhere near the $25. 100000 mark.
/ The arid regions of the United States,
- generally designated, include abort
ewo- -dfths of its entire area, extending
from about the middle of the continent
Westsriy nearly to the Pacific Coast and
eeachinx from Mexico to Canada. There
arc no sharply marked lines or divisions
Between The arid and the humid areas,
bgt there il, especially near the center
a. the United States, broad inter
mediate belt. neither distinctly arid nor
distinctly humid, which is called the
oab- b-hnmid or semi-arid region. This belt
exfends over North Dakota, South Da-
kota, western Nebraska, and western
Knnsas into Oklahoma and the Pan
handle of Texas.
What Is Being Done.
Since the passage of the Reclamation
Act the Government has had large
ieorp~ of engineers and assistants ex-
amininx the arid region and studying
m streams and water supply carefully.
Important Investigations have been made
at the following places, and at some
OF them mammoth irrigation projects
are now under way: Milk River project
m Montana including the investigation
of the proposed dam sites at St Mary
LAkea- In Wyoming examinations have
bexn made of the possibilities of storing
Waaers in the Bighorn Mountains for
luse along their eastern slopes, and at
6he proposed dam site for the Sweet
Iwzfer reservoir on the river of that
name, a tributary of the North Platte.
In Colorado, in the vicinity OF Sterl-
ing, work has been done in connection
with the plan to utilize the Pawnee
Pass reservoir site for irrigating lands
sa he north bank of South Platte Riv-
er- Surveys have also been made for
diverting the waters Of the Gunnison
River through a tunnel into the I'm
compahgre valley for irrigation. The
Grand River project. involving the use
iof the waters of the Grand River on
the plains west of Grand Junction in
Colsrado and Utah, has also been the
eabject of surveys and examinations. In
Nevada the Truckee-Carson basin has
bees examined with a view to utilizing
the waters of these rivers and exam
nuiag the storage possibilities Of Lake
Tahoe and other lakes in the Sierra Ne
vaAa- Investigations have also been
msde in the valley of the Walker Riv-
ex, Nevada. In Arizona and Colorado
an examination of the Colorado River
from the Needles to Yuma has been in
stdxafed for the study of plans for the
reclamation Of the low lands along both
sides Of the river. The practicability
of storing the flood waters Of the Salt
Rfver has also been investigated. There
arc many other instances. q
MeasureIess Possibilities.
The records show that at least one
Ghird Of the area of the United States.
exclusive of Alnska and our outlying
,Do0exaions. consists of vacant public
IApd- One Of the great economic aues-
fiess aow before the people of this coun-
IEy. = the utilization Of this vast aren.
Rneh Of which has rich soil, and rn-
A~ good management would be capable
lef sustaining a large population. The
,Danzhiiffies are stupendous. Govern
'1@f engineers estimate that the total
Dsanbks water supply Of the arid re-