Arizona republican., 1905-12-16

places which for ages have been the
 abode of the coyote and the jackrabbit.
 year ago last spring I slept out un-
 der the sagebrush on the Minidoka
 lands in the Snake river valley, Idaho.
 and the nearest dwelling was thirty
 miles away.
 Last week I visited the same spot,
 travelling across that thirty miles in
 first class passenger train, passing
 through three new towns. On every
 eighty acres of the 100000 acres in
 that tract of government land there is
 new farm house, a farmer and his
 family. Uncle Sam is preparing to
 bring to him, through many miles of
 canals and ditches the precious water
 which is to make the desert blossom as the rose. A mammoth rock-fill dam across the Snake river is almost finished and by early spring the sage
 brush will have vanished from this spot forever.
 Early next April Uncle Sam will
 try his hand at auctioneering and to
 the highest bidder will dispose of some very cnoice lots, business and resi- dence, on three new townsites under this project. In anticipation of this
 sale more than eighty business firms have put up temporary structures and are doing business there. The indica- tions are that there will be a city of not less than 5000 inhabitants under
 this project By the me the water is
 ready for the land there will be a farm
 population of nearly ten thousand To-
 cated on these lands.
 An effort will be made tais win ter
 to secure the necessary congressional action to permit the government to use the proceeds of these sales for the con- struction of sewer and water works systems, and other municipal improve
 ments for the new towns. the money to be repaid in the same manner that the settler repays the cost of the irri-
 gation works. This Is not a new de- parture for the government, as the re- clamation service engineers under the direction of the secretary of the in tCriOr for some time have been ex- pending several hundred thousand doi- lars in building bridges, water works. sewerage systems school houses, etc. in Oklahoma, the money having been obtained from the sale of town lots. 'I note with some satisfaction that
 twin city contractors are bidding on some of our big contracts and are get l liiiS d pACSt Ol lIE MOIh IGIt dilu
 there. Bids are being received from all over the United States. One of the recent successful bidders on a contract in Arizona was from New York.
 My summer in the west has afford ed me most convincing evidence that
 an era of wonderful progress, greater than ever known before is soon to
 dawn on the northwest country. There 1 seems to be little doubt that the twin l cities are to have another transconti- 1 mental route. They are soon to be con ] nected with the rich mineral zone of l the Black Hills and the new irrigation district in the valley of the Belle i Fourcne in South Dakota. The com | ing year is going to be a banner one l for the laboring man in the west. The ] building of new railroads and the ex- | tension of old, the construction of ! great irrigation works by the govern
 ment and by private capital and the establishment of many new towns will
 surely create a heavy demand for labor
 of all kinds. Many of the laborers
 from the crowded centers of tEe east,