Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1905-04-27
WOULD THERE WERE
MORE like him
THE OWNER OF A SECTION in.
THE IRRIGATION DISTRICT ,Ex- {
~ PRESSES HIS VIEWS. s$.

Among the visitors In the city the
past day or two is M. E. Griffin, a
banker of Spencer, Iowa. Mr.. Crit.
fin owns a section of land within the
proposed Bismarck irrigation district
and came up from Iowa especially to
see how the. irrigation project was
progressing, being an irrigation en-.
thusiast of the first water.
To the Tribune he said today:
81 was astonished and grieved on
my arrival here to find no Roadway
had been made in the irrigation bro.
ject at this point and 1t seems in.
comprehensive to me that any land.
owner within the district should hold
back moment on such proposition.
Irrigation means so much to the farm.
er in this section, who thereby Is as.
sured large crops annually, and means
so much to the business men of Bis.
marck that I would have supposed the
necessary preliminaries had all been
attended to long ago. For 30 years
the country tributary to Bismarck has
dgressed-deveIoped -comparatfvely
little, and unless something is done to
stimulate development and increase
OF It's dormant resources it will pro-
gress little in the next 80 years. The
producing capacity of the country has
not kept pace with the growth Of
your city, and your business men must
awake to the realization that country
development must be fostered if the
city is to progress as 1t should, con.
sidering the possibilities within reach.
Il am sorry the work has not got to
that stage where could sign up az a
member of the water users associa-
ton, and when the paper is ready I.
want to put my name on it as soon as
possible. own a section Of land in
the irrigation district south Of town
that paid $40 an acre for, cash. For
agricultural purposes, as it now
stands, it is really not worth S. per.
acre, but with water on it am Ger.
tain it would bring $751; easily.
"Your soil, with moisture at the
needed time, is worth double Iowa
soil for small grains and forage crops.
Your farmers ought to know that.
Such being the case, the fear of
work must be the reason for their
slowness in getting to the fore, for it
is a moral certainty that double or
Quadruple crops means double or
quadruple work. But work is essen
tial to success in every line, and the
man who is afraid of it is not the man
with the big bank roll, nor the man
who Is pointed out as a leading and
progressive citizen. =:
"A more fortunae selection for an
irrigation project could not have been
selected. The railroad traverses near
ly It's entire length, affording an OBJ
ject lesson to all who pass which
would undoubtedly greatly encourage
like enterprises elsewhere.
mo fear of the government ever
'cinchfng' anyone in its dealings with
the people need be entertained.
Uncle Sam is not in that kind of bust
ness, besides you seem to have a lot
of fellows in congress that keep a
sharp lookout for your interests.
Don't allow this proposition die for
want of agitation. Perhaps the mat
ter has not been put to the farmers
as plainly as it might Try again.
Have your state engineer, who has
had large experience in irrigation
work in other states, see them indi.
vidually and explain the entire plan,
and If, after that, they do not get into
line they are different from the bal.
ance of North Dakota's energetic citi.
zens."