The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1906-09-05
THIS IS DEMAND
BY BIG WESTERNER
Fred j. Kiesel of Ogden Says
We Have Not Asked Enough
of Government.
CONGRESS- GETS DOWN TO
PRACTICAL PROBLEMS
Fisher Harris of Salt Lake
Charms Delegates With
"See America First"
Special 10 The Tribune,

Special TO The Tribune.
BOISE, Ida, Sept. 4.-This has been
quiet day in Boise, as compared with
Monday, when the labor holiday, the
presence of the Vice President Of the
United States, and the opening of the
congress, all conspired to bring the
country pople TO town and the city
people to the streets, and these, with
the visitors, produced what was prob
ably the largest crowd ever assembled
IN Boise; The Irrigation congress has
gotten down TO the humdrum of hard
work, The general street din shows
marked abatement and even the roll Of
the drums and the blare of the horns
in the bands seems subdued and less
disposed to challenge the supremacy
of the noises Of the street.
The morning session of the congress
President Shurtliff, who then surren-
dered the gavel to Senator Carter. The
house was well filed, except the seats
reserved for the delegates. These were
not more than half filed, which led the
presiding officer to remark, humorously.
that evidently many of the delegates
were farmers, for farmers are prover-
bially early risers. He admonished the
lawyers, the doctors and the politicians
that the work of the congress must be
expedited and that if they. were not on
hand hereafter promptly at $50 the
farmers would proceed to do business
without them.
DR.. Mead Reads Paper.
Dr. Elwood Mead, chief of the irri-
CATION and drainage investigation, De-
partment of Agriculture, read a most
interesting paper on the subject of
Evolution OF Irrigation Institutions -
IT OIL j.. kI
first State TO measure wnter, and Wy
oming the first State TO understand that
water could be used as freely as air.
Many of the early settlers of the West
thought that water should be free, and
resented as an lmpertinence the sug-
gestion that they would be required to
ask any one for it. But gradually and
through MANY difficulties came the pres
ent established property rights TO water
when applied to beneficial uses for do
mestic, irrigation or power uses. There
has been established also the primary
right of use for domestic purposes over
that for irrigation or power, But our
system is yet capable OF much improve
ment. The country would have been
saved much contention and bitterness
and thousands of ruinous lawsuits if we
had in the beginning dealt with our
streams as Colorado does There the
streams are dealt with just as are the
public lands The irrigation works now
IN operation in this country are now
distributing water over an area about
as large as the State of New York; and
we have MANY problems yet 10 solve
along the lines of distributing water
and elimination of the necessity for
lawsuits to determine water rights
All the States are now getting TO the
ground of a permit which, when COM
piled with, secures the Issuance of
certificate for the right claimed With
the great growth of cities and urban
communities arises another question,
that of precedence for city or farm
rights. Many streams which were for
merly used for irrigation are now di-
verted wholly to the use Of cities.
Some startling statistics were pre-
sented by Prof. Samuel Fortier of the
University Of California in his discus
sion of the "Value of High Duty of
Water and the Means of Obtaining It.. -
Prof. Fortier s address dealt with the
loss Of water through waste, He made
the assertion that in the Western
States fifty million dollars were expend-
ed annually in securing and distribut-
ing water for irrigation and that fully
IS per cent of that amount was wasted.
causing a net loss TO the people of the
Western States of more than $50 5,000,-
600. He expressed the opinion, how
ever, that all of the loss could not be
prevented. though he believed that fully
10 per cent of this enormous loss could
be saved
Tells of Experiments.
Alex Mcpherson OF Twin Falls, Ida,
discussed the Duty of Water and the
Best Means of Applying IL to Crops,
Mr.. Mcpherson S paper told OF expe"
riments on a forty.acre farm at Twin
Falls, on which are grown fifty kinds
of crops His experimentation. he said,
had demonstrated the correctness of
Prof. Fortier's theory Of losses through
excessive irrigation, He stated that a
total of thirty-six inches of water was
applied TO the farm during the year and
of this amount he estimated II 10 per
cent was lost.
uov Albert E. Mead of Washington
and Congressman Reeder of Kansas
were on the platform when the conven-
ton reassembled in the afternoon, The
Kansan was introduced by Senator Car
ter as one of The most eloquent and
efficient advocates of irrigation in the
National Congress. Prof. j. j. Vernon
of the New Mexico agricultural sta
tion addressed the congress on Pump
ing for Irrigation in New Mexico.
The slogan some. ,HuldEed Mults@