The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1909-06-23
PLAN COMP REHENS|vE
WORK
NATIONAL IRRIGATION CON
GRESs TO ACCOMPLISH RE-
Suits FOR ALL.

| Spokane. June 22--"We shall have
between 4,51o and 5000 delegates from
i! practically every state, from on. colo
MES and from 20 foreign countries,
and, besides, thousands OF visitors NJ
the seventeenth session OF the Nd
tlonal Irrigation congress in Spokane.
August to ID. The work OF reclaim
ing arid and swamp lands is not
! limited to the northwest, to the south
west or to the far west, but there is Il
great work to do in the central west
in the south, in the east and even on
the Atlantic seaboard. Thes, forces
will join with us in making the COM
: ing congress big success
George Games Barstow of Barstow.
Texas, said this in the course of an
address at complimentary banquet
by the board of control IN Spokane,
at which DR.. w. ]. MCGEE of Wash
ington d. c., secretary Of the Inland
Waterways association and member
of the board of governors of the con-
gress, was also guest. Mr.. Barstow
discussed principally the ethical and
sociological side of reclamation work,
while DR.. MCGEE presented an array
of figures, showing the Importance of
irrigation in an industrial way. r. In
singer, chairman of the board of con-
troll, presided.
Otner Interests.
"The causes of the National Irriga-
ton congress are not alone the irriga-
ton and reclaiming of arid lands, of
which there are 6OO00,O0O acres" said
Mr. Barstow. "but other vital interests
are concerned; SO one by one we have
taken them IN and presented them to
the people. We have helped to edu-
cate the people to the Importance of
forestry. We have started the drain
age of swamp lands. of which there
are more than SO.0OO,OOO acres in the
country, and we are working for deep
waterways. and are doing all we can
to make the path of the home builder
smoother
Some say that we now have the
reclamation work under way and our
war is about over. That is not true;
we have just begun. We have. not
done enough until we have accom-
nlished getting the people in the great
congested cities located on the lands,
where they can be men. free men in
deed, not only in having a compe-
tence, but in being good citizens.
That means something to the nation
Our great cities are the mae1strom
Of society. Getting people on the land
Is our salvation. Left alone any great
city would soon meet its fate. Its
safety lies in it's citizenship being re-
juvenated BY the men who come from
the land
Since this great work is being done
chiefly for the benefit Of the genera
tons to come, 1T is right and proper
that the government should provide
ample funds to reclaim. waste lands,
improve waterways and carry on SINH
lar work. There should be ample funds
to carry on this work on broad lines.
There should be bond issues for which
the coming generations, realizing most
of the benefits, should bear most of the
cost"
DR.. MCGEE said that the nations
richest resource is water, without
which there could be no life nor ex-
panson, adding:
1T requires three acre feet of water
to produce a crop. We all know that
we can quadruple the yield by having
five acre feet Of water instead of
three, and that six acre feet will pro-
duce more than five. Five acre feet
of water weighs 5000 tons, which is
the approximate weight of three acre
feet of soil, showing that as much
water is used every year in the pro-
duction Of a crop as there is soil.
THE average rainfall all over the
country is 30 inches. We use only five
per cent of our average rainfall, ana
with all this waste of precious water
we let floods do damage of from $40,-
100000 to S250. 100000 a year.
1.-The rainfall we have is not half
enough. There are 100000 square
miles of land in the United States,
which receives SO much less than the
average rainfall that it is uninhabit-
able. 1t is the work of the congress
to stop this waste of our resources
and to reclaim our arid lands"