The Owyhee nugget. ([Silver City], Idaho) 1905-1984, 1909-11-25
Graft I'm R~eclama--
ton Projects.

west, the people have been SO anxious
to secure the water necessary for their
lands that they were willing to enter
into almost any kind Of contract, either
with the government or with private
corporations, TO attain that end without
realizing what it really meant to mort
gage their property, themselves and
their posterity for the payment Of an
exhorbitant price for the advancement
Of the funds necessary TO construct the
reservoirs, canals and bitches required
IN this work.
No one who has given this matter any
study viii deny that it requires large
expenditure of money to construct even
the smallest Of the numerous projects
that have been or will be built; but al
the same time the price that the farmer
ie required to agree to pay either to the
governmint or to private corporations
Tor putting the water on the land is not
only exhorbitant but Ridiculous. It is a
graft pure and simple. But, it is only
another example of the policy pursued
by the System" /" and in this case it is
policy that originated and has been
established by the government Of our
country, by it's reclamation department,
and for which the government Is entire
ly to blame
When the government first began
this work the estimates made for re-
claiming the land and completing the
work Of any project were much less per
acre than after the management came
under the control of the ''Engineers''
who made the estimates. Take for ex-
ample the Malheur Project. The irst
estimate made after careful surveys and
calculations on the work to be done and
total expenditure necessary to complete
that project. by honest, competent, en-
gineers, was less than $50. per acre
But when the engineers and reclimation
officers got together and formed their
combine or trust, the price that they re-
ported to the government deemed nee
essary to charge per acre like an infiat-
ed balloon, ae they realized that they
could not put on as much style, live as
high, ''cut such big ewath" and, charge
such unreasonable and exhorbitdnt
salaries unless they put the price per
acre for the reclamation Of the lands at
higher figure for(as we are informed one
OF the head engineers who was Working
on the Malheur project remarked) 1--WE
engineers are not out here for our
health" The result was that the re-
climation bureau not only sstood the
raise" but raised 'em back" and this
has been kept up until the people are
awakening to the fact that they are
being systematically robbed.
OF course the private corporations did
not hesitate to charge as much or little
bit more, with interest added for the
same work as the government, espe-
cially when tAe reclamation funds be-
came so low that the Secretary of the
Interior refused to take up such prac-
tical projects as the Malheur. State
land boards followed suieand "on went
the dance" The poor settler must pay
the price or loose his home aud all his
work on the land.
The Boise Citizen has been making a
tight against this graft, indirectly by at
tacking our State Land Board for their
action in granting Carey Act Segraga-
tons at an enormous price per acre, for
the benefit Of private capital, until the
Board has called halt, and are begin
ming to cut the price per acre down
little.
In the Gem Irrigation district the alb
surdity OF the prices charged has been
fully demonstrated when one company
proposed to charge $50 per acre for the
Settlers lands, but would irrigate GER
tain State lands for $50 per acre with
/ the same system. In other words the
, struggling, poor farmer is charged $40
per acre more than the speculator in
State lands.
The Caldwell Tribune has taken up
the subject and also remarks with the
Boise Citizen "Carey act Projects are
juicy instit,ttions
We do not wish to try to make polit-
ical capital out Of this subject, by con
demning the present land board, simply
because they are republicans, for we
are satisfied that under the present
system, that board composed Of dem
ocrats would ''be out with the nit" iust
as bad as the republicans, and favor
corporations to the detriment of the
common people.