Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1909-07-24

tempt him. And in the last three years
the national government alone has
spent 100000, 600 to the end of sup
PLYING water to 10000 600 arid acres
which need only the water to make
gold mines OF the soil.
But where the government has spent
its $l00, 600, 600 toward eradicatlng
that great American desert private
enterprise has, spent nearly twice as
much n brought another 100000
acres of desert into fruftfulness. Tens
of thousands of settlers have gone
westward from the cities and farms Of
the central west and tens of thousands
more of them are making inquiry and
taking inventory of themselves, their
families. and their cast resources, with
the purpose of following.
Twenty years g the farmer of the
central west. told Of the promise of
arid lands under irrigation, shook his
head. 1t was the era of the snide III
rigation company" which was growing
rich establishing Il few miles of main
bitches. tapping them with a few lat
eral stub ends of blind s%luices, and
P'AiiS ~ pp'Ri PAhN' Ni' - NHNN'
ands of arid acres which not all the
established system ofsWaterWays could
dampen In a tWelve-month.
Great Task of the Nation.
But changes have come over the face
of things. Legislation of the states has
s|trangled the strangling water com
panies. Laws covering water rights in
thaya Stafac ha va 9u lla1 fprH NAV" Cl re-
full scrutiny in the farming han have
almost any other field of legislation,
The national government has driven
the cattle baron and his hundreds of
miles of barbed wire fencing from that
former range country" off the maps.
And with the material precedent nov
being set by the United States recla-
nation service in making government
lands ready for the farmer settler. the
tremendous and lasting scale upon
which it is working has served to put
irrigation at last upon the footing
which it has deserved.
Just what the United States is do
ing may be judged from official fig
ures for the year 1907. In that single
year, working upon eleven reclamation
projects in as many states and terri
tories. 1881 mile of main ditches wore
dug. to bring SOC, 1000 acres of arid land
under cultivation. And the result? In
thai one year eight new towns were
established in the desert country, 100
miles of railroad branch lines were
built. and 1900 settlers were at
tracted from the settled p%pttlons Of
rain belt country to the east.
In the conduct of this work on these
projects. now almost doubled N
pun4ber, too government crnployts
in the registration and classified ISIS
we're employed. $1,000 laboracs on ,ne
g ound founl employment, ANA Z pay
roll Of $1,000. zoe a month was re-
CURED to meet the expenditure, TO say
nothing of the cost of engineering ma
terial of all kinds necessary to con-
struction of the irrigation dams, can
ais. reservoirs, and pumping stations.
Are not these figures alone eloquent
of the growing interest in the new far
ming lands OF the far Wesi' And When
private enterprise has been dorns al
most twice as much alor~ the same
lines. shall one wonder at the interest
to the citizen o. the mi ode V"at'
Prepare for Chicago Exposition.
over on the fourth floor OF the big
office building ut 115 Adams street
Secretary Robert l.. Cross of the COM