The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1910-09-01
Reclamation Service.

The National Irrigation Congress is
to hold session in the city of Pueblo
late in September. I am keenly sorry
that / could not nave accepted the
invitation to be present. 1 must how
ever, be in the East at that time. But
since I cannot be present then to ex-
press my keen, long held, and deep-felt
interest in the reclamation of arid
lands by the federal government,
desire to do so now. There is no more
effective instrument for the making of
homes than the United States Recla-
nation Service, and no government bu-
reau while I was President had reach
ed a higher standard of efficiency, in
tegrity and devotion to the public well
fare.
Like the Forest Service, the Reclama-
ton Service has clashed with certain pri-
vate interests, and has had to pay the
penalty Of it's service to the public in the
form of bitter opposition from those with
whose profit it has interfered. The cry
has been raised against it that the gov
eminent must not do for its citizens at a
less cost what private interests are ready
to make them pay for at higher prices
Now, I believe fully in the private de-
velopment of irrigation projects which the
government cannot undertake There is
a large and legitimate field for such work
But the essential thing is to make homes
on the lands, not to enable individuals to
profit from the necessities of the men who
make those homes. There is no more
warrant for objecting to the reclamation
of arid lands by the government than
there would be to protest against the gov
eminent for patenting agricultural lands
directly to the actual settler, instead of
through a middleman, who could make a
profit from the transaction. The men who
assert themselves at the cost of the COM
munity instead of by service to the COM
munity we have always had with us, and
doubtless we always shall. But there Is
no reason why we should yield 10 them.
The Reclamation Service has not done so,
and that Is the chief reason for the at
lacks upon it.
don't think that there is one among
you who is a better and more thorough
going westerner than I am. There has
been no support given to the conserva-
ton policies so welcome as that which
came from the west. and none In the
west more welcome than that which came
from Colorado. There are men and or
ganizations in Colorado, and I mention
Delta in particular, whose support Of the
conservation policies has been of the
greatest value to the Nation. It has not
always been an easy thing for them to
stand for what was right, to stand for
the real ultimate good as against the
seeming temporary good: but they have
stood for II steadily nevertheless.
From the standpoint Of conservation
the east has wasted much Of its own
superb endowment. and as an American,
as a lover Of the west, / hope that the
west will profit by the casts bitter les
son, and will not repeat the mistakes OF
the east. The east has wasted It's re-
sources, it suffers from the effect OF the
waste, which now puts 1t at a disadvan-
tage compared to the west, and It Is
sorry. Most OF the capital and very
many OF the men now attempting to
rnonopolize your western resources are
from the east. The west should learn
the lesson OF the casts mistakes, and 1t
should remember that conservation In
the west viii help the west first and
most, and that the movement for con-
servation is most earnest, most vigorous,
and most effective in the west and among
western men. That Is one STRONG reason
why the conservation policy has come TO
stay.