The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1910-09-07

conservation, and for establishing a
sound relation of means to ends.
/ We should first exclude certain ac-
tivities that come only directly UNI
der the term, conservation" The rec
lamation service is one. Its work is
not preservation, but utilization. The
arid lands OF this country have been
where they now are, the streams have
| flowed past them uselessly ever since
Adam and Eve were In the Garden OF
Eden. Irrigation was practiced in pre-
historic time. What we have to do
is to bring modern methods to the aid
OF one Of the oldest agricultural arts.
1t Is mentioned here because it's prog
ress illustrates the dangers that be-
set conservation projects proper
Opposed to Federal Control.
They are dangers inseparable from
national control and conduct of affairs.
The machine is too big and too distant,
its operation Is slow, cumbrous and
costly So slow is 1t that settlers are
waiting in distress for water promised
long ago. SO faulty has been the adj
justment of time and money that con-
gross has had to authorize the issue
| Of $20,000,000 Of national obligations to
complete projects still hanging in the,
air. So expensive Is it that estimates
have been exceeded again and again.
The settler has had either to pay more
than the cost figure he relied on or
seek cheaper land in Canada. 1t costs
| the government from 80 per cent more
to twice as much as it would private
| enterprise to put water on the land.
Under the lower Yellowstone project
the charge is $42.50 per acre, and one,
dollar per acre annually for mainten-
ance. The Sunnyside project carries
charge Of $50 per acre and IS cents
maintenance Under the North Platte
project the. charge is s45 per acre, plus
maintenance charge not announced.
! These projects in widely separated To-
calities, entail land charge prohib-
tive the frontier settlers to provide
homes for those whom this work was
believed TO have been undertaken. The
pioneer settler who can pay, even in
| ten annual installments, from. $500
to $4,000 for eighty acres of land, in
addition to the yearly fee per acre,
must have some other resources to aid
him. The work of irrigation would
have been more cheaply done If turned
over to private enterprise or committed
| to the several states within which lie
the lands upon any individual. 1t is
merely one more proof of the excessive
cost of government work.
More Mineral Resources.
Toward the conservation of our min
eral resources little can be done by
| federal action. The output is deter
49, 49,
the consumer. The withdrawal of vast
areas of supposed coal lands tends to
increase price by restricting the area
of possible supply. 1t is foolish to
talk of leasing coal lands in small
quantities in order to prevent mon
opoly. Mining must be carried on upon
large enough scale to be commercials
| ly possible, The people of the west
see little practical difference between
| a resource dissipated or exhausted.
They understand by conservation the
most economical development and best
care of resources.
The prairie states are more interest
ed than any other in the question of
cheap fuel. We do not depend upon
Alaska for our future supply. There
is abundant coal on the Pacific coast
nearer to our seaports and commercial
centers. While we lament the ex-
haustion Of our coal supply, we main
tain tariff that compels us to draw
upon 1t continuously. 1t would be we'll
to cast out this beam before we worry
too much over the conservation mote.
The iron deposits of Minnesota, the
most wonderful in the world, are today
not only furnishing industry In the ma
| tion with raw material but are piling
up a school fund at home that Is the
envy Of other states and adding more
and more every year to the contents of
the states treasury Minnesota is con-
sidering the reduction Of her general
tax levy by one-half. Would 1t be bet
ter il these lands were today held idle
and unproductive by the federal gov
eminent, or worked only on leases
whose proceeds went into the federal
treasury and enabled congress to
squander a few more millions in annu-
al appropriations?
Views on Forestry.
Against some forestry theories the
west enters an even stronger plea.
What the United States needs is mel
Their reckless destruction nor an em-
barge upon our splendid western COM
monwealths by locking up a consider
able portion of their available area,
There were, by the last report OF the
forestry service, over 194,500,000 acres
withdrawn from use our forest re-
serves on June 80, 1909. OF this, nearly
SIS per cent, over 112,0O0.0OO acres. or
IT'S, 900 square miles. lies in six western
states. That is an area six-sevenths
the size of Germany or France 1t Is
so per cent of the size Of the unap-
proprlated and unreserved land in
those six states.
The forest reserves and the lands
conveyed by congressional grants to
private interests in Oregon amount to
some $4,000 square miles. More than
half the area OF this great state has
been withdrawn by action Of the gov
eminent in one way or another from
cultivation and the enjoyment and
profit Of the people OF the state. Over
one-third of Idaho and 81 per cent of