El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-06-14
By
Frederic
]. Haskin


share the benefits of the reclamation !
act for the purposes Of this project.
The project was planned several |
years ago, but on account OF the inter !
national and interstate complications,
preliminary progress necessarily was !
slow Now, all of the diverse interests
. have been adjusted, the project has
been given the official sanction of the
department of the interior, and the ac-
tuaI work will be begun Immediately. !
Project Means Many Small Farms.
OF the $4,000 acres of the irrigable
land to be reached by the water Of
this project, 10000 acres lie in New
Mexico, and $4,000 in Texas. Perhaps
| 10000 acres Of this land now are under
irrigation of a sort. This land will
reimburse the government for the S.
100000 expended in the project. BY
the terms Of the reclamation act no
person may have water for more than
$50 acres He must pay to the gov
eminent, in ten annual instruments, his
! proportionate share Of the expense of
building the irrigation plant.
I Most of the lands now are in private
] holdings, but water viii not be fur
nfshed to one person for more than
/ single farm unit of go acres. Persons
/ holding larger tracts of land will be
| forced to sell This will mean, of
course, great increase in popula-
I TERRITORY.
Ell PasO the Metropolis.
The city Of Ell Paso is the commercial
capital of the Rio Grande project
FL Paso is the metropolis of an i'm
| menSe region extending 1900 miles from
| San Antonio to Los Angeles, east and
| west, and 1000 miles from Denver to
| the heart Of Mexico, north and south.
1t is a region wonderfully rich in min
erals, blessed by a most salubrious eli
Z
/ ment of tributary agricultural lands
10 make it one Of the most pOpulous,
prosperous and important commercial
centers of the great southwest
Government VIII Be Repaid.
The value of the irrigable lands
which will be benefited by this pro-
ject will be- according to conservative
estimates, not less than s15.00O.000.
This will be security to the government
for it's advance OF 100000 and will
be repaid In ten years after the water
is turned on, the government making
a net investment only of the interest
on its money
This financial operation is carried on
under the terms of the reclamation
act of 1902. That act provided that all.
! money derived from the sale of public
lands in Il western states should be
set aside and appropriated for the rec
lamation of arid lands by irrigation.
The lands thus reclaimed when not
already privately owned, are subject to
homestead entry, and there is absolute
" no charge of the land itself: but
the settler must pay to the United
States, in not more than 10 annual in
stalments, without interest, his pro-
portion, according to the number Of
acres he owns. OF the amount expended
by the government in retaining the
land The money paid back TO the
government is continued as part of the
reclamation funds. and is used to fur
ther new irrigation projects and TO
maintain and repair the old ones
Second Nile valEeySWfn Result.
The Rio Grande project will provide
splendid opportunities for agricultural
development The irrigable lands viii
lie on either side of the Rio Grande
valley for about a hundred miles north
of FL Paso and for many miles to the
south of the Texas city. Only the
life giving water, now TO be provided,
is required to convert this territory into
a second Nile valley Indeed, IT is as
serted by the scientists who have ex-
amined the soil of this valley that the
| land is richer than the soil of the
Egyptian valley.
Here in the valley of the Rio Grande
the second decade Of the twentieth cen
fury will find the wealth which the
Spanish argOrautS sought and failed
| to find four centuries earlier This
is the oldest part of the United States
II under the dominion of white men
Marco de Mia invaded this territory in
! 1889. The next year Francisco Vas
| Quez Coronado came here and made
! this valley the base of operations for
j what is now Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas
and Colorado. Spanish colonists learn
| ed to make use of the crude but ex-
! tensive irrigation plants constructed by
the aborigines centuries before. and
| what is now New Mexico was the most
| highly civilized part Of North America
The three centuries since the settle
ment of North America by English
| speaking people have wrought many
changes, but now New Mexico and the
| valley of the Rio Grande are about to
| come again into their own.
TomorrOw-The Hat Industry