Arizona republican., 1911-07-25
PLANS FOR NATIONAL
IRRIGATION CONGRESS
Considered in Chicago at Conference
of Board of Governors.

left this city on July for Chicago to
attend meeting of the board of gov
errors of the Congress, returned 20
Phoenix last Sunday morning, well
| pleased with the preparations which
have been made to insure the success
| of the coming convention.
| The meeting of the board lasted
five days during which time import
ant matters, which rightly fall To the
| heads of the organization for consid-
Grafton and settlement, were taken
up and discussed. Among the mat
| tiers of business gone over was the
matter of the program for the con-
vention, which required a great deal
| of attention as many speakers of note
| are to address the convention, and
| suitable Accommodations for the vast
crowds had to be considered.
1t was definitely decided To hold the
morning meetings during the five days
of the great international gathering i'm
| Orchestra hall, which has n seating
capacity of two thousand, and the
afternoon meetings in the Auditorium,
{ with a seating capacity of five thous-
and. The Auditorium will also be
ing. and Saturday morning. when the
assemblage will be addressed by Pres
ident Taft
The Irrigation Congress will be in
session in Chicago from Tuesday, No
vember :, until Saturday, December
| Q, and there is little doubt i'm the
mind of Mr.. Fowler that the cOnven-
ton will be the largest and most far
reaching in it's influence ol any so
far held under the auspic Of the
Congress. of which former Senator
Carey, now governor of Wyoming
said:
THE National Irrigation Congress
has been one Of the greatest factors
in advancing irrigation Investigations.
and the promotion of irrigation enter
prises."
out Of seven members of the board
of governors, six were present at the
meeting in Chicago. the seventh being
detained in New York on important
railway business. 1t is probable that
another meeting will be held in Sep
TENDER when the members of the
board. comforting again with Mr.. FOw-
Ter. hope to complete the program.
During his stay in Chicago an in
terview with Mr.. Fowler was published
in one Of the leading dailies Of that
CITY. He spoke in the interview OF
the wonderful progress made in Ari-
IONA. and Of the great part of that
progress which was due to the irri-
cation movement.
The writer said i'm part:
BENJAMIN a Fowler. twice chosen
Natfana1 Trripgti ion
Congress and one of the influential
factors in development by irrigation
in the West particularly in the
Southwest, has traced the results OF
irrigation farm settlement in the salt
River Valley Arizona to the vaults
Of the banks. the books of commercial
houses and into the statistics Of in
dustries and railways at Phoenix ms
home city. and his compilations show
that millions Of dollars Of improve
ments and added wealth have been
established in the states capital as
direct outcome Of the corresponding
growth i'm the valley surrounding II,
made possible through the building of
the Roosevelt Dam.
Mr.. Fowler. who discussed in Chi
cago recently the work OF the con-
gress. which meets here next Decem-
her. and the substantial irrigation I'M
provement in the West. was president
of the eighteenth congress at Pueblo'
Colo. last year and reelected Tor
another year He returned here again
from Arizona to attend meeting OF
the Board of Governors of the con-
gress
."The CITY of Phoenix reflects in it
self think. the great benefits which
come To communities after irrigation
is established. In this respect Phoe-
nix has prospered as has Spokane,
Roise. Portland. Salt Lake City. Den
ver Sacramento and many other COM
uunities. As the basis of wealth is
traced to the farms in the older
states so il is as certainly traced To
irrigation development in the younger
western states. whose cities nave
grown in population and industries not
SOLELY because of local attractions ana
advantages. but because of the wealth.
and increased production due 10 the
watering of the deserts, so-called' ana
the establishment thereon of thous-
ands of farm homes.
"Pecently I sought to prepare rell-
obla data on what such irrigation ue-
velonment meant to my home city
which is located in the center Of the
great Salt River Valley, now irrigated
nv water impounded by the Roosevelt
Dam Here is one Of the garden
snots- of America and the farm areas
made available through the work OF
the government are rapidly filllng up.
Rut 7 found any accurate summar! OF
tho results Of such development was
extremely difficult; only in genera
way could they be traced.
primarily we find a rapid increase
| in nonulation. This has Justified the
railroads in greatly shortening thelr
lines between Phoenix and Pacific
Coast points and the establishment OF
through mail service between Phoenix
and Los Angeles. These improve
ments. of tremendous value to the
| citv and to the inland Southwest.
indicate. think, both the volume ana
| Importance of traffic between the
points mentioned. ,.
"Tbe character Of farm development
| in the Valley is shown by the TACT
that last month the Salt River Water
Users Association-repres OF
practically every land owner IN the
vallev-completed a general oillce'
meeting and administration building
| . D,..o,,;,, a. n cost of $40, 900.