Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1911-06-23
RECLAMATION WILL
MAKE HIGHER TYPE
work on Irrigated Farms Means
An Intelligent Citizen
ship.

In a comprehensive article ON re-,
Cldindtlon work being done in the West
neaded The Service That Makes the
DeSert Bloom" Frederick Palmer, in.
Magazine, pay a high tri-,
quite TO the United States Reclamation
service. He is especially enthusiastic
over the accomplishments of Frederick
III; Newell, director Of the service, Of
whose big thought, the ethical main
spring of all his planning and econo-,
mics FOR the settler on irrigated lands,
he has this to say:
he sees the development OF a high
type OF democracy on the reclaimed
area. lie believes that the very in
teilgenCe required for irrigation farm
ing means an intelligent citizenship.
But more potent still is the independ-
fHce or ownership; the fellowship of a
dlNlslon OF property into small hold
lhSs; the responsibility for the COM
mon control by the people Of the prop
erty which the service turned over to
them, from reservoirs to a power plant
that lights their houses and runs their
machinery. They have been given a
rare vehicle with which to work out
the New England town-meeting idea in,
a broad and progressive modern spirit.
Their future is in their own hands,
guaranteed by law from any monopoly.
Careful cultivation reduces the amount
OF water needed per acre. Such econ
omy may enable one OF the community
corporations to get on with less than
the acre-fOOt measure calculated by the
engineer. AS a result, there is an an
nual surplus in the reservoir, and the,
Water Users association cuts a melon
as they say in Wall street. 1t has
water to sell in retaining arid land
for new ranches beyond the old dead
line. Already NewelTs an~tlcipations are
being fulfilled, as you can see in the
thrift Of the ranchers, in their artis-
tic cottages, and in the quality Of the
men n women WhO prefer 20 acres
and freedom to a salary in town.
What Of the Reclamation service
when all the arid lands are reclaimed?
you may ask. Many years will pass
before the last Of the desert spaces
rapable Of irrigation have water. AS
the value of arm products rises, new
projects will become practicable.
AN end of reclamation! Not while
you read every summer OF the failure
of all kinds Of crops, in all parts OF
the country, from wheat and cotton to
lnarke ct gardens. for want Of rain. Not
while the regulated moisture applied to-
gemi-humid land will increase it's pro-
duCtivity. ,
An end Of reclamation as a NATIONAL
Or a state service! Not while we have
abandoned farms. Not while agricult-
tral science lasts. Not while the pop
ulatiOn of the world keeps on growing
and enjoys the constitutional habit
OF getting hungry two or three times a
day. The projects of the L. S. r. S. do
not close a chapter. They open a VOL
ume at the preface.
Newell has been the director Of the
service from It's inception. He made
the army which he directs. He planned
! H. a,rA ,,,,,nso, at,I -hA no y, Vn 5uJ,u
on all the 81 projects now In course
Of construction or completed. His
coadjutor from the first and the chief
engineer of the service is A. p. Davis.
These two were bred of the same
school of experience after their tech
! nical education In youth. They served
IN the United States Geological Survey,
where young engineers get a little pay
and high principles and great wisdom.
| Whenever you meet an engineer who
has served IN the survey he will not be
long in telling you Of 1t. That is the
| boast of his youth, even though he
takes the SUPPLEMENTARY Of a $1,000
900 lob as a matter OF curse in his
maturity.
In the Survey, Newell and Davis I'M
| bibed the spirit Of service. They learned
their West and its arid lands init
! mately. They liked government work
! and stuck to it, despite all commercial
! offers. Newell's salary is now $500
a year; Davis's is $4,000. Either one
could easily get double these amounts
from corporations. The same rule holds
true down the ranks Of their subordi-
mates. For an engineer to quit the
service for less than so per cent, in
crease Of salary is considered little
short of treason.
Newell knows how to make men
work for the love Of their work. He Is
the chief Of staff OF an army which
has neither uniform nor any side
While our soldiers welcome an occas4
lonal chance for something like actual
practice of their professions, such as tho
Texas mobilization. the U. S. r. S. Is
always at w~ar--against stubborn ma
tire, Talk about active servicel
Newell has spent 200 nights out of a
year in a sleeping car, in the inspection
Of his forces from Canada to Mexico,
not counting wagon Journeys and mule
back Journeys into mountain fast
neSSes."