The Churchill county standard. (Fallon, Nev.) 1908-1920, 1913-06-25
TO RECLAIM
THE DESERT
Senator NeWlandS Has Plan
That Would Add to Me-
yada's Productivity.
Would Vastly Benefit by His
Plan.

An amendment to the Erdmap Act
backed by the chiefs of the principal
railroad labor organizations and en-
dorsed by the heads of the great
railroad systems, the National Civic
Organization and others has been in
troduced in the U. s. Senate by Sen
ator Newlands. 1t is designed to
meet the objections to the Erdman
bill which were raised in the recent
wage dispute between the railroad
firemen and the Eastern railroads
by enlarging the board of arbitra-
ton to six members. The law now
provides three.
The amendment provides for a
commissioner of mediation and con-
ciliation, who, with two other gov
ernment officials to be appointed by
the president, with the ratification
of the senate, would constitute a
board of meditation and conciliation
| The board would name disinterested
.
chosen by employees and employers
The proposed amendment relies up
on voluntary arbitration. While it
covers only controversies between in
terstate railroads and their trainmen,
both the railroad officials and the
brotherhood officials are willing to
have the shopmen included If the
latter wish.
The amendment introduced by
Senator Newlands remedies the de-
fects of the present law and yet pre-
serves all the valuable features. The
interests of the public are fully pro-
tected by the amendment and, mas
much as representatives of the en-
ployes as well as the railroads have
agreed to IL, there seems 70 be no
doubt that the Newlands amend
ment will pass this session of Con-
gress or the regular session of con-
gress which meets in December
Senator Newlands appeared before
Secretary of the Interior Lane re-
Gently at the conference of the as
sociations of Water Users on gov
ernment reclamation projects at
Washington and made the following
interesting address:
Mr.. Secretary, pursuant to my re-
quest, the Reclamation Service has
presented an outline map of Nevada
showing its four rivers. These are
the Walker river on the south, hav-
ing its source in the Sierra Nevada
Mountains in California and empty
ing into Walker lake.
Next the Carson river, having a
similar source, whose waters find
their way into the sink known as
Carson Lake. Further to the north
is the Truckee river, having its
source partly in California and part
ly in Nevada, and whose waters flow
into Pyramid Lake.
Last is the Humboldt river, hav-
ing its source in the northeastern
part of the state and flowing south
westerly, whose waters sink into the
Humboldt lake. The only lake shown
on this map which is source of wa
ter supply is Lake Tahoe. The wa
ters of the other lakes mentioned are
absolutely unutilized. The problem
is to prevent these waters from flow
ing into these lakes and to turn them
upon the land and make it produc-
tive.
The Walker river Is a considerable
element in what is known as Mason
Valley. The irrigation development
there has been crude, The land is
held in large tracts, and there have
be. n difficulties between the water
appropriations on the two sides of the
state line. Secretary of the Interior
Hitchcock at one time allotted 5000
600 for the purpose of beginning the
work of water storage there; but the
appropriation was conditioned upon
the settlement of some contentious
among the water users of the valley
about their rights, as they were not
settled, the money was used else
where. Since that time an adjust
ment of the rights of the various
water users has been made. The
National Government is, l believe,
the only organization that can do this
work and bring peace to the settlers;
and | suggest that 1t should take hold
of that enterprise and apply a por-
tion of the reclamation fund to it.
The Carson River.
The waters of the Carson river are
first appropriated near the California
line, in what is known as Carcon val
ley The private irrigation enter
prises which have been there for a
number of years are among the most
successful in Nevada and the West
The farmers own tracts in small area
and they are largely Germans and
Danes or their defendants, and form
prosperous community. But there
are about $4,000 acres in this valley
with little or no water, but which
could he irrigated II the waters were