Arizona republican., 1914-04-08
THE CAREY ACT
 ID BE AMENDED
Representative Hayden In troduces Bill Designed to Correct Features of Act Which Have Been Pro ductive of Failures

Representative Carl Hayden has in
 troduced in congress bill to revise and amend the Carey act The original act was passed in 1894 and has been amended in number of particulars since that time, but, owing to the fail ureS of d number of the Carey act rec lamation projects, there has been a
 growing demand for a general revision of this important branch of the na-
 tional irrigation law The chief ob- stacle in the way at present is a gen.
 eral lack of confidence on account of
 the past failures resulting in inability
 to secure financial backing. The sett-
 lers under d number of the projects have
 suffered great losses on account of the
 delay in constructing the irrigation
 works, so that it is also necessary that
 confidence be restored in the minds of
 prospective homeseekers on the arid
 lands of the west.
 The Hayden bill provides for a more
 strict supervision both on behalf of the state and the United States with re- spect to he feasibility of proposed irri-
 gation projects, thus protecting both the investor and the settler The bill reduces the area that may be acquired by any one person from 160 to so acres and requires actual residence on the land for two years, and the cultivation of one half of the irrigible area of the entry before patent can issue. The settler is further protected by a pro- vision which prohibits the sale or entry of land until water is availa ble for its irrigation.
 At the suggestion of the secretary of the interior an irrigation conference will be held at Denver beginning on April 9. It is expected that the gover nors of all the public land states be in attendance, together with the representatives of the irrigation inter ests of the entire west. The revision and amendment of the Carey act wilt 1 be- one of the principle questions con sidered a this conference and MT. Hay den has introduced his bill at this time | in order that a definite proposition for ! remedial legislation might be consid cred by the conference.
 The difference between the reclama- 1 tion law and the Carey act is that un ] der the first named law the money to construct the irrigation works is furn- | shed by the United States through the reclamation fund while under the Carey
 act the public lands are donated to the l states and the irrigation works are
 constructed under the supervision of ! the state from the proceeds of bonds
 secured by lien on the irrigation | lands
 The bill by Senator Smith, of Ari
 zona, to extend the time of payment on the government reclamation projects
 from ten to twenty years which has
 passed the senate, will furnish relief to l the settlers residing on the two mil
 lior acres irrigated from the projects 1 constructed under the reclamatio law. The passage of the Hayden bill is nec- | essary in order tn complete the revision
 of the federal Laws relating to irriga- | ton and will make it possible to irri- gate large areas of land that are now 1 in desert condition The reclamation
 fund is exhausted so that it is neces-
 sary to provid. a means whereby pri- | Ndte cApltdl VIII De encouraged tO enter , into irrigation enterprises.
 The department of the interior has declined to make a report on .he bills ! introduced by Senator Smith and Con- gressman Hayden opening the Colorado i River Indian reservation to settlement under the terms and conditions of the 1 Carey act for ,he reason that the pre S. | ent Carey law is in such chaotic con-
 Gition that it IS feared that the pro,ecc ! could not be properly financed If the ! Carey act can be amended so as to make it workable the secretary of the interior will undol, btedlv re! oIt fav- cTably on the biiS opening this rescr vation to settlement. There are over 1 one hundred thousand acres of excel lent land near Parker on this reser-
 vation. enough land to furnish homes
 for at least fifteen thousand people and to add twenty million dollars to the taxable wealth of Arizona There are
 a number of other irrigation projects in Arizona that could be constructed un- der the Carey act so that it is of great l importance that this law be revised in the near future.