The Ronan pioneer. [volume] (Ronan, Mont.) 1910-1970, 1914-01-23
SENATOR DIXON WRITES CONCERN.
ING FLATHEAD RECLAMATION WORK

the Moiese valley.
More than 80 miles of the main
feeder canal that skirts the base
of the Mission mountains, tap
ping, enroute. every side stream
that enters the great Flathead
valley, has already been COM
pleted.
The longer the matter is de-
layed the more prolonged will be
the suffering of innocent settlers
and their families and helpless
Indian allottees.
The work will have to be COM
pleted or not less than one mil
lion dollars will have been
wasted.
The governments own esti-
mate of the standing timber
alone on the unsold Flathead
lands shows more than 81, ,0O0,-
600 of merchantable timber, that
will be available just as soon as
the irrigation project is COM
pleted and the proposed line Of
railroad constructed.
The government stands no
more chance to lose one dollar of
the money it may advance to
complete this work than it does
the millions of dollars that it has
deposited in it's "depositary
banks"
The one sensible thing for
congress to do would be to ap-
propriate not less than $50O,0O
for the current year and as much
more the year following and COM
plete the great enterprise which
it has undertaken, instead of
prolonging the agony from year
to year, by insufficient appropri-
ations, that cannot be used by
the engineers with the same
economy and effectiveness as
would be the case if a sufficient
amount were made available for
the completion of the project.
Until the work is completed
and the water is available to the
settlers it is humanity impossible
for them to fully reimburse the
government for their pro rata
share of the money expended in
irrigating their 'forty-acre irri-
gated units" for which they
have so long waited.
While the proposed economy
program" of the present adminis-
tration may look good on paper
it will spell ruin to thousands of
innocent white settlers and
render still more destitute the
Indian allottees whose lands are
practically valueless to them un-
til their promised irrigation sys-
TEN is complete.
The Pioneer desires to add it's
feeble voice to the able words of
the late senator, and to call at
tention to the gross injustice
which this action would occa-
sion. To refuse to complete the
reclamation of the Flathead after
holding out the hope these past
four years, would be the colossal
infamy of the whole proceeding.
To require the settlers to pay for
homestead lands was bad enough,
and to give them only 40 acres
and attempt to say this action
exhausted their homestead right,
would be small in comparison.
The senators and members of
congress from Montana at the
time have their work cut
out for them. 1t will stand them
we'll in hand to combat such a
hing with every resource at
their command. And it seems
hat with other sections of the
country demanding as much as
S65, 900, 600 for river and harbor
appropriations (all of which
comes from the general fund of
he government and is never
oaid back that they should be
@ble to defeat the efforts of the
chairman Of the house committee
IN Indian affairs to stife the rec
of the Flathead and
,ther' Montana reservations.
There is probably no man who
Knows the ins and outs of Flat
head reclamation matters better
han Senator Dixon and it is to
oe hoped that he will give us
he benefit Of his knowledge, and