Arizona republican., 1915-06-06

mission at this particular time. hope so, at least, and we promise not to be at all envious or jealous of any further progress, however great, but do reserve the privilege, upon being asked about it, to give among our excuses that we were members of the service in the early stages, etc.
 But, coming down to the practical part Of the work. There is one feat ure connected with the reclamation service policies which but few real iZe. They appreciate it when called to their attention, but l fear it sell dom occurs to them. That is we have problems to solve in this bureau with which no other department of the public service has to contend. That is to say, the government now. for example, has expended nearly one hundred million dollars in the build ing of reclamation projects. It has not only spent that money and en- deavored to spend it wisely and most effectively, trying to secure the greatest possible service for every dollar spent, but has at the same time been required to provide a way by which to get that money back again. When the other departments spend money it is gone; they tell it good bye. A warship is built at large cost, and whether it sinks a foe or
 itself should land at the bottom of the sea, the money spent never re- turns. When money is expended in building harbOrs. improving the navi- gability of rivers, etc, we never ex- pect to see it returned directly to the government in dollars and cents; we only expect it's return if at all. in the way of general benefits to the public. Hence the difficulties con fronting the departments making such expenditures are not so great as in the reclamation service, where We must provide a way to have re turned to the reclamation fund ev- cry dollar expended in our work As stated in the case of Baker vs Swi- gert by the United States supreme court, it is contemplated that every dollar of the reclamation fund shall be returned to it; the expenditures bear no interest, hence unless means is provided whereby the mon ey expended shall be returned. the fund will eventually become depleted and just to the extent it may not be itbdAi iAtu lO that poil llCuldI luHu, lUt funds needed for new projects are depleted. I fear the water users un- der the various projects too often forget this particular feature. When their projects are placed in opera tion they realize the great benefits derived, but forget the millions of acres of arid land waiting for the ex- penditure of more money It is very irr1nnTrqnf that
 turned to the fund in order that we may further conquer the desert We must have it to carry on our warfare not upon men. but upon the desert If we but had the money now being expended in warfare in Europe to- cay. or even one tenth part of it, we could conquer and reclaim more ter ritory in the western states than the total area of some of the principal nations engaged in those wars. And not the desert alone but about sew enty-five millions of acres of swamp lands in the southern states. And. taking into consideration that we may carry on a conquest without loss of lives, but by the protection and preservation of them, you should remember that it becomes the duty of everyone receiving the benefits of funds expended by the service. to do his part toward securing it's return
 Some say to us, If they expend funds for rivers and harbors and give such funds a parting goodbye. why don't they say the same for us?' But they forget the very important-I distinction that when it is expended for the betterment of rivers and ir the improvement of harbors, the en- tire country, if not the world, may use them, but when expended in reclamation of arid lands, the bene- ficiary is given the land, and as such occupant or owner has the exclusive right to the use of such particular tract of land. The public it is true, receives the general benefit of having all this land added to the wealth of the nation, and many of us incline to the view that the government should take into consideration these general benefits received and, ac- cordingly, should be willing to con tribute at least a part of the cost. The difficulty however, is to know where to draw the line, but It would seem the government should contrib ute at least q part of the eXpendi- 1 lures that inure to the general vel
  ence to any particular individual But when we take into consideration the further feature that this is the Cnly enterprise upon which the gov ernment is embarked, at least as far as I know, where it furnishes the money to the people with which to suLrly the water so essential to the LrbuiIding of the homes. anG that it 1 supplies this money without interest, 1 it ce' t;,inly should b. deemed the i taking of a ve~v generous step in | the right direction on the part of the government. Under the 20-year cx-rl .ch act. | furnish $ the money :tr the first foTr years d per cent, ! he feXt two ears t' per cent, i and Il.e rest of the t:T,l- a 6 per | cent. I can remember when I first ] entered into poli.I.s away pack in the | year 1892, that for some years there | was a certain politicai party com DriSpd Of a cOnSldcrahle number of |