The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1916-12-08
1WfA1Y MILLION AC01
TAKEN UP DURING ifl||
Pioneer Spirit as strong Today n
Ever, Says Secretary of IntcrfR
Lane In His Report.
PUBLIC DOMAIN FAST GOING
Engineers Must Tap Unde,.gropIlt1
Waters to Make Desert Lands Frutfs
fui-Day of Big Operator VIII CU1ao
When Projects Require Capital

Washington. Dec. THE Americana
people are taking up the public do4s
main IN homesteads so rapidly that y
In a few years all Of the arabic land j
VIII be settled, according to the an-
nual report of Secretary of the INTERIOR
Franklin X. Lane. 800
The secretary says that the s0iu-s.
ton of the problem Of getting nf0rosf
land for the people lies in the derIsses
ing OF some scheme for utilizing the
great hidden reservoirs of water wilich
lie under the earth, The report dc~x
ciares there are vast stores of water Z
underlying the great American deserts
and the exercise of sufficient engineer. q
ing genius can tap these supplies and
/ bring under cultivation millions 03eg
acres Of land now desert go
In addition, the use of streams and
other surface water can be increased e
to provide more land for food raising.
the report says.
Secretary Lane says that the
pioneer spirit Is much alive In
America today as il ever was and
points 10 the fact. that nearly twenty Il
million acres Of the public domain
were taken up in homesteads In the
last fiscal year This compares with
: seventeen million acres the prcviOu1
year, sixteen million for 1913 and If
teen million for 1912.
| secretary Lane advocates spectatex
legislation to provide for work on
bringing underground waters to the
surface. either hy the government or
by private parties.
Day of individual Passing.
The agricultural possibilities Of q
Alaska still are in an experimentafs #
stage. the report says. but it has been a
demonstrated that much food OF M
| hardy sort can be raised in that yaSe<f
American territory. a42ssssa8s
Generally speaking. Secretary Lano%
says, the day of the Individual pioneofFa
will have passed in five years. Aftors5
/ that time the taking Of public lanA&l
VIII require so much capital nvest~sgs
: ment for irrigation or reclamattOng
! from swamps that the man of small
means will have to give place q I
Weather interests.
Secretary Lane reports that the Hu,s.
reau OF Indian Affairs has been work.
ing steadily to better the conditiona
of the Red Men and has increased the
indian population slightly. Many In~#
dams are being freed from govern- n
ment wardship and while large NUNS
bers of them Take their funds and
spend the money for automobiles Or
clothes Unfortunately. most OF tteuass
| take their responsibilities as their
own masters seriously and attempt to-
be producers. ~
The lives of many Indian babf49s|
have been saved by an Indian batrsas
saving campaign, conducted by the In.
terror Department and the death rate
has been reduced : per cent.
Numerous Irrigation Projects.
Approximately $3.50 600 600 wa44
paid out in pensions 10 old soldiers and
benefiCiarieS under the pension law9Ss
last year. Secretary Lane reports. NH
/ Seventy thousand applications tor
patents were received last year. thu
( report shows. tF4isassaSS
/ Twenty-four irrigation projects hayl
been pushed by the Reclamation Ser
vice. according to the report. and .fn1k#
projects have been completed aduri4H#
the year. This has added five thoues
sand farms, totalling 225000 acres. to@i
the irrigated country Seven hundrc6ss
miles of canals. eighty miles of drains
| fifty miles OF pipe line, sixty miles Q&Ss
roads. seven Thousand, two hundrQ1x
canal structures six hundred hridgeAs
besides vast amount of excavatfnH@
and other work, have made up The
years output of the Reclamation SeE@%
vice. x%
The Bureau of Mines has workers.
| on the perfecting of improved meth
DDS of rerating low grade ores SO 16M
TO recover the largest possible arnouNHM
of valuable metal. $50
Two new national parks one Ma
! Hawaii and the Lassen Volcanic PAfH#
in northern California. have been COM
pleted, the report says
Consistent progress has been ma4H8
during the year on the Governfn&6fS
Railway in Alaska. the first coal mi09a
to the Matanuska fields having b&e1%
opened up as a result. ss