The Kennewick courier-reporter. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1914-1938, 1920-08-12
The States Proposition
IT IS ONE THING to con-

struct an irrigation pro-
ject and quite another to actually
develop a project after construc-
ton has been completed. If one
were to catalogue irrigation
failures and analyze the causes
he would undoubtedly find that
one or more, or all, of the fol
lowing factors contributed to the
; failure: Land speculation, land
sold at exhorbitant prices or
) withheld from sale to await
higher prices; delayed settle
ment or failure to bring suffi-
Gent lands under cultivation to
adequately m eet operation,
maintenance and interes t
charges; poor class of settlers,
lands sold to settlers without re-
gard to their ability to weather
! the non-productive period; poor
quality of land and inadequate
water supply.
Investigation of the states
reclamation services proposal
on the Kennewick irrigation pro-
Iject reveals that all of those con-
tributing factors to failure have
been guarded against. In the
first place, land speculation is
eliminated by the states becom-
ing the sole agency for all Of the
undeveloped lands in the project
at definite and fixed price of
$50 an acre. Instead of delayed
settlement there is to be advance
settlement as construction is not
to start until sufficient lands
have been sold to actual settlers
to justify the construction Of the
first unit. By requiring a cash
payment of $55 an acre in addi-
ton to the initial cost of the
land, within one year from the
time construction starts, the
state insures a class of settlers
insofar as financial responsible
lity is concerned, far superior to
the "shoestring" settlers who
are often attracted to new pro-
ijects only to be separated from
their small savings by unscrup-
ulous real estate agents.
The questions of quality of
land and adequacy of water have
been well taken care of. Before
a foot of land is sold every acre
/ in the project will have been in
spected, plated and classified by
competent men who will have no
incentive to misrepresent quail
lily. Water duty, that is the
quantity of water required, has
been determined by engineers Of
the United States recla1na
ton service and their determin-
ations have been reviewed and
lrechecked by the state engineers
who have increased the govern
/ ment allowance for good meas
ure. The title to the water is
gilt edge in that the United
States government through it's
reclamation service contracts to
lsee to it that the required
amount of water is in the river
at the point of diversion. In
other words, the proposition is
a guaranteed, gilt edge one from
start to finish.
The first step in the program
lis for the landowners of the dis
Itrict to vote bonds in the sum of
500 per acre, the, sale Of which
the state contracts to under
take. The next step is for the
owners of undeveloped lands to
turn their holdings over to the
state to be sold at $50 an acre.
What if they refuse? Any land
owner who does not elect to do
this may retain his land by pay
ing a cash assessment of $55 an
acre to start with and making
Interest, maintenance and other
payments upon the same basis
and at the same rate as cultivat-
ed lands.
j AS yet the state board has not
indicated whether or not. it will
fix a maximum ownership limit
within the project. If this is
not done an owner of 160 acres
for instance, may retain his en-
tire holdings by paying $4,000
in cash and $4,000 within one
year after construction begins.
Should he wish to retain 80 acres
he would turn over his 16O acres
. to the state and make applica-
ton to retain half of it. For the
$50 which he relinquished he
would receive, after it had been
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