The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1921-02-24

41ho - LIZ va AafN ~ ~ u
some other state where he can make
a living. If the farming sections
are deserted there will be no need
for the merchant, the banker, the
lawyer or school teacher in the small
town. In fact there will be no small
town. If you don't believe this, visit
some old worked out mining camp
which in the old days made history
for the state. Visit Bannack.
If the small town goes out of ex-
istence we will have too many bank
ers, lawyers, engineers and mer-
chants in our larger towns. In the
olden days before the dry land
farmer came many of us who now
have a fine business were not
here; if we go back to old conditions
and former populations, many of us
will again be elsewhere.
In talking to the manager of a
concern which has loaned millions
in Montana, he said, I'VE are just be-
ginning to realize that we are in
terested in irrigation; we realize that
unless an irrigation program is car
ried out, u loans in Montana are
not worth much" The head of n
other concern said, 1--WE are not go
ing to buy any more municipal bonds
in Montana until we are assured
that the farming country supporting
these communities are in position to
grow crops"
1 have gone into this matter in
some detail because I know there are
many people who have not as yet
realized that our prosperity rests
primarily on u basic industry
farming, and that unless we can
make a success of farming there are
too many people in Montana.
The proposition is simple enough.
1t takes three elements to make the
growing of plants possible, namely,
proper soil, an abundance of sun
shine and an adequate supply of
moisture. We have an abundance of
sunshine in Montana. Most sections
have soil which contains sufficient
available plant food. However, most
sections of Montana do not naturally
have enough moisture available dur
ing the growing season to support
that can be used for human
food. Therefore we either supply
the moisture artificially (irrigate)
or don't grow the plants.
Probably the greatest natural re-
source of the state is it's water sup
pl. Our minerals, gold, silver and
when one mined and con-
sumed are lost to US forever. Not so
with our water. 1t reappears year
after year without effort on our part
and flows through the state, a YER
table STREAM of liquid gold" And !
what do we do with this wealth?
Do we use it? On mol We let it flow
out of the state and become a men {
ice to the states to the east and Z
south of US in the form of floods. 1t {
S estimated that enough water has |
is source in Montana which if q
properly conserved would irrigate .
Tx million acres, and in 1919 we I
ent fifty million dollars out of the 7
tate to buy forage. The spending of c
his sum of money in the building I
# irrigation works would make it
impossible for US to ever again be v
onfronted with this sort of a i
'roblem. t
Our not having used our water rel
heretofore is not all our O
ault. For n thing we didn't know t
ny better. We have to learn these b
Kings through experience. Many of f
ur people were honestly in the be- t
EFF that dry land farming could be h
a success in any part of Mon C
ana. Having had Jul experience and tt
aving found that there are largeI
ortions of Montana that can be i'm h
lensely benefited by the conserva- Il
on and application of this waste b
'ater to the land, it is to be hoped g
lat We will now take proper steps "
} accomplish this. h
Another obstacle in the way of b
ur making use of the waters is our 6
and unavoidable water right "
WIS. These laws were passed to fit te
lining and were probably adequate G.
IT this purpose. Usually the mining W
as done in the mountains and in
alter was obtained from a stream
few miles long, containing only a fC
nall amount of water and where at W
ost there were only a half dozen in
;erS. When one compares this usage in
18th irrigation On a stream like the 10
which %traverses two
ates, a national park, a forest III
serve and IL counties, has a pos II.
bility of irrigating a million acres We
it'll a hundred thousand separate tr
alter users, it becomes apparent W
at a law which was amply adequate ST
r the needs of the miner is entirely m
adequate for irrigation. flo
Montana is the only western state m
here irrigation is practiced, which w
les not have adequate laws for this &C
Our sister state, Wyoming, If
IS been operating under model of
ater right laws for 80 years. A ca
IL for water right law has been in pr
oduced at this session of the legis- pc
ture. 1t proposes that the title to st
waters shall vest in fe
e state and that the state shall st
we supervision and use of It's WI
aters. This is the fundamental tn
which obtains in all the of
ates which have water right laws. M
,neficial use in the new as well as In
e old laws is the only basis under in
lich title may be obtained. tn
1t is surprising how much opposi- 70
IN is developing against the pass ia
a nf 4ht1 Xii II oonnar fra~, Ill