Evening star., 1922-08-20
wENTY years ago the west
came to Congress asking for
loan Of certain government

came to Congress ASKING ioF
loan Of certain government
moneys to build irrigation
projects for the reclamation OF aria
lands. The request was granted; the
loan was authorized in the national
reclamation act of 1902; the west
promised to repay in ten years. and
the moneys accordingly were ad-
vanced absolutely without interest.
To date the government has invested
s132 653.9OO net in irrigation prof.
ects, and the settlers on these projects
have repaid s12.s2O,3o0. or less than
10 per cent of their obligation, In
twenty years.
In a few DAYS, when the soldier
bonus bill is before the Senate. -the
west and the south will jointly ask
for a further loan" of 350.00o.ooo out
of the federal Treasury. for the re-
claiming of arid lands In the west anu
swamp lands in the south: ana. un-
der the new proposal, which Is m
tended to be a rider to the bonus Dill.
the settler, who is to repay the gov
eminent. will be given forty vars, IN :
stead of ten. in which to reimburse
the government.
Opposition to New Loan.
There will be opposition to the new
Joan proposal from Legislators VINO
have not been convinced of the sound
ness of the investment made by the
government under the reclamation
law. Proponents of the new loan VIII
be asked to give some idea OF wien
the government may expect relm-
Iursement, if the experiences OF the ne
past are any guide to the future.
the west in twenty years has dis-
charged less than 10 per cent OF an
obligation it agreed originally TO meet
take to discharge an obligation nearly
three times as great. when the new
obligation is to be piled on TO an olo
deficit of nearly s12O.o00.ooo?
There can be no question that II
rieatiou, from the standpoint OF the
settler and the standpoint of the
construction engineer. is an estao-
1ished success; there is no question
as to the physical success or drain
age of swamp lands. But viewed
investor" doubts have arisen in the
minds of men in Congress VINO are
charged with holding down expendi-
lures, and the financial record mace
on government irrigation pro1ects nas
not inspired confidence in the penang
pr poSal for q new ana larger iodh'
Not All Money Due.
. lump sum loan of s132.0oo.OoO. II
get aside the 'nnual receipts from
the sale of public lands to be USED
in building irrigation projects. and IN
twenty years these receipts nave
mounted up to the tolal s!ateu. -
all the money thus far invested IS
yet due the government, prooaoly
not over so per cent of the total
would have been repaid to date had
all obligations been met promptly:
for payments are not reaulred o1
and water is available. Further
more, the rate of repayment vas
been slowed down since Congress IN
1914 gave the settlers twenty years
instead of ten years to make
payments. Nevertheless, one in
ducement that led Congress to pass
the reclamation law was the as
surance that the moneys loaned
would be returned in ten years. tne
moneys returned to go back into the
reclamation fund-a revolving fund
to be used in continuing the work
Of reclamation until such time as the
water resources of the arid country
shall become exhausted.
The history of national reclamation
Is told officially in the current issue
Of the Reclamation Record. published
by the reclamation service. Depart
ment of Interior. and the facts and
figures therein set forth may be ac-
cepted as accurate. The article IN
question is highly enlightening. and
in SO many words questions the good
faith Of many who have availed then
selves of the opportunity offered to
get an irrigated farm at cost, ON
time. with no interest whatever on de-
ferred payments.
Crop Values High.
For instance. the Record shows that
the expenditure of s132.O0O,000 has
built twenty-four Individual projects
on which are now established 31.462
farms. The crops from those farms
for 1921 were valued at $49.620 800. or
more than one-third of the total cost
of building the projects, while the
value of crops from all projects Tor
the past ten years is given as $426.-
0s0. .120. substantially more than three
times the amount invested. This f1g-
are does not cover the entire period
during which some of the projects
have been operated; it covers only the
last ten years. and yet in the face of
these big returns from crops. the set
tiers. in twenty years. have repaid
only S12.82O.3O0.
Detailed figures are interesting. The
famous Salt river project in Arizona.
duced crops last year valued at SILL
435.3S0: in the past ten years this
project produced crops worth s111.-
101.IOs: vet the settlers of that pros
porous project have repaid the gov
ernment only seos.sOo In single
year the crops of the Salt river
project would repay the full cost of
the project. yet those farmers have
to date discharged only At per cent
of their obligation to the government:
This is the most fragrant instance of
failure to meet an obligation. Six
nroiects in the west have, as yet, re-
raid nothing at all; only four have re-
paid more than 100000. and only
one has discharged more than 20 per
cent of It's obligation to the govern
bnent.
Table Of Repayments.
The story of the prosperity of these
projects. as measured by their crop
returns for the past ten years. and by
contrast the reluctance of irrigation