The Kennewick courier-reporter. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1914-1938, 1925-10-22

| there Will De from IO,OUO TO HU,OVV
more. Reclamation has done much to
save some arid states from economic
collapse. The situation in Nevada
would be critical if it were not for
the Newlands project. Counting those
who live on this project, the state has
only 10000 people. This little handful
Of citizens supports government,
schools, courts and higher education
over an area larger than the state of
| Illinois. Without the Newlands pro-
| ject farms with their winter feed for
range stock, it is difficult to con-
ceive how this state would carry on
with its shrinking resources in mines
and forests.
Western irrigation areas now are
our main source of long staple cot
ton. Millions of dollars which now
go to the irrigation farmers Of Texas,
Arizona and California would, with
out federal reclamation, go abroad to
the cotton growers of Egypt. With
out the local fodder crops Of irrigated
farms, the range livestock industry
of the arid West would collapse.
These federal projects have given an
economic support to cities that sorely
needed it. They have Increased the
business of transcontinental railroads
and furnished markets for the pro-
ducts of factories and contributed far
more to the economic strength Of this
| country than is realized in the humid
sections of the country.
But along with these achievements,
which have gone far to justify the
governments activity in reclamation,
there has gone tragic waste of mon
ey, effort and opportunity, because
the problems of finance, of farming
and the human needs of settlers have
never been adequately thot out nor
plans made to meet them. Lack of
economic and social plans have
wrecked some projects and have Gre
ated the problems that the interior
department and congress are now
seeking to solve.
The Larger Conception of
Reclamation
Congress realized at the outset
that reclamation requires money and
skilled engineers. These were provid-
ed. It was not realized that money
and expert advice and direction in
changing the sagebrush deserts into
farms would be needed; these were
not provided. It was not realized that
to repay these immense. costs settlers
must be skilled cultivators. Their
selection and training were ignored.
If reclamation is to go on we must
now provide for meeting the hui
man and economic needs. Only by
doing this can the monumental enter
prise now being pressed on the gov
eminent be made success.
The irrigation works of the Co
lumbia Basin project in Wash
ington will cost nearly $500,
100000. The water right for q
single acre will cost $158. To
single acre will cost $158.. To that
must be added the cost of chang
ing raw land into farms, which
will average 500 an acre. The
Colorado river now irrigates S,
100000 acres. When all its waters
have been conserved and used, it
will irrigate 100000 acres. The
agricultural development of these
two valleys will cost more than a
million dollars. Without skilled
farmers working with good tools,
owning good stock, and using
science and skill in cultivation,
the money spent on construction
will be thrown away. To make
these costly works pay there
must go with them an agricul-
| tural and rural civilization as far
removed from that of the COW
cred wagon, as that of Denmark
| is from that of Central Africa.
It is task worthy Of our ablest
minds, one of the greatest which ever
challenged the ability and patriotism
of this republic. Let u.s. therefore,
undertake to appraise some Of its
requirements and follow the evolu-
ton of the last quarter of century,
in order that we may understand
what tasks confront us.
We Should Profit from Past
Experience
! To begin with, federal reclamation
cannot succeed unless it is divorced
from politics. Less attention in the
future must be given to local impor-
tunities. This means disappointing
some states which desire the expendi-
ture of share of the fund within
their borders, regardless of the cost
or what the results will be after
works are built. From the first,
western congressman have been sub
jected to strong local pressure to get
!. works built and afterwards to relieve
settlers from their payments. The
high construction costs of today rem
. der it imperative that hereafter rec
lamation be freed from all danger Of
political control.
!; The reclamation policy was founded
on the theory that if irrigation works
were built, settlers would flock in
! and in some way dig in and succeed
as they had on the prairies of Iowa
, and Kansas. The difference between
! the conditions which confronted q
, homeseeker in Iowa, and in Arizona
L u =