Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-02-07

make searching study Of these re-
naming lands to see what final dis
position can most wisely be made Of
them.
Problems Of Pioneers.
There has been a vast change which
compels new thinking and new deci-
Sons. ms is not only because of the
ulIIerence IN topography and quality of
these public lands, but because of the
necessity OF the adoption of appropriate
national policies which will preserve
Cnel values in minerals, forest and
plant resources and water for the fu-
lure. Perhaps can best indicate the
shifts that are taking place as we look
az these problems by reminding you of
the difference between the settler who
could take his 100 acres of prairie land
and through his own labor develop it
INTO highly productive farm in the
course OF a Few years, and the problems
racing the pioneer settler of today. The
man who was in good location on the
prairie or In favored valley could be
almost independent of his neighborS ex-
cept in such matters as those directly
associated with government. He as an
individual and the Government as a
landlord could in a simple manner work
out the determination of his ownership,
and he could be set free as a landowner
to take his chances with the seasons
and the Summer rains and the Winter
snow. This process was one of almost
unbounded success all through most of
the Mississippi Valley and absorbed
many Of the returning veterans of the
War of 1861 to 1865. But in the west
ern third of the United States, after
the choice spots along the rivers and
valleys and after the first simple placer
mining was exhausted, concerted &C
ton OF groups was the only process by
which successful settlement could be
made. Even when the public lands
were the public range for great herds
need OF some form of control to show
itself. Nature has a more forbidding
aspect in the high mountains and In
the arid valleys and demands that a
higher price be paid for her conquest.
AS we look at many of the more diff
f1cult problems of the West today, we
find that they involve millions of peo-
pie and are regional in character. The
checkerboard of political units placed
over the continent often is handicap
rather than an advantage in trying to
handle these great regional resources.
Streams bringing necessary water for
the irrigation Of vast tracts of lands
often rise high up in the mountains of
distant States. We can drop the stream
over artificial waterfalls and make
power; we can hold the water back and,
where gravity permits it, bring life to
settlements through irrigation. But the
higher the mountain, the greater the
elevation, the less suitable is the cli-
mate for those forms of vegetable life
most productive of income when brought
under control. The political uits of all
the low valley land have the greatest
opportunity. to develop wealth. but the
development of that wealth is depend
ent upon the resources of the distant
hills. This brings about conditions
which demand the regional handling of
the great physical problems associated
with the settlement of the West. In
evitably, we have a conflict of the in
terests OF political units in the use Of
available regional resources.
Seven States Interested.
In the development Of the plans for
the erection Of great dam in the Colo
RADIO River at Black Canyon, the So
called Boulder Dam, seven States are