ATTITUDE OF THE ADMINISTRATION 



545 



committed the Government to the great 

 work of irrigating the arid lands, but 

 it furnished an example and stimulant 

 to private capital and enterprise to en- 

 ter upon this development wherever 

 capital could be secured. 



While the Government has invested 

 over $50,000,000 in irrigation works, 

 many times that amount has been in- 

 vested since the passage of the Reclama- 

 tion Act by private enterprise, and it is 

 safe to say that a large portion of these 

 private investments have resulted from 

 governmental example and encourage- 

 ment ; and let me say here that it has 

 not been and is not the policy of the 

 National Government in the administra- 

 tion of this act to hinder or interfere 

 with the investment of private capital 

 in the construction of irrigation works, 

 but rather to lend it encouragement. 

 This is particularly true in reference to 

 irrigation under the Carey act in the 

 various states. I am not a believer in 

 the Government entering into compe- 

 tition with legitimate private enter- 

 prise. Its functions under the Reclama- 

 tion Act are not of this character, and 

 , I am sure that when private enterprise 

 has done what it can there will still be 

 thousands upon thousands of acres of 

 public lands reclaimable only by Gov- 

 ernment aid. The western states should, 

 therefore, be very jealous of the per- 

 petuity of the reclamation fund and of 

 its constant increase. 



The purpose of the Reclamation Act 

 is to undertake the irrigation of arid 

 and semi-arid lands where a consider- 

 able portion thereof belongs to the pub- 

 lic domain, and by the installation of 

 the storage and diversion of available 

 waters to irrigate the largest possible 

 area within a given territory at the 

 least cost to the entrymen and land- 

 owners for construction, maintenance, 

 and operation, always keeping in view 

 the matter of the settlement of these 

 lands and rendering them capable of 

 supporting the greatest number of fam- 

 ilies. While it is a reclamation act, it 

 is also a settlement act, and the pub- 

 lic lands which are proposed to be irri- 

 gated by means of the contemplated 

 works have been rendered subject to 

 entry only under the homestead laws 



in small tracts capable of supporting a 

 family. It is is declared by the act 

 that only the cost of construction and 

 maintenance shall be repaid to the Gov- 

 ernment. No consideration of profit or 

 direct advantage to the Government is 

 intended, and in this the statute does 

 not trench upon the rights of private 

 enterprise, particularly so long as the 

 reclamation of public land is the main 

 object of the Government. The law is 

 a beneficent one ; it is another evidence 

 of the broad and liberal policy which 

 has ever actuated our National Gov- 

 ernment in the disposition of its public 

 lands. It differs, however, from the 

 simple homestead law in that it holds 

 out inducements only to men of suffi- 

 cient industry and capacity to carry the 

 added burdens of construction, main- 

 tenance, and operation, which is the 

 cost of the lands. While it is possible 

 that persons of limited means may suc- 

 cessfully enter and acquire irrigated 

 lands, it will generally be found that 

 it is not a poor man's proposition, un- 

 less coupled with intelligent industry in 

 agriculture. 



The whole scheme of the act is based 

 upon the appropriation of the proceeds 

 of the sales of public lands in certain 

 states and territories for the construc- 

 tion of irrigation works for the rec- 

 lamation of arid and semi-arid lands 

 therein. No further appropriation by 

 the Government is intended, or can be 

 inferred from the act, and the responsi- 

 bility for the disbursement of the funds 

 and the construction of the works is 

 placed upon the Secretary of the Inte- 

 rior. It must be recognized that the 

 Government is acting in the nature of 

 a trustee for the people in the dis- 

 bursement of this fund ; that it must 

 construct the works for the settlers and 

 turn them over at cost, and has no 

 right to recklessly or improvidently 

 waste the fund ; that cost means the 

 cost which is incurred in the exercise 

 of common business prudence, and this 

 is likewise true of the expense of main- 

 tenance and operation. 



It is also the declared purpose of this 

 law that the Secretary of the Interior 

 in carrying out its provisions shall pro- 

 ceed in conformity with the laws of the 



