416 



IRRIGATION. 



because of the character of the vested rights now accruing and the 

 inipossiV)i]it3' of entry upon these large works when the control of the 

 water has passed into the hands of the speculative element. 



National aid is not asked to secure the beginning- of the work of 

 irrigation, nor to take up an experimental enterprise. The whole 

 object of national assistance is along the line of making it possible for 

 the people of the country to continue to secure homes on the public 



41 



33 



29 







i 



i 

 i 

 i 



Fig. 5.— Map of dry farming areas. [The black portions show the localities where crops have been 



raised by dry farming.] 



domain through the ability to obtain water to be brought to the land '^ 

 b}^ dit(;hes or conduits built b}^ themselves. It is asked for the same 

 reason that the settlers called upon the Government to protect them 

 from the savages, from the overflows of great rivers, and to aid 

 navigation by establishing light-houses and render it possible by 

 dredging bars across the harbors. As before stated, none of these 

 pay in the sense of a commercial, undertaking, l)ut the (jovernmentand 

 the people as a whole secure a larger share of prosperity through 

 making possible the opportunities for the pursuit of various industries. 



