lo Aug., 1909.] Problems in Irrigation Developtnciit . 493 



was profitable or not, and if I am one of ten men who collectively borrow 

 ;,(^io I have no right to shift my obligation to the other nine, even if not 

 satisfied with the results of the loan. In the irrigation districts the large 

 land-owner has not recognised his obligation. The cost of the irrigation 

 works built for his benefit is either being paid by the user of water on 

 small holdings or by the State. 



The resolutions passed last week by the land-owners of the Swan Hill 

 irrigation district illustrate the lack of appreciation of the moral obliga- 

 tion assumed when the State at their request provides facilities for irri- 

 gation. Before the increased water supply was assured the land-owners 

 of the district gave reiterated assurance that if water was provided the> 

 would use it and pay for it. Now, before one season is passed, before 

 it is even known what water will finally cost, the same land-owners meet 

 and declare that it is impossible for a settler to pay los. an acre for 

 water and live on the land, and they call on their representatives to oppose 

 the Amending Water Bill because one of its features is to impose a charge 

 which will return from irrigation districts what it costs to supply water. 

 This declaration was made before these land-owners had done anything 

 towards introducing improved methods of cultivation or made any test 

 which would enable them to determine what the value of an improved 

 water supph would be. Now, the experiences at Mildura, Bendigo and 

 many other districts with less natural advantages than Swan Hill show 

 that men can pav far more than los. an acre for water and live on the 

 land, and the Amending Water Bill which they ask to have defeated 

 proposes the fairest allocation of cost which can be devised. All the 

 people are required to pay is enough to make the works self-supporting 

 and the benefits of irrigation will enable this to be done whether the 

 charge is 5s. or los. an acre. 



No one has more sympathy than I with the hard conditions which have 

 confronted the irrigators in many of the districts of Victoria where the 

 water supply is not adequate and where each year they lose a part of 

 their crop because of this ; and I have the highest admiration for the 

 patient courage thev have shown, but I have 110 patience whatever with 

 the selfishness of a district which, when given a full supply of water and 

 an opportunitv to demonstrate its value, makes no effort whatever to 

 utilize this opportunity but announces in advance that it will not pay and 

 that somebody else must foot the bill. 



Every debt written off an irrigation district is transferred to others 

 who had no benefit whatever from the expenditure. It is time for thi.<J 

 sort of procedure to stop and that a healthier tone should prevail in these 

 favoured areas. There can be neither equity nor profit in irrigation de 

 velopment until this is brought about. The remedy proposed by the 

 Government is a compulsory charge for water which, beginning with one 

 half of that cost, reaches the full amount in five years. There is no hard- 

 ship or injustice in this. Where land is properly cultivated irrigation will 

 pay and all who have tested this statement know it is true. The irrigators 

 in the Lerderderg Valley have agreed to pay 15s. an acre foot for water 

 if the State will build a storage work to provide it. Irrigators at Bendigo 

 and Castlemaine pay 25s. an acre foot and the Mildura price is 30s. an 

 acre. The good land at Swan Hill, Cohuna and Rodney will bring as 

 large acreage returns as the lands at Bendigo, Mildura and Lerderderg 

 and if properly cultivated can easily pav the full cost of supplying water. 

 It is true that the farmer who wishes to continue the old methods will find 

 it difficult, but unless he will use the land properly this ought to be so. 



