328 TEE IRRIGATION PROBLEM. 



appropriation of the water and land should be immediate and 

 irrevocable; the litigation for damages may take place afterward. 



6. To furnish the money necessary to works of irrigation, there 

 should be commissioners appointed by the Board of Supervisors, or, 

 when in two or more countries, by the joint action of the Supervi 

 sors of the counties; these commissioners to assess upon each and 

 every acre a tax proportionate to the whole expense as estimated by 

 the engineers employed by the trustees, and to the benefits, either 

 directly or indirectly, which will result from such works. 



7. These assessments to be collected by the District Attorney of 

 the county in which the land lies, or by some State officer appointed 

 for the purpose, and the amount collected to be immediately paid 

 into the county treasury and there subject to the order of the trus 

 tees when appointed by the Supervisors. But no order to be paid 

 except for work actually clone or in compliance with the judgment 

 and orders of a court. &quot;Warrants drawn by the trustees to draw in 

 terest at ten per cent, per annum until paid. 



8. Assessment to the full amount necessary should be made by the 

 commissioners upon the estimates formed by the engineers employed 

 by the trustees of the district; but the trustees shall call in only in 

 stallments of this tax large enough to cover the works which must be 

 completed within six months from date of call. All assessments to 

 be a lien upon the land and work its forfeiture unless paid. 



9. All contracts to be let to the lowest bidder for cash, and all 

 contracts to be let in small sections, after due advertisement. Thus 

 giving the poor man an opportunity of paying his assessment by his 

 own labor. 



10. The district thus formed shall own the water forever, and no 

 land not included in the district, and which has not paid for the 

 works of irrigation at the time the works are constructed, shall have 

 the use of this water, except on such terms as the officers of the dis 

 trict may dictate; for the land-owner who will not assist in the en 

 terprise should have none of its privileges. 



If the State should actually own and build canals for irrigation, 

 canal rings, as in New York, may be formed. And if it is proper to 

 construct them in one place, why not in fifty places? The owners 

 of gravel and placer claims will not understand why the land spec 

 ulator should have State bonds to assist him, when other great inter 

 ests of the State require assistance. The tule land-owner will 

 equally demand assistance, and thus, when the State begins to issue 

 bonds, who can tell the stopping place ? 



Few farmers on these plains count their acres by less than hun 

 dreds, and speculators count by thousands. If they form districts 

 and prove to the world that they intend to irrigate, their lands will 

 rapidly advance in value, and thus before they have to pay their first 

 assessment they can sell one half their land for enough to pay for 

 irrigating the other half. Now, as one acre irrigated is worth ten 

 not irrigated, it seems a fair proposition that they should, if neces 

 sary, sell a portion to improve the other. State aid, except to assist 

 in the formation of districts and the condemning to their use the 

 waters of the rivers, should not be extended to the owners of the 

 land 



