THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



The speech of Major John W. Powell, on 

 tne water supplies of the arid region, at 

 the International Irrigation Congress was 

 the one element of discord in that remarkable gather- 

 ing. The offence given was summed up in the two 

 following sentences, which are taken from the official 

 record : 



There Is not water enough and can never be; a quantity of 

 water can never be conserved sufficient to irrigate more than 

 one-third of the land already owned by private individuals. 



Not one more acre of land should be granted to individuals 

 for irrigation purposes. If you irrigate the land yet remaining 

 in the hands of the Government you have got to sacrifice some 

 of the land remaining in the hands of individuals. 



This statement from the director of the Geological 

 Survey, following the platform declaration, that homes 



HOWARD V. HINCKLEY. 

 Consulting Engineer of the Kansas Irrigation Association. 



for millions can be made on the arid public domain, 

 sounded very startling to the ears of men who ex- 

 pect to achieve so much for civilization by means of 

 the organized irrigation movement. It seemed to be 

 in direct and hopeless antagonism to the theory on 

 which the platform had been erected, and the "Ad- 

 dress to the People of the United States" promul- 

 gated. The speech was roundly denounced as a mis- 

 statement of the facts and a premeditated blow at a 

 great cause, and perhaps by no one more roundly than 

 by the editor of THE AGE, both on the floor of the 

 Congress and in the pages of this journal. But is it 

 possible for one to hold the views in the main ex- 

 pressed in the platform and still to welcome the 

 Powell speech as the voice of conservatism, crying 

 out in a waste of reckless enthusiasm? Is there, 



after all, something valuable for the cause to be 

 gained from a calm review of Major Powell's speech, 

 especially with reference to particular localities? We 

 can say for the men of the Irrigation Congress that 

 they do not fear such a review of the speech. They 

 are honest in their views, which are based on personal 

 knowledge of their various States and Territories. 

 There was not a particle of the element of personal 

 enmity in their denunciation of the speech. On the 

 contrary, Major Powell's reputation and position are 

 such as naturally lead men to cultivate rather than 

 repel his association with them. 



These observations are prompted by let- 

 MfaA'a ters received from several western men 



Opimon. who are in thorough touch and sympathy 

 with the writer on most subjects. For instance, there 

 is Elwood Mead, State Engineer of Wyoming. No 

 man is more jealous of the future of his State. None 

 is more conclusively on record as having declared that 

 his portion of Arid America has abundant water sup- 

 plies and vast areas of arid public lands on which to 

 utilize them. And yet he sends us a letter entitled, 

 "A Defense of Major Powell," of which the following 

 is the full text: 

 To the Editor of the Irrigation Age: 



If one who confesses to holding perverse views on many ques- 

 tions may be permitted the privilege, I should like to off era few 

 words of protest against the extreme severity of the criticisms 

 of the address of Major Powell at Los Angeles. 



If the history of the irrigation movement has any lesson it is 

 the need of liberality of judgment as to the views held on the 

 proper disposition of the arid lands, and in any event, an honest 

 expression of opinion should always be respected. The fact 

 that a member of this convention had the temerity to suggest 

 that the United States, considered as a land owner, has ceased 

 to have any important interest in the arid land problem does 

 not seem to me an adequate reason for an exception to this gen- 

 eral rule. 



The attitude of the convention, was however, that the paper 

 was prepared in a spirit of unfriendliness to the west. Those 

 of us who have long regarded "The Lands of the Arid Region" 

 as outlining a model land system for that region will be slow to 

 accept this view. The whole career of the Director of the Geo- 

 logical Survey is a continued refutation of that charge. 



Nor do I regard the influence of this paper as being injuri- 

 ous to the west. The statement that the water supply is run- 

 ning low will not dry up a single stream. If it is a conservative 

 view it is only a fair offset to the exaggerated estimate in which 

 the convention so freely indulged. As between the dangers of 

 the two there is no question. 



Nothing is more needed than an adequate conception of the 

 evils of over appropriation of streams. This applies to people 

 living in the arid region, as well as to those who may become 

 settlers or investors hereafter. The lack of proper preliminary 

 investigation has already led to the absolute waste of thousands 

 of dollars in the construction of ditches for which there was no 

 water, and the unnecessary suffering and hardship of hundreds 

 of settlers in the attempt to establish homes for which there is 

 no support. 



As the head of an administrative department, which has to 

 deal with water right controversies from one years end to an- 

 other, I know how distressing are the losses and how bitter the 

 controversies which grow out of the over appropriation of 

 streams. Any one who calls attention to these things is worthy 

 of commendation instead of censure. 



