THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



tains on one side of it is the prosperous mining canip 

 of Park City, while the undeveloped possibilities of 

 La Plata lie within easy reach in another direction. 

 The water which comes from the canons to irrigate 

 the valley is now about to be utilized for power to 

 generate electricity, and this will turn the wheels of 

 numerous industries, as well as supply the heat and 

 light for stores, factories and dwellings. Ogden is 

 not an unusual instance, except in the fact that it is 

 further^developed than most localities. Nature has 

 provided the foundation of .an industrial life which 

 will be almost complete. The producer and the con- 

 sumer have grown up side by side. They supplement 

 each other at every step. Their interests are inex- 

 tricably blended. They can no more be separated 

 than the trunk, the leaf and the blossom of the tree. 



Is it possible to make a magazine, found- 

 A Distinctive e( j U p 0n these conditions, which will be- 

 come the distinctive journal of Western 

 America? Three years of patient study convinces us 

 that it is. Early readers will remember that the first 

 few numbers of this periodical bore the title THE 

 IRRIGATION AGE AND WESTERN EMPIRE. The first 

 conception of its scope was along these lines, but it 

 was quickly discovered that the idea was too compre- 

 hensive for general appreciation at that time, and the 

 sub-title was dropped, in order that nothing should in- 

 terfere with the vigorous presentation of the irriga- 

 tion idea. During the last few months public thought 

 has rapidly shaped itself in conformity with the 

 original conception of THE AGE. Projectors of irri- 

 gation enterprises now generally present the water 

 power feature to the investing public. Electricity 

 has come to the fore with prodigious strides, bringing 

 in its train a flock of new industrial and social possibil- 

 ities. It is now plain to the dullest imagination that 

 the movement which renders habitable the deserts of 

 Arid America necessarily awakens the latent possibil- 

 ities of the water falls, the mine, the factory and the 

 ideal conditions of social life. Everybody is begin- 

 ning to see that all these things are web of one woof. 

 And if they are all to be represented in their broader 

 outlines in one periodical no other is so fit for the 

 undertaking as THE IRRIGATION AGE, which already 

 goes to every postoffice in the arid region, and is read 

 in the counting rooms of eastern and British investors, 

 and by a select public in every civilized country on 

 earth, as the exponent of western aspirations. This, 

 then, is the plan of THE AGE for 1894. It will be 

 developed by a gradual process, and it will be true to 

 its program. 



1994 The vear f 1894 will be the greatest year 



A Formative in the history of American irrigation. This 



may not be true in miles of ditches built, 



or number of acres reclaimed, but it will be true in a 



8 ense that is far beyond the matter*bf ditches and acres, 



for irrigation is now a problem of institutions and a 



civilization. It involves the destinies of States, the 



future of National expansion, the outworking of the 



best possibilities of humanity itself. And it is in that 



aspect that 1894 will surpass all the years of the past 



all the years of the future, too, perhaps in what it 



will add to the history of American irrigation. For 



this will be known as the formative period. In the 



next few months, p - -- 1 



under the plan 



organized at Los j 



Angeles, the men fo 



of seventeen States ' - 



and Territories will js| 



be mapping out | 



the irrigation poli- 



cies of the future. 



The machinery of 



the State Commis- 



sions will soon be 



in full operation, 



and will be supple- 



mented by a vig- 



orous campaign, 



conducted by the 



National Executive 



Committee. The 



result of the year's 



work, if reasonable 



expectations are 



realized, will be the cementing of western public 



opinion behind a comprehensive national measure and 



the union of the various States upon an enlightened 



system of local laws. In doing this the men of the 



West will be laying the broad foundation of a civili- 



zation. This is the noble task set for the friends of 



Arid America in the year 1894. 



Copyright 1893, by Harper's Weekly. 



FRANCIS G. NEWLANDS. 

 Member of Congress from Nevada. 



The First ^ an ^ an ar ^ ^ an< ^ P^ c y P re ' 



Plan pared for presentation to a State Commis- 

 Froposed. . , T 



sion comes from the fertile brain 01 L. M. 



Holt, and will be submitted to his colleagues of the 

 California tody. Briefly, its points are as follows: 



1. There shall be created by national law a Depart- 

 ment of Irrigation, the head of which shall be a Cabi- 

 net officer. 



2. The States shall be given jurisdiction over all the 

 arid public lands lying within their respective borders. 



3. Every State shall create a permanent Irrigation 

 Commission, of five members, one of whom shall be 

 State Engineer. 



4. Whenever it becomes desirable to reclaim a body 

 of public lands, the State Commission shall devise plans 

 for the work, which can only be put into operation 

 after receiving the sanction of the national depart- 

 ment. 



5. This approval secured, the State shall issue its 



