50 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



L. J. CARPENTER, 



Member of the Colorado Irrigation Commission. 



It would be unfair to leave the subject 

 Good . , . . . . . . . . 



Timber without remarking that Arid America is 



on Hand. a i rea( iy f u n o f good timber for irrigation 

 managers. Among the strong men now well to the 

 front, some of them with very substantial achieve- 

 ments behind them, are Chas. W. Greene, of the Pecos 

 valley in New Mexico; S. W. Fergusson.of the Kern 

 County Land Company ih California; William H. 

 Rowe, of the Bear Riversystem in Utah; T. B. Sweet, 

 of Topeka, who is guiding large enterprises in Colo- 

 rado, Nebraska, Utah and Montana; Matthew Gage 

 and Frank E. Brown, of the Riverside and Redlands 

 localities, respectively; W. E.Alexander, of the Den- 

 ver Water Storage Company; W. S. McMullan, of 

 the Toltec system in Southern Colorado; W. J. Mur- 

 phy, of Arizona : Paul Schultze, of Washington, C. W. 

 Aldrach, of Utah, and several others. In this list are 

 men of large ability, but in most cases they have de- 

 veloped special branches of the business rather than 

 devoted themselves to the subject as a whole. The 

 necessities of their business are rapidly maturing them 

 into the well-rounded and thoroughly equipped class 

 of men who may be expected to render the highest 

 service to irrigation. 



More attention is now 

 Promising . 



Colony being paid to this branch 

 Plans. O f tne i n d us t r y than ever 



before. Very attractive plans are 

 under way in many localities. And 

 other plans, more interesting and 

 daring than any yet undertaken, seem 

 likely to be laid before the public in 

 the course of the next few weeks. In 

 another department of THE AGE the 

 progress of colonization receives due 

 attention. The California irrigation 

 companies are particularly aggressive 

 at this time, and appear to be meeting 

 with a very fair degree of success. It 

 is now apparent that California ad- 

 vertised herself quite effectively at 

 the World's Fair. Idaho and Wash- 

 ington are also receiving considerable 

 benefit from the same cause. In our 

 view the times, which are now so un- 

 favorable for general business, furnish 

 substantial encouragement for the 

 promoters of colonization. Vast num- 

 bers of people are out of work. Many 

 of them have means and many of 

 those who are poor contain good 

 material for citizenship. The sharp 

 and general depression has revealed 

 with fearful distinctness the eternal 

 fact that no man is independent who 

 depends on others for employment. 

 Only those who live upon their own 

 land, and dwell beneath their own roof are in the 

 best sense independent. The vigorous presen- 

 tation of attractive colonies ought to meet with gener- 

 ous reward at this time. This idea should sink deep 

 into the minds of all managers of irrigation projects. 

 The results of the year's work will be simply astound- 

 ing if enlightened efforts are made in this direction. 



There have been failures enough among 

 Supervision irrigation companies this year to 

 A Necessity. te ach the western people the necessity of 

 providing laws which shall protect investors against 

 the promoters of wild-cat projects. The Los Angeles 

 platform demanded that the new code of State laws 

 which it is proposed to devise shall insist upon the 

 rigid supervision of irrigation companies. The States 

 of the arid region are righting hard to obtain the con- 

 fidence of investors and settlers. They should take 

 measures to make it as difficult as possible for un- 

 worthy or reckless men to injure the good name of 

 their community. Let a prominent company fail in 

 California, entailing a large loss among numbers of 

 investors in the East or abroad, and every interest in 

 Southern California which seeks to attract capital or 



