THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



Three 

 Western 

 Policies. 



cry, " Hurrah ! we are a sovereign State," but rather, 

 "Hurrah! our star has gone into the flag of the 

 Union." And to render that star as resplendent as 

 the sun is but to add new glory to the symbol of 

 nationality. Thus k is national pride and national 

 aspiration that sustains the Trans-Mississippi Con- 

 gress and makes it a living force in the life of the 

 West. There is clearly no danger in a sectionalism 

 of this character. Doubtless it would be possible for 

 the nation to pursue a policy which in time would 

 embitter the western mind and sow the seeds of a 

 pernicious and dangerous sectionalism, but to-day 

 the Trans-Mississippi Congress is a body of empire- 

 builders, seeking to organize prosperity in the only 

 wide field that remains to be conquered by American 

 genius. 



The session of the Trans-Mississippi 

 Congress held during the past month at 

 San Francisco was the sixth annual 

 meeting of that body. While its members are not 

 authorized representatives in the sense of having been 

 chosen by legal election, they may still be accepted 

 as reflecting very accurately the opinions of their 

 several commonwealths. There are certain public 

 policies which the western States and Territories re- 

 gard as very vital to their welfare and hence to 

 national progress. Free coinage used to be regarded 

 as the first of these policies, but in the last two years the 

 reclamation of the arid lands has squarely disputed 

 the position. It is now generally acknowledged that 

 irrigation is the foremost of western problems. Free 

 coinage is a cause still dear to the West, but it has 

 come to believe that if the rest of the country can 

 get along with a small circulating medium the West 

 can do so just as well, since it is producing about all the 

 gold that finds its way to the mints. The third great 

 policy that western men have at heart is the building 

 of the Nicaragua canal, which they expect will largely 

 increase their commerce and reduce freight charges. 

 There are many other minor problems, but irrigation, 

 silver and the interoceanic highway represents the 

 larger part of the western aspirations. Now, none of 

 these things are of narrow local importance. A na- 

 tional irrigation policy would mean homesteads for 

 millions of American families', free coinage would 

 mean a radical change western men think for the 

 better in national finances; the canal through the 

 Isthmus would mean as much to New York as to San 

 Francisco. 



It was doubtless impossible to prevent 

 Land . ... 



Cession an expression or opinion at the recent 



Again. Congress on the subject of the cession of 

 the arid lands to the States. If we mistake not, the 

 Trans-Mississippi Congress has five times before 

 declared in favor of the proposition. But if the 

 friends of the present organized irrigation movement 



L. H. TAYLOR, 

 Of Reno, Nevada. 



could have had their way the subject of cession would 

 not have been dealt with at this time. They would 

 have much preferred to have the Congress recognize 

 the State Commissions now engaged in studying the 

 question in all its aspects with a view to the formula- 

 tion of a definite and final policy at the next Irriga- 

 tion Congress. It is from the thorough work of these 

 commissions, dealing with the subject at close range, 

 rather than from a body which can sit but a few days 

 while dealing with a large number of complex ques- 

 tions, that a really valuable verdict can be expected. 

 Previous to the Los Angeles Congress THE IRRIGA- 

 TION AGE squarely favored the policy of cession, but 

 at that time it was agreed that the question should be 

 left in abeyance until the commissions had performed 

 their work and rendered their reports. Good faith 

 demands that this understanding shall be observed 

 by all interested parties. It is our belief that the 

 final result will be a compromise measure, designed 

 to furnish ample safeguards against the dangers 

 which sincere men have seen in the policy of land 

 cession, while at the same time preserving the essen- 

 tial features of State supervision and control for 

 which equally sincere men on the other side have 

 contended. The dispute is not as to ends, but as 

 to means, and since everybody is aiming at the 

 same destination it ought to be possible to discover 

 some common pathway. We have full confidence 

 that this will be the result of the next Irrigation 

 Congress, and it is to be hoped that everybody will 



