THE PROGRESS OF WESTERN AMERICA. 



ox f Tout, 



study the subject with this end in view. Men can 

 make their own plans in their private affairs, but 

 individual views must be harmonized when public 

 policies are to be molded. 



Mr. Willard E. Allen writes to the 

 editor of THE AGE as follows : " Those 

 who quite agreed with your former 

 criticism of Major Powell's utterances in his cele- 

 brated speech at Los Angeles are somewhat at a 

 loss to understand your present attitude toward that 

 gentleman. I write to enquire whether the fact that 

 you are now giving him space to elaborate his views 

 in the pages of THE AGE is to be construed as a 

 change of front on the very important point of the 

 water supplies and irrigable public lands of the arid 

 West?' 1 This is a question which has come to us 

 from several sources and to which we gladly make 

 reply, although in the two previous numbers of THE 

 AGE the matter was dealt with quite extensively 

 The editor of THE AGE arose in his place at the 

 Irrigation Congress and denied that the Territory of 

 Utah had no more water available for the reclamation 

 of arid public lands. In the November issue of this 

 journal it was stoutly contended that it was erroneous 

 to state broadly that " not another acre of government 

 land should be granted for irrigation purposes." We 

 have not retracted or modified these views, but we 

 are not unwilling to have them discussed by any 

 person who is competent to do so. We have no 

 personal quarrel with the Director of the Geological 

 Survey. We are interested in learning the facts 

 about the water supply in the arid regions rather than 

 in the payment of ancient grudges. This being so, 

 we are not only willing, but very glad, to devote 

 space to the discussion of the vital questions raised in 

 the speech of Major Powell, and now being fully dealt 

 with in his series of papers in THE AGE. We reserve 

 our final conclusions and criticisms until all the 

 evidence is in. 



Individuals ^ e nave no sympathy whatever with 

 are that view of editorial duty and opportu- 

 Nothing. nity which seeks to make personal capi- 

 tal or personal grievance out of expressions of opin- 

 ion on purely public questions. The object of the 

 irrigation movement is to build a new civilization in 

 the arid regions of the West. The foundation of that 

 development is water supply and irrigable land. It is 

 of the highest importance that all possible informa- 

 tion concerning these two vital factors should be 

 acquired and disseminated. THE AGE has always 

 kept this great central thought in view. If two men 

 whose opinions carry weight differ about a question 

 that goes down deep into the vital part of a great 

 cause it is certainly desirable to find out who is right 

 and who wrong, since it is the facts, and not the 



HON. CHARLES W. DABNEY, JR., 

 Assistant Secretary of Agriculture. 



opinions, which will finally affect results. It some- 

 times happens in such cases that neither party is 

 wholly right or wholly wrong. Whether that be true 

 or not in this case is of no consequence, but it is a 

 matter of the highest consequence that the truth 

 should be made known. The publication of Major 

 Powell's elaborate articles and the discussion which 

 will naturally ensue will probably be the greatest 

 possible contribution to this end. If so, THE AGE 

 will have rendered a valuable service by its course 

 in this matter. Individuals are nothing and the civ- 

 ilization which we are trying to evolve from the des- 

 ert is everything. When THE AGE has no better 

 theme than miserable personalities it will retire from 

 the field. 



Hon. Charles S. Varian has introduced 

 N^GGdcd 



Utah three measures into the Utah Legislature 

 Legislation.^^ wi jj have a tremendous effect for 

 good if passed. They provide for the creation of a 

 Board of Horticulture, for the protection of fruit trees 

 and for the extermination of pests and prevention of 

 diseases. If these measures, having been enacted, 

 are rigidly enforced, an important addition to the 

 wealth of Utah will be realized. Utah is a fruit 

 country of large capabilities. The yield is abundant 

 and the quality unsurpassed. The flavor of peaches, 

 apricots, plums, apples and other delicious fruits 

 produced among the valleys of this "mountain-walled 

 treasury of the gods" is equal to the products of the 



