THE NATIONAL ORGANIZATION. 



'59 



SOME OF THE LEADERS PRESENT. 



Among the men prominent in the irrigation cause 

 there were present Judge Emery, the national lect- 

 urer; Hon. Francis E. Warren, ex-senator from 

 Wyoming ; Prof. L. G. Carpenter, of Fort Collins, 

 Colo.; State Engineer Elwood Mead, of Wyoming; 

 E. R. Moses, president of the Inter-State Irrigation 

 Association; J. L. Bristow, secretary of the Inter- 

 State Association; Senator Mondell, of Wyoming; 

 Donald Campbell, of Colorado ; Major J. W. Powell, 

 director U. S. Geological Survey; Charles A.Greg- 

 ory, of New York ; Prof. Robert Hay, of Kansas, and 

 I. A. Fort, of North Platte. Many of the leading 

 citizens of Omaha and other Nebraska cities were 

 present and gave their hearty cooperation. Among 

 the delegates were noted Hon. Wm. F. Cody, of 

 North Platte ; Engineers Rosewater, Lawrence and 

 Howells, of Omaha ; Mayor Warner, of North Platte ; 

 J. T. O'Brien, of Kearney, Neb. ; Mayor Bemis, 

 Major Clarkson, Col. Chase, B. A. McAllister, W. N. 

 Nason, Major Hamilton, of Omaha, and J. H. Mac- 

 Call, of Lexington. 



THE FIRST DAY'S WORK. 



The convention opened at 10 o'clock Wednesday 

 morning, in Washington hall. Hon. E. R. Moses, of 

 Great Bend, Kansas, president of the Inter-State As- 

 sociation, was in the chair. Prayer was offered by 

 Rev. Martin, of Kearney, and Mayor Bemis, of 

 Omaha, welcomed the delegates with a happy speech, 

 in which he extended to them the freedom of the city. 

 The response was made by Mr. E. R. Moses. Mr. 

 W. A. L. Gibbon, president of the Commercial Club, 

 of Omaha, delivered an address in behalf of the orga- 

 nization which he represented, and extended to all 

 delegates the use of the club rooms during their stay 

 in the city. Gov. Crounse was not present at this 

 hour, so his place was taken by Hon. William F. Cody, 

 of his staff, who delivered a most happy speech, 

 touching upon the benefits and needs of irrigation. 

 "The Inter-State Irrigation Association, its Organiza- 

 tion and Plan of Work," was the subject of Mr. J. L. 

 Bristow's forceful address, and following this gentle- 

 man came Major Powell, of the Geological survey, 

 who discussed " The Water Supply of the Great 

 Plains." By a series of pictorial maps he reviewed 

 the questions of rainfall, surfaces, soils, dry farming, 

 public lands, etc. He spoke for over an hour and 

 commanded the closest attention of his audience. 



Hon. Francis E. Warren, of Wyoming, was the first 

 speaker at the afternoon session. He reviewed the 

 subject of irrigation, touching upon its rapid growth 

 during the past two years. He echoed the general 

 sentiment of the West that Congress was too indiffer- 

 ent to the needs of the country west of the Missouri, 

 and that the time would surely come when the Great 

 Plains would force congressional recognition. Prof. 



Hay, of Kansas, and Donald Campbell, of Denver, 

 spoke briefly and were followed by the national lec- 

 turer, Judge J. S. Emery, of Kansas. The latter gen- 

 tleman is always entertaining, and he was never more 

 so than in his bright, energetic speech before this 

 convention. He regarded irrigation as the question 

 of paramount importance to arid America, regardless 

 of tariff and silver. " What are we here for?'' asked 

 the speaker. " Simply to punch up our congress- 

 man," and the applause that followed showed that the 

 delegates were in sympathy with him. In conclusion 

 the speaker urged general agitation for irrigation 

 legislation. 



The afternoon session was closed with an address 

 by Prof. L. G. Carpenter on " The Duty of Water. 1 ' 



In the evening the delegates were entertained at 

 the Commercial Cub. Brief speeches were made 

 and a collation was served. 



RESULTS OF THE SECOND DAY. 



The second day's session of the convention was 

 fully as entertaining and instructive as the previous 

 one. Col. Chase, of Omaha, talked on " The Duties 

 of the Plains' Cities in the Development of Irriga- 

 tion," and was followed by Charles A. Gregory, of 

 New York, on " Irrigation and Continental Develop- 

 ment." This address was a remarkably strong one 

 and was full of practical ideas for the development of 

 the arid West. THE AGE hopes to present it in full 

 in some future issue. 



Mr. Ira C. Hubbell, of Kansas City, read a paper on 

 " Pumping Machinery for Irrigation,'' and Elwood 

 Mead, of Wyoming, spoke for half an hour on the 

 results obtained in his State. 



Considerable time was taken up with the discussion 

 of the resolutions which, briefly stated, are as follows : 

 That Congress shall make increased appropriations 

 to determine the volume of the underflow and to 

 determine the extent to which reservoirs can be con- 

 structed for storing storm waters; that all farmers be 

 urged to plant and cultivate forest trees; that the 

 office of State engineer be created in all western 

 States; that the meteorological stations be maintained 

 and their number increased throughout the arid and 

 semi-arid region; that the agricultural colleges de- 

 vote a portion of their funds to demonstrate the 

 agricultural possibilities, with and without irrigation, 

 in the plains country. That the people organize 

 county associations and put themselves in communi- 

 cation with the Inter-State Association; that able 

 delegates be sent to Washington to urge the passage 

 of bills now pending in behalf of the irrigation of the 

 great plains. 



The thanks of the convention were voted all the 

 speakers, the Commercial Club and the citizens 

 of Omaha. The convention adjourned Thursday 

 evening. 



