THE PROGRESS OF WESTERN AMERICA. 



185 



There is no mistaking the character of 

 The Problem . . . 



in the the irrigation movement now under way 

 Great Plains jn the Great plains region> They are 



in downright earnest this time and will certainly 

 achieve splendid results. The inventors of r ain- 

 making machinery will apply this year in vain. We 

 believe that even a season of unusual rainfall would 

 be powerless to seriously injure the present move- 

 ment. The demand for national appropriations to be 

 expended in this section is now strong and insistent. 

 We think the people of other localities are quite will- 

 ing to see the semi-arid region favored in this matter. 

 The arid public domain west of the Rocky mountains 

 cries aloud for reclamation, but it is not occupied by 

 people who were duped into settling there under 

 false representations and who are suffering for im- 

 mediate relief. The semi-arid regions have a popu- 

 lation, and the common instinct of humanity de- 

 mands that the government which received their 

 money for lands practically worthless for agriculture 

 without irrigation should spend some of that money 

 in pointing out the methods by which they can help 

 themselves. No effort should be spared to bring 

 about this result. Such opposition as there is to this 

 course arises from unworthy sectional prejudice and 

 contemptible personal malice. Neither of these 

 motives are entitled to any respect at the hands of 

 an enlightened Congress. 



Pass 



Senator Allen of Nebraska has introduced 

 theAUeu a very simple measure to provide " For 

 BllL an Irrigation Survey of the Great Plains 

 and Semi-Arid Lands of the United States." The 

 full text of the bill is as follows: 



Bf it enacted by the Semite and House of Representatives of the 

 United States of America in Congress assembled, T^\\^i from and 

 after the passage and approval of this Act it shall be the duty of 

 the Secretary of the Interior to cause an irrigation survey to be 

 made of the great plains and semi-arid lands of the United States 

 which are made non-productive by reason of too small an amount 

 of rainfall under such rules and regulations as he may prescribe. 

 Accurate field notes of such survey, maps, and other data shall 

 be made and preserved, and when said survey is complete a de- 

 tailed report of the same, in writing, with said accompanying 

 data, shall be made to Congress. 



SEC. 2. That to carrying into execution the purposes of this 

 Act the sum of five hundred thousand dollars, or so much thereof 

 as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated, out of any money 

 in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to be expended 

 under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior. 



The States Colonel Chas. G. Stevenson, the veteran 

 Should Help engineer, delivered an eminently sensi- 

 Themselves. ble speech before the Committee on Irri- 

 gation of the Utah Legislature recently. He urged 

 them to pass a bill providing for the appointment of 

 a commission of inquiry and for stringent laws pro- 

 tecting the water supply and defining the conditions 

 under which ditches can be built. Utah's entire 



industrial system is based on its irrigation develop- 

 ment, and its hope of further growth rests on the same 

 foundation. Utah is older than any other American 

 community in modern irrigation practice and yet,""as 

 Colonel Stevenson pointed out, she has no official 

 knowledge of the extent of her water supply, nor 

 even of the appropriations that have been made, 



COL. CHAS. G. STEVENSON, 

 Of Utah. 



except as locally recorded. If there is one depart- 

 ment that is essential in Utah's scheme of govern- 

 ment it is a capable irrigation bureau. And this is true 

 of all the States in the arid region. They should not 

 rest satisfied with lax laws and administration. Irriga- 

 tion is for them the thing of present and of future 

 importance. They should depend less upon the gen- 

 eral government and more upon themselves in seeking 

 to develop fhis interest. Utah and the rest should have 

 vigorous and comprehensive irrigation and coloniza- 

 tion policies. It is an interest which cannot be safely 

 left to unrestricted private enterprise. Utah owes the 

 large measure of success it has achieved without 

 adequate laws and proper public administration to 

 the strong secular policy of the Mormon church, but 

 she has lived beyond that period. We note with 

 pleasure that Colonel Stevenson, in common with 

 other local authorities, refutes the charge that she 

 has no more surplus water or irrigable public lands 



The accumulating evidence of deep and 

 Editorial* growing interest in irrigation and its 

 Pilgrimage, kindred industries is gratifying beyond 

 expression to the men who have carried the banner 

 through skepticism and indifference to the sure 

 ground of enduring popularity. E. V. Swalley, the 



