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LOCATION OF THE NEXT IRRIGATION CONGRESS. 



will be a rich programme of general and varied in- 

 terest. The congress will probably be in session for 

 a full week and will be followed by several days of 

 excursions to points of interest in the neighborhood 

 of the city where it is held. The National Committee 

 will arrange with the Associated Press and united 

 Press to report the proceedings fully from day to day 

 and with the more important newspapers to send spe- 

 cial correspondents. 



CONSIDERATIONS THAT SHOULD GOVERN THE 

 CHOICE. 



Probably there is no important city in the arid 

 region which would not be proud and happy to enter- 

 tain a congress of this importance, especially in view 

 of the fact that it is likely to be attended by from 

 500 to 1,000 delegates, and perhaps twice as many 

 spectators. This means a national advertisement to 

 the city and State where the event occurs, as well as 

 the expenditure of several thousand dollars locally. 

 Neither is there any city or State which would not be 

 benefited, directly and indirectly, by the presence of 

 the Congress. But there is one supreme considera- 

 tion which should rule the choice, and this is the suc- 

 cess of the event itself. 



If the Congress should be located at a point not 

 reasonably accessible from all points of the western 

 country, or at a point lacking sufficient facilities of 

 entertainment or attractive surroundings, it might 

 fail of its highest purpose. The congress presents a 

 magnificent opportunity for the accomplishment of 

 great results. Properly organized and advertised and 

 rightly located, it will put American irrigation years 

 forward. Under these circumstances the casting of a 

 vote for its location becomes an important duty, 

 which ought to be carefully considered by every 

 member of the committee. 



After the proper discharge of the duty to the 

 movement as involved in the success of the conven- 

 tion itself, it is proper to consider the advantages 

 which would result to certain localities. There are 

 several cities and States in the arid West which need 

 the impetus which the convention would give it. 

 There is no city or State which could not urge the 

 justice of its selection upon these grounds. Nor is 

 there any which members of the committee would 

 not be glad to see enjoy such benefits, but it is mani- 

 fest that only one of many such places can be so fav- 

 ored this year. In 1891, Salt Lake City, capital of 

 the intermountain region, received the honor. In 

 1893, it was conferred upon Los Angeles, to the bene- 

 fit of the Pacific coast and the Southwest. The 

 people of Montana made a strong effort to obtain it 

 in 1893, and this year Nevada, Colorado, Idaho and 

 New Mexico are in the field. 



I. DENVER, COLORADO. 



The first invitation was received from Denver, Col- 

 orado, although Carson City, Nevada, was close upon 

 its heels. Late in the afternoon of the fifth day of 

 the International Congress Mr. J. F. Rocho, member 

 of the National Committee for Colorado, took the 

 floor and said : " Mr. President and gentlemen of the 

 Congress, during my absence on the Committee on 

 Resolutions a telegram was received from the mayor 

 of Denver, sending a cordial invitation to this con- 

 gress to meet in Denver, next year. I wish to heartily 

 endorse this invitation, not only in behalf of the peo- 

 ple of Denver, but of the whole State of Colorado." 

 He then enlarged upon the advantages of choosing 

 'Denver, and was immediately followed by Mr. Merrill 

 of Nevada, in an eloquent speech favoring Carson 

 City. 



Mr. Rocho now writes as follows to THE AGE : 

 " Denver made the first application for the honor of 

 entertaining the National Irrigation Congress of 1894. 

 The telegram of the mayor of Denver and my own 

 address to the Los Angeles convention, were followed 

 at the proper time by a formal proposition from the 

 Denver Real Estate Exchange, containing an offer to 

 expend $1,500 in advertising the convention, to pro- 

 vide suitable accommodations for the National Com- 

 mittee and a good hall for the convention, and to pay 

 the expense of obtaining and publishing a complete 

 stenographic report of the proceedings. 



" Denver bases her claim upon the interests of West- 

 ern America as a whole. She makes no selfish appeal 

 in her own local interest. The first congress met at 

 Salt Lake, which is the exact geographical center of 

 the arid region. Naturally it was most largely 

 attended by the people of the intermountain region 

 immediately surrounding it. The second congress 

 was held at Los Angeles on the extreme western 

 border of the arid region and representatives of the 

 Pacific coast far outnumbered numerically all other 

 parts of the arid region combined. Nevada is a part 

 of the Pacific coast politically about the same thing 

 as California and was well represented, as it should 

 have been, but Colorado, Wyoming, the Dakotas, 

 Idaho, Montana, Utah, Washington and Nebraska had 

 only one delegate each, possibly excepting Utah, and 

 in several instances that one was really a Californian 

 representing the other States by proxy. If this was 

 the result in a Pacific coast city so attractive as Los 

 Angeles, what kind of a result could we expect in a 

 Pacific coast city as remote and innaccessible as 

 Carson V The first congress having been held in the 

 center, and the second on the extreme western por- 

 tion of the arid region, we now ask in the name of 

 Arid America as a whole that the third and greatest 

 congress shall assemble at Denver, the metropolis of 

 the eastern section. Although far east as compared 



