THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



clamation of this immense tract, thus giving employ- 

 ment to a large number of idle men, and making 

 homes for tens and tens of thousands of now landless 

 and homeless families. They pointed out that the 

 Government would quickly receive its money back 

 from the settlers, and would thus only temporarily 

 advance the capital required for the work. Here are 

 a million acres, now desolate and worthless; here is 

 a great river, pouring uselessly to the tropic sea. 

 Marry that water to that land and lo ! the voiceless 

 desert will blossom with the homes of men ! The 

 desert of to-day will be the garden of to-morrow, for 

 that soil is rich beyond comparison, and the climate 

 is favorable to an extraordinary degree. How sensi- 

 ble and feasible the idea advanced in that petition 

 looks upon its face, and yet with what well-nigh in- 

 superable obstacles it is surrounded, as a measure of 

 immediate relief! Congress is slow to act even upon 

 matters referred to it for instant revision or repeal by 

 the overwhelming mandate of the people. How 

 slow, then, can it be on anew issue, and especially 

 upon an issue presented by the people of the dis- 

 respected West? Moreover, Colorado is but one part 

 of the West, and the petitioners represent but one 

 part of Colorado. Can they expect to induce Con- 

 gress to act for their benefit alone in a matter which 

 requires the readjustment, or rather the creation, of 

 a national policy of mighty import? And, worse than 

 all, will the East ever consent to appropriate millions 

 for western internal improvements, and especially at 

 a time when its incomes must be taxed to make up a 

 deficit? No; we can expect nothing save the provo- 

 cation of thought in the right direction to come from 

 such petitions as these. 



The people of many States are revolving 

 Irrigation . r . 



Scrip m their minds the problem of how to 

 /Proposed. open thg afid purj ii c domain to labor 



and subsequently to settlement. Here comes the 

 Seattle Telegraph with a new plan. It says, and 

 very truly, too, that "relief must be provided by 

 the government when emergencies occur by reason 

 of a vast number of people being unemployed is the 

 lesson of history." It cites the policy of the Pharaohs, 

 who put the idle Israelites at work on pyramids, 

 canals, temples and palaces; of the Roman emperors, 

 who employed their subjects upon great roads; of 

 the ancient Danish kings, who built a wall across 

 their kingdom; of the Peruvians, who also built roads. 

 And then the Telegraph presents its plan for the 

 present crisis as follows: 



Let the United States government begin immediately a gigan- 

 tic system of irrigation, the payment for the work to be in paper 

 money receivable by the government in payment for the irrigated 

 land. In connection with the irrigation let a complete system of 

 highways be built through the irrigated districts. Assuming that 

 the irrigable area is 100,000,000 acres, the total outlay would be 

 approximately $25 an acre, or altogether 2,500,000,000. We do 



not propose the issue of any such amount of irrigation scrip at 

 any one time. If such a system of irrigation were begun within 

 a year the demand for the irrigated lands would begin and the 

 irrigation scrip would begin to find its way back into the national 

 treasury in payment for land, when it might be either re-issued or 

 canceled as might be thought most convenient. We assume that it 

 would take ten years to complete the work. This would mean an 

 average scrip issue of $250,000,000 a year, and the probability is 

 that after the first year the redemption of the scrip would begin 

 and would continue with increasing rapidity. 



That there is merit in this plan everybody will ad- 

 mit, but that it would involve national discussion and 

 arouse the bitterest opposition no one will deny. A 

 currency redeemable in irrigated land would be 

 based on good security ; those who held it ten years 

 and then presented it for redemption would realize 

 four times its face value. But we should have to 

 fight those very potent influences in this country who 

 do not want the circulation increased, and who re- 

 gard gold as the only measure of value. The West 

 and the South will meet those gentlemen on the field 

 of battle in November, 1896. But let us keep irriga- 

 tion out of politics if we can. Let us try to frame a 

 plan that will avoid every known danger, if possible, 

 and present it in the light of a business and non- 

 political question. In that way alone can we hope 

 to induce Congress to act quickly. The irrigation 

 scrip plan would involve at least ten years of acrimo- 

 nious conflict with our well-fed and therefore con- 

 servative fellow-citizens of the East. That would be 

 interesting, but unprofitable. It would reclaim no 

 deserts and build no homes. 



The reader may reflect that it is easier 

 What, then, 

 Shall we to object to a plan than to propose one 



Propose? reasona bly free of objection. So it is. 

 But it seems to us that the course which the men of 

 the West should pursue is as clear as sunlight. The 

 last Irrigation Congress provided each arid State and 

 Territory with a commission of five competent and 

 experienced men charged with the duty of ascertain- 

 ing the extent of the irrigable public land and avail- 

 able water supply, together with the opinions of their 

 people on national and State laws, these commissions 

 to report fully at the next Irrigation Congress. Every 

 citizen who has a plan to suggest should immediately 

 put it before his State commission. The next Irri- 

 gation Congress will assemble at Denver in Septem- 

 ber, and remain in session until it has reached con- 

 clusions. There is no hope of congressional action 

 before that time. The congress at Denver will be 

 the constitutional convention which will frame the 

 fundamental laws on which institutions may hereafter 

 be built. That congress should contain a large and 

 even representation of all the States and Territories 

 interested. Having before it the reports of the sev- 

 enteen commissions, it can certainly approach con- 

 clusions with a degree of authority never enjoyed by 



