FEATURES OF THE IRRIGATION CONGRESS. 



107 



be found which will give us most of the benefits of 

 both systems and few of the evils of either? I believe 

 it can be. I have urged from the hour of the Los 

 Angeles Congress, and urge now, that the final solu- 

 tion must be a system which permits the lands, the 

 inter-state streams and the forests to remain under 

 Federal control, while the States are given large 

 powers of administration. When I say that the lands 

 would remain under Federal control, I mean, of 

 course, that the settler would obtain title through the 

 national land office, as now, but I do not mean that 

 when the lands are reclaimed and settled the federal 

 government should have anything to do with them. 

 I do not now present the details of the plan of compro- 

 mise which seems to me feasible, but leave that for 

 the developments of the Congress. Let us wait for 

 the reports of the state commissions and the intellect- 

 ual friction that will follow. 



THE CALIFORNIA DISTRICT SYSTEM. 



The District law of California, should command 

 the careful study of the Denver Congress. It has not 

 been altogether successful in its practical operation, 

 but its foundation principle is in harmony with the 

 spirit of the times. It puts irrigation plants on the 



same footing as city water supply under municipal 

 ownership. I have always insisted that Mr. Wright 

 and his followers were carrying out a great experi- 

 ment for the benefit of the arid region. I believe the 

 time has come when the results of this experiment 

 should receive the most thoughtful consideration. 

 Perhaps the time is very near at hand when the prin- 

 ciple must be practically applied in a way which will 

 avoid the weaknesses that have developed during the 

 last seven years. 



"THE DENVER COMPROMISE." 

 The alarm has been sounded to the effect that land- 

 grabbers will control the Third National Irrigation 

 Congress and shape the deliberate verdict of the 

 West. Let the men of the arid region gather in such 

 numbers as to render impossible the betrayal of the 

 trust committed to this congress. The land-grabber 

 does not usually operate through the medium of pub- 

 lic meetings. Let us have a large and representative 

 convention. Let us patiently hear every honest view, 

 and then let us get together, in a spirit of honorable 

 concession, draft a measure worthy of the mighty 

 West and send it into history as the Denver Com- 

 promise. 



FEATURES OF THE IRRIGATION CONGRESS. 



PREPARATIONS for the Third National Irriga- 

 tion Congress, which will assemble in the Broad- 

 way Theatre, Denver, September 3, are being rapidly 

 pushed, both by the national and local committees. 

 Indications are favorable to the most important gath- 

 ering which has ever met in the name of irrigation. 

 The times are ripe for a great forward movement, as 

 the West is ready to say what it wants and the coun- 

 try, under the pressure of events, is at last ready to 

 listen. The programme of the seven days' meeting 

 will include the following features: 



REPORTS OF STATE COMMISSIONS. 



Irrigation commissions have been at work for a 

 year in eighteen States and Territories collecting 

 facts and opinions upon which to base recommenda- 

 tions for a national policy and code of common State 

 laws. These commissions will have seats in the con- 

 gress, and give that body the benefit of their knowl- 

 edge and experience. It is already known that their 

 reports will cover a wide variety of plans, ranging all 

 the way from public to private control, and from na- 

 tional to State supervision. Those reports alone 

 would furnish the basis for the most interesting con- 

 gress ever assembled in the West. 



AN IRRIGATION POLICY FOR THE NATION. 



Men will come from all over the United States, from 

 all trades and professions, and from all political parties 



to contribute their share to the making of a national 

 irrigation policy. It is hoped that this will be the final 

 clash between land cessionists and anti-cessioriists, 

 and that a compromise can be arranged which will 

 unite all factions. It is hoped that the outcome will 

 be a bill, framed in definite terms, for presentation at 

 Washington. The bill will probably be supported 

 by a ringing address to the American people. If 

 these results are accomplished the Denver Congress 

 of 1894 will be historic. 



PROBLEMS OF THE SEMI-ARID REGION. 



This congress is most timely for the people of the 

 semi-arid portions of the Mississippi valley, whose 

 crops have been laid waste by recent hot winds. 

 The congress will bring together the men best cap- 

 able of dealing with the problems of the semi-arid 

 region, and ought to result to the vast good of that 

 section. The attendance from Kansas and Nebraska 

 and western Texas is expected to be very large. 



IRRIGATION EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 



This congress wi'l mark the entrance of a new 

 element into the domain of irrigation inquiry. Georgia 

 has appointed an irrigation commission, consisting of 

 five of her prominent citizens, and promises a delega- 

 tion of fifty to one hundred delegates. Florida will 

 also send a commission. The governors of eastern 

 States are naming delegates very generally, and it is 

 probable that immense interest in the possibilities of 

 eastern irrigation will result from the debate under 

 this head of the programme. 



