THE PROGRESS OF WESTERN AMERICA. 



155 



2. That we believe it would be to the interest of the 

 arid west for the government to withhold all public 

 lands until water is procured for the same. 



3. That land should not be monopolized for spec- 

 ulative purposes, and all unearned land now held by 

 railroads or other incorporations should be reclaimed 

 by the government and held for actual settlers only. 



4. That Congress should make appropriations to 

 determine the extent and availability of underground, 

 artesian and storm waters for irrigation purposes. 



5. That the forests protecting the heads of the 

 mountain streams should be most carefully pre- 

 served, and that the forest reservations in the hands 

 of the government should be protected and watched 

 by a detail of government troops. 



6. That in the opinion of the commission the 

 Carey provision for the cession of 1,000,000 acres of 

 land is of little application to Colorado, but we recom- 

 mend a careful and conscientious trial of it. 



The report of the Idaho commission is 

 Favored signed by Prof. J. E. Ostrander, a gen- 

 Cession. tleman who was one of the most useful 

 and faithful members of the congress. The report 

 states that 2,000,000 acres of land are now under 

 ditch in Idaho and only 250,000 under cultivation. At 

 least 1,000,000 acres more can be reclaimed at a nom- 

 inal cost per acre, and a considerably larger area at a 

 cost not at present justifiable, though not ultimately 

 prohibitive. It is stated that the commission has 

 been unable to agree upon several subjects, but it is 

 unanimously of the opinion that the Wright law of 

 California is not applicable to present conditions in 

 Idaho. Prof. Ostrander submits also his personal 

 views and favors the unconditional cession to the 

 States of all arid lands within their limits. He 

 would then have the State employ an engineer to 

 make plans for the reclamation of these lands and su- 

 pervise their construction, the work being let to the 

 lowest responsible bidder. The State should issue 

 bonds to pay for the works and the State engineer 

 should fix the price of the land, making it sufficient 

 to cover cost of reclamation, interest and other 

 charges. The land should be sold only to actual set- 

 tlers. Ultimately he would have the control pass to 

 the settlers under some form of district law. 



The report of the Kansas commission is 

 Kansas for . . r c 



National largely the work of Judge Gregory, al- 

 Control. 



he had the assistance of a nota- 

 ble commission. It is divided into two parts, dealing 

 with national and state matters. A considerable por- 

 tion of the general report deals with the necessity of 

 finding homes for great numbers of people, and points 

 out the advantages certain to accrue to our institu- 

 tions. This part of the report is a real contribution 

 to literature and we regret that it cannot be repro- 

 duced in full at this time. Coming to specific sug- 



gestions, the report favors the division of interstate 

 waters under the control of the general government 

 and the reservation of mountain catchment areas, 

 reservation sites and forests as means to this end. It 

 also states that the recovery of subterranean waters 

 should be stimulated by government experiment and 

 investigation. The report favors the restriction of the 

 homestead right to forty acres, and the creation of a 

 federal commission or court to deal with interstate 

 waters, forests, pastoral lands and of works which 

 may be undertaken by the federal government. The 

 State report describes existing conditions in western 

 Kansas, and states the further needs to be supplied by 

 legislation as follows: "A further elaboration of State 

 irrigation laws to render effective and operative the 

 district system, which has already been inaugurated; 

 the provision of a State irrigation department, headed 

 by a competent engineer; a complete and authorita- 

 tive examination into the character, extent and avail- 

 ability of our subterranean water [supply, and the 

 thorough dissemination of information as to all 

 phases of irrigation work among our people." 



Chairman S. B. Robbins, of the Montana 

 Montana Commission, labored under great diffi- 

 Report. cu i t j es j n perfecting his report. The 

 original member for Montana resigned after appoint- 

 ing his commission and Mr. Robbins was not able to 

 take up the work until the middle of July, and even 

 then failed to receive any support from his fellow 

 commissioners. For the credit of his State, however, 

 he devoted himself assiduously to the work, obtaining 

 the cooperation of the newspapers and entering into 

 wide correspondence. The result is a careful and 

 exhaustive report, describing the conditions existing 

 in Montana. We wish the entire report could be 

 read by everybody in that State. It would certainly 

 awaken them to the importance of their irrigation 

 interests and lead them to send a large delegation to 

 the next congress. Mr. Robbins favors a uniform 

 unit of measurement throughout all the States, points 

 out the deficiency of local laws in the matter of the 

 supervision and inspection of streams and irrigation 

 works, and highly commends theWyoming system of 

 laws. He also favors the speedy establishment of an 

 engineering department as a feature of State admin- 

 istration. The report states that there is great diver- 

 sity of opinion in Montana as to the manner in which 

 the arid public lands should be reclaimed. ^One 

 State convention is declared in favor of cession and 

 another against it. The California district system is 

 not favored. The following specific recommenda- 

 tions are made : 



1. There should be one or more'national consult- 

 ing engineers or commissioners appointed to act in 

 connection with State Boards of Control to determine 



