WHY THE AGE IS LATE. 



THE enforced absence of the publisher, 

 from Chicago, occasioned by sickness, 

 is the cause of THE AGE being a little later 

 this month than usual. The next num- 

 ber, however, will be out on time. 



The editorial discussion on "The Prog- 

 ress of Western America" will appear in 

 the next issue as usual. 



WYOMING'S BOLD APPEAL. 



WE favor laws in aid of irrigation. We 

 need settlers to open our mines, to 

 make homes on the millions of acres of 

 irrigable and feitile public land, to de- 

 velop and utilize all our immense but 

 unused resources. 



If the great rivers which now run 1o 

 waste were diveited and used, if the val- 

 leys which border them were reclaimed 

 and occupied, it would add hundreds of 

 thousands to our population and hundreds 

 of millions to our taxable wealth. It would 

 stop the drain of money sent each year to 

 surrounding states to purchase farm prod- 

 ucts, revive trade in our cities and towns, 

 lighten the burden of taxes and afford 

 employment to our idle labor. To secure 

 these results and aid those who reclaim 

 and make productive these unoccupied 

 wastes, we favor legislation by the general 

 government in aid of irrigation. We be- 

 lieve that every dollar paid for deseit 

 land should be returned, to the state and 

 expended on ditches and reservoirs to 

 make those and other lands productive. 



We recognize the need of laws to pro- 

 tect and preserve our mountain forests. 

 and iavor legislation to that end. The 

 present forest reserve law prevents the 

 legitimate and harmless use of timber by 

 settlers, prevents the ownership or devel- 

 opment of mines in reserved areas, and 

 does nothing to protect the forest from 

 fire the chief agent of its destruction. 



We favor laws for the preservation of 

 the native grasses on the open range, and 

 laws which will give to the citizens and 

 taxpayers of this state the exclusive right 

 to occupy and use the ranges within its 



116 



borders and protect their homes against 

 the invasion of flocks and herds from 

 other states when owned by non-residents 

 and those who pay taxes elsewhere. 



Adopted in Republican convention, Cheyenne, Wyo., 

 August 13, 1896. " 



DELEGATES TO THE CONGRESS. 



The following gentlemen have been ap- 

 pointed by the governors of their respect- 

 ive states as delegates to the Fifth Na- 

 tional Irrigation Congress. 



Oklahoma J. V. Adm're, Kingfisher; 

 Henry E. Glazier, Stillwater; G. W. 

 Batchelder, Newkirk. 



Oregon Chas. Hilton, The Dalles; J. 

 M. Church, La Grande; John D. Young, 

 Baker City; W. F. Matlock, Pendleton; 

 A. W. Gowan, Burns. 



California Hon. C. C. Wright, Mod- 

 esto; H. R. McDonald, formerly State 

 Treasurer; E. G. Knapp, San Francisco. 



Montana Z. T. Burton, Burton; Paris 

 Gibson. Great Falls; J. B. Collins, Miles 

 City: Matt Anderson, Bozeman; Donald 

 Bradford, Helena. 



IRRIGATION IN CENTRAL AMERICA. 



BY JOHN R. CHANDLER. 



/"CENTRAL America has taken a de- 

 \~-J cided btep in the last year or so to- 

 wards the development of resources of 

 every kind, and in so doing has opened 

 up a number of markets for American 

 goods, machinery, and especially enter- 

 prises in railroading, canal building and 

 irrigation. 



The coffee crop this year will surely be 

 double of last year's and worth fully $25,- 

 000,000, but Guatemala alone has a vast 

 series of plateaus in its central basin which, 

 once given over to irrigation on American 

 principles, would more than double the 

 yearly value of its present exports, in to- 

 bacco, sisal hemp or henequer and several 

 other fibres, sugar, cocoa, etc. The plains 

 of Zocapa are easily accessible from the 

 Rio Grande or Motagua river, and irriga- 

 tion need be no more costly than in our 

 western states. 



This territory is now being opened np 

 by the Northern or Interoceanic Railroad, 



