THE IRRIGATION 



irrigation must be Self. Help. True, Con- 

 gress may, and perhaps will, to a limited 

 extent and in a perfunctory manner, move 

 along certain lines, but the appropriations 

 therefor Avill undoubtedly be greatly re- 

 stricted and entirely inadequate. 



The It is the duty of each state to 



Duty* take up this all-important 



question and to investigate it thoroughly 

 and completely so far as it relates to land 

 and water Avithin its own boundaries and 

 the best interests of the citizens therein. 

 Until this is done the real needs of the 

 state are not known or understood. It is 

 useless to run wildly to Congress on every 

 trivial question which may arise, many of 

 them of a purely selfish nature, and their 

 instigators trusting that under cover of 

 something else a bill may be pushed 

 through that will be to their personal 

 gain. The first necessity is an intelligent 

 understanding of the needs of the several 

 states, and as far as possible an earnest at- 

 tempt to work out their own salvation. 

 The question of interstate waters is a 

 legitimate one for Congress, but that body 

 will never take any beneficial action 

 thereon unless the conflicting interests of 

 the states are understood and a united ef- 

 fort made to adjust them without preju- 

 dice or bias. Unless the men of the West 

 make an effort to agree upon some com- 

 mon points, they need .expect but little 

 from the federal authorities. 



The Home- The first National Homeseek- 

 Convention. ers' Convention, which was 

 held in Chicago beginning September 20, 

 1897, was unique in the annals of conven- 

 tions. It was composed of delegates ap- 

 pointed by the governors of the states and 

 territories. There were representatives 

 present at the convention from Alabama, 

 Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Louisi- 

 ana, Maryland,' Mississippi, Minnesota, 

 Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, South 

 Carolina, South Dakota and Utah. It 

 was an intelligent, representative and able 

 body of men. The problems discussed 

 were of a thoroughly practical nature. 



comprising the necessity of furnishing the 

 homeseeker or prospective settler with im- 

 partial information regarding lands and 

 locations, thus preventing him from fall- 

 ing into the hands of unscrupulous land 

 agents, also the necessity of more simple 

 and perfect laws to facilitate the transfer 

 of land ownership. Other topics of vital 

 importance to homeseekers were discussed 

 and the convention completed its work by 

 the organization of a permanent associa- 

 tion and the following officers were elected : 

 Congressman James Gunn, of Boise, 

 Idaho, President; Marcus P. Beebe, of 

 Ipswich, South Dakota, First Vice-Presi- 

 dent; Frank H. Dryden, of Maryland, 

 Second Vice-President ; George E. Girling, 

 of Chicago, Secretary and Treasurer; 

 Rev. Dr. John Busk, pastor of the Mili- 

 tant Church, Chicago, Delegate-at-Large. 

 An executive committee of one member 

 from each state was also elected. A brief 

 synopsis of the resolutions appears else- 

 where in this issue. 



Looks Better A brighter outlook for irriga- 

 Compairtes. tion companies is in evidence. 

 The past three years has seen a great 

 many of them placed in the hands of re- 

 ceivers. The next twelve months will see 

 the majority of them reorganized on bet- 

 ter and more secure financial foundations. 

 A notable instance of this tendency is that 

 of the Denver Land and Water Company, 

 previously the Denver Land and Water 

 Storage Company. This enterprise, while 

 not the largest, was one of the most im- 

 portant in all the western states on ac- 

 count of its proximity to the city of Den- 

 ver. It is the owner of the great Castle- 

 wood dam, a stone dam 685 feet long and 

 80 feet high, forming a monster reservoir 

 holding 250,000,000 cubic feet of water, 

 irrigating thousands of acres of land, be- 

 ginning at a point just outside the city 

 limits and extending southward about 

 twenty miles. The company was capital- 

 ized for $2,500.000 and bonded for about 

 half as much more. The panic of 1893, 

 combined with palpable mismanagement, 

 threw the property into the United States 



