THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



89 



and there was no such a thing as a dry river bed of the Rio Grande; but 

 with the cry of "Go West, young man" and the subsequent rush from the 

 Eastern farms and cities to Colorado and New Mexico, there began a 

 scarcity of water in the river which has caused much suffering and pov- 

 erty to our Mexican friends on the other side, as well as to the American 

 farmers on this side of the river. The old established law of water rights 

 says that the first in use is the first in right; but how has this law been 

 respected? Did you ever see the lovely farms in Colorado and New 

 Mexico along the Rio Grande, irrigated from the waters of that river? 

 Did you ever see the ruins of once elegant farms in the Rio Grande valley 

 near El Paso, on both the American and Mexican sides of the river, the 

 deserted villages, abandoned fields and orchards a pitiful state of ruin 

 brought about by absence of the necessary life giving water from the 



i . 



VIEW OF AMERICAN SIDE OF THE SITE OF THE PROPOSED INTERNATIONAL DAM. 



river for irrigation? If so, you know well the story that is told by the 

 two pictures. 



It being practically impossible any more to make a living upon therr 

 farms, the owners and tenants thereof have been obliged to leave this 

 section and go to other parts of Mexico and the United States in order 

 to make a living for themselves and families. This would never have 

 been necessary if the people could have had water for their land water 

 to which they are justly entitled by laws which have stood the test of 

 ages and which are observed in other countries; yet in spite of their ap- 

 peals, their prior rights have been trampled upon and they have been 

 forced out of house and home in order that the later settlers a few hun- 

 dred miles above, along the same river, might thrive and prosper by tak- 



