216 



THE IRRIGATION AGE, 



forming a settlement of their own near 

 Fergus Falls, Minn. Six coaches were 

 filled with Dunkards on their way to join 

 their brothers in the faith in North Dakota. 

 Forty freight cars were filled with their 

 household goods. One hundred emigrants 

 were on their way to West Virginia and 

 150 from Ohio and Indiana were en route 

 for North Dakota where they will settle. 

 Applicable Just at the present time, when 

 Now press and people seem united 



in the one aim to tell the chief executive 

 what to do and how to do it the advice of 

 Abraham Lincoln, spoken at a similar crisis 

 in national affairs, is worthy of being fol- 

 lowed. Lincoln, in his day, was subject to 

 criticism as much as President McKinley 

 is today, and to a delegation who came to 

 the White House to criticise his administra- 

 tion, the former said: 



"Gentlemen, suppose all the property 

 you were worth was in gold, and you had 

 put it in the hands of Blondin to carry 

 across the Niagara river on a rope, would 

 you shake the cable or keep shouting out to 

 him, 'Blondin, stand up a little straighter; 

 Blondin, stoop a little more; go a little 

 faster; lean a little more to the north; 

 lean a little more to the south?' No. you 

 would hold your breath, as well as your 

 tongue, and keep your hands off until he 

 was safe over. The government are carry- 

 ing an immense weight. Untold treasures 

 arc in their hands. They are doing the 

 very best they can. Don't badger them. 

 Ke p silence, and we'll getyou safe across." 



Pirst -^ gleam of light on the dark 



steps pathway of the discouraged 



farmer and the hopeless city toiler is the 

 interest that is being aroused in the work 

 of reclaiming the arid land of the West. 

 Government aid and supervision of irriga- 

 tion enterprises means thousands of acres 

 of desert redeemed and made fertile; it 

 means homes for the homeless, hope for 

 the hopeless, aid for the discouraged far- 

 mer struggling against disheartening odds 

 To improve the land we have, to provide 

 for the present population, is better than 

 the acquisition of more territory. 



Influential men of the west, senators and 

 representatives, who have the welfare of 

 the common people at heart, are beginning, 

 not only to realize the benefit but to work 

 for the accomplishment of this great aim 

 the securing of government aid in reclaim- 

 ing arid land. One of the first steps in 

 this direction was taken March 14, when 

 Representative Newlands introduced a 

 bill into congress, directing the secretary 

 of the interior to make surveys for.and de- 

 termine and report on the cost of erecting 

 reservoirs in certain rivers and tributaries 

 and appropriating $250)000 for the purpose. 

 The rivers named are the Sioux. Missouri 

 and Yellowstone, for the benefit of Nebras- 

 ka, North and South Dakota, Montana and 

 Wyoming; the Columbia and Snake rivers 

 for Oregon, Washington and Idaho; the 

 Platte, Arkansas and Ilio Grande for New 

 Mexico and Colorado; the Carson. Walker 

 and Llumbojdt for Nevada; and Little Col- 

 orado, Gila, Salt, Ilio Verdi and Puero for 

 California and Arizona. 



Another bill which was presented, ap- 

 propriated $21,300 to be spent in collect- 

 ing data, from agricultural colleges, agri- 

 cultural experiment stations and other 

 source*, including practical agents and en- 

 gineers, on the subject of irrigation and 

 for publishing the results in bulletin form. 



All of which tends to show that the 

 representatives of the people are at la^t 

 awakening to the great value of irrigation 

 and the vast importance government aid 

 would be. 



Open On another page of the AGE 



Discussion will be found an article on 

 "Our Arid Public Lands" Whether the 

 cession of the public lands to the states 

 would offer a chance for land grabbing and 

 monopoly as some have claimed, is still a 

 question. The columns of this journal are 

 open for discussion of this matter, and we 

 would be glad to hear from those both for 

 and against the .measure. 

 A Treat An article from the versatile 

 Refers pen of T. 3. Van Dyke, will 

 be one of the features of the June issue of 

 the AGE, and will be looked forward to 



