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THE IRRIGATION AGE 



VOL. XIII. 



L\ oo 



CHICAGO, OCTOBER, 1898. 



NO. 1. 



PROGRESS OF WESTERN flMERlCfi. 



The National There is nothing that has 

 Irrigation done more to further the 

 Congress. cause of irrigation than the 

 National Irrigation Congress: no more 

 potent factor can be found for bringing 

 the benefits of the system before the pub- 

 lic and arousing congress to the need of 

 legislative measures in its behalf than the 

 annual meetings of this body. A few 

 short years ago irrigation was a word sel- 

 dom heard outside of a few states- and the 

 m was considered to belong as exclu- 

 sively to the state of Utah as did Mormon- 

 ism. But surely, though slowly, (thanks 

 to the Congress) the knowledge of the 

 benefits of the system is now being spread 

 throughout the country. Recognizing the 

 benefits of the Congx-ess it is with sincere 

 pleasure that the AGE, as an exponent 

 and upholder of the irrigation movement, 

 chronicles the meeting of the seventh an- 

 nual session of the National Irrigation 

 Congress. 



Cheyenne succeeded in cap- 

 turing the Congress this year, 

 and on September 1. 2, and 3 

 those interested in the reclamation and 

 settlement of the arid lands, the preserva- 

 tion of our forests, and the many kindred 

 topics which hinge upon the great princi- 

 ple of irrigation, met a hearty welcome 

 from Cheyenne citizens. The meeting was a 

 success. A very encouraging sign was 

 that every officer of the association was 

 present and that thirty states were repre- 

 sented by delegates, also fraternal dele- 

 gates were present from the governments 

 of Canada and Mexico. A serious wash- 



Cheyenne 

 the City. 



out on the railroad prevented many from 

 reaching Cheyenne until Saturday the 

 last day of the convention, too late to par- 

 ticipate in any of the discussions. 

 The Objects The objects of the Irrigation 

 of the Congress to formulate plans 



Congress. for reclaiming and settling 

 the arid lands of the West, to arouse the 

 interest of the public in the irrigation 

 movment and to present to Congress the 

 need of government aid in carrying out 

 the plans proposed is furthered by these 

 annual meetings. The most skillful engi- 

 neers, the men interested in the economic 

 problems of the country, the farmers, leg- 

 islators, writers, are all brought together 

 to discuss questions of vital interest to the 

 public. The papers read are an education 

 to those so fortunate as to hear them, and 

 we hope at some future time to present 

 some of them at least to our readers. 



An important feature of the 

 Col. Maxon's recen t session was the report 

 Report. o j j g B Maxon, mem- 



ber of the committee appointed by the 

 Lincoln congress to go to Washington. 

 This report, which was given the second 

 day of the convention, read that the com- 

 mittee had succeeded in framing a bill 

 which secured the support of the House 

 Committee on Arid Lands. This bill pro- 

 vides that states taking advantage of the 

 Carey law shall have ten years from the 

 date " of final segregation to reclaim. 

 The state may file through a local land 

 office for temporary segregation for a. 

 period of four months. Failure to file 

 maps and plans within this period works a 



