34 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



of land. Land values have been too high 

 at one time or place, and too low at an- 

 other. It will require at least one or two 

 more decades of successes and failures to 

 show the real money value of our grazing- 

 lands. We do not know whether their 

 present estimated values are too high or 

 too low. 



It has more than once been proposed 

 that the government should cede its land 

 to the states in which the lands are situ- 

 ated. The principal reason advanced in 

 support of this proposition is, that the 

 public lands pay no taxes and cannot, 

 therefore, be made to bear their propor- 

 tion of the cost of state administration 

 And improvement; the whole cost thus 

 falling on the private property within the 

 state. Especially is this burden felt in 

 those states in which the area of govern- 

 ment land is still large. During the last 

 decade this proposition of state ownership 

 has been before Congress in various forms. 

 In general, it is favored by the newspapers 

 of the grazing-states, as represented by 

 Wyoming, for example, and is opposed by 

 the newspapers of the agricultural states, 

 particularly the irrigation states, repre- 

 sented by California. In view of the wide- 

 spread distrust among the people of the 

 west of state, as opposed to Federal, man- 

 agement of the public land, a view 

 strongly evidenced by the antagonism 

 which the proposition of state ownership 

 has met in Congress, it seems to be ex- 

 tremely doubtful whether any effective 

 action in this direction will ever be taken. " 

 Since it is thought that the government 

 must for the present retain control of these 

 grazing lands, the remedy for existing 

 evils must be by limiting the amount of 

 stock to the forage capacity of the area, 

 and after briefly touching upon the plan 

 of a per capita license, and showing the 

 objections to such a course, Mr. Coville 

 recommends the leasing system as a solu- 

 tion of the problem. Each lessee would 

 thus have a direct interest in the proper 

 management of his tract of land. This 

 system, the author states, is used success- 



fully by the Australian government in 

 solving the grazing-land problem, by the 

 state of Texas and by the Northern Pacific 

 Railroad. Thus it has been proved that 

 the leasing system is practicable and 

 profitable. The sum obtained should go 

 not to the general treasury but, to the 

 state in which the lands are located, as 

 many western states have expended all the 

 money allowed therein for improvements 

 and are yet in need of funds to carry on 

 schools, improve roads and "particularly 

 for popular agricultural education, and of 

 state moneys for great irrigation enter- 

 prises a matter of paramount importance 

 in some states." 



. Mr. Coville favors a joint administration 

 by the state and the government, in order 

 to do away with the objections that are 

 held by many sections against state man- 

 agement of the public-land system. A 

 rancher in Oregon suggested a principle 

 to the author, which a San Francisco law- 

 yer, experienced in water-right contests, 

 and the state irrigation engineer of Wyom- 

 ing, modified, and the proposition finally 

 is as follows: '"Let the government re- 

 tain its title to the grazing-lands, but 

 adopt a grazing-lease system. Let the 

 administration for each state be in the 

 hands of a Federal officer, who shall have 

 his headquarters within the state, attend 

 to all leases and other business for that 

 state, and decide all contests. The resi- 

 dent officers to be responsible to a central 

 officei' in Washington, who shall have the 

 general supervision and direction of the 

 system, be responsible for its proper man- 

 agement, and have the right to veto, or 

 reverse, the decisions of the resident 

 officers; his office to be retained during 

 good behavior. In each state the income 

 in excess of the cost of administration to 

 be returned to it, to be used for specified 

 purposes of state improvement." 



BIG PIPE LINE. 



There are 115 settlers in West Riverside 

 whose water for irrigation and domestic 

 use is conveyed to them through the Ju- 



