260 : 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



and we are horrified by "another Indian 

 outbreak" and we begin to wonder if our 

 "attempts to civilize the Indian are a 

 failure." 



Mr. Leupp has no desire to uphold 

 violence or riots as a means of settling 

 grievences. but in his capacity of member 

 of the United States Board of Indian com- 

 missioners he doubtless saw the Indians 

 side of the question and was desirious of 

 being just to him. "Let us try to be just 

 to the Indian," he says farther on. "Is it 

 a sign of the failure of any scheme of 

 civilization that under it race antagonisms 

 survive, individuals usurp the functions 

 of organized justice, and masses of ignor- 

 ant men, despairing of any other means of 

 resenting a supposed trespass on their 

 rights, resort to blood-shed?" 



Ought we, in short, to expect a higher 

 standard of mortality from the Indian or 

 the negro, who after years of injustice and 

 slavery, have had a few years in which 

 to grasp advantages that should always 

 have been theirs, ought we, then, to 

 expect more from them than from the 

 white man. with his centuries of education 

 and freedom? 



May 

 First. 



It is running a fearful risk to 

 attempt writing anything in 

 regard to the weather for a monthly publi- 

 cation. On a morning paper, where 

 seconds count and everything goes up 

 with a rush, it is possible to say some- 

 thing concerning the weather that will 

 still be appropriate when the paper comes 

 forth damp from the press. But on a 

 monthly it is a risk: your spring poem 

 may be nipped by an unexpected blizzard 

 that comes along not on schedule time. 

 But though the odds are against us, the 

 temptation to say a few words of praise 

 for the delightful spring days we are 

 having, is too great to be resisted. The 

 warmth of the sun brought leaves and 

 blossoms out almost in a night. In the 

 country the smell of burning leaves is in 

 the air and the scent of blossoms, and 

 there comes the languid feeling that tells 

 us spring is here. It is a pleasure simply 

 to be alive to see the green trees and 

 blue sky, and to watch the daily unfolding 

 of fresh verdure. Certainly spring is the 



most delightful season of the four. It is 

 agreed that "anticipation is more enjoy- 

 able than realization," and the spring is 

 but the anticipation or prophecy of the 

 coming of summer, whose delights are 

 alloyed by the thought of autumn's blight. 

 Who could be miserable on a bright May 

 morning? Certainly not the country 

 dweller. 



The first of May to city people is so 

 intimately associated with prosaic 

 thought of "moving" as to be almost 

 divorced from the poetic sentiments. 

 This year it brings to mind the name of 

 Dewey, who achieved world-wide fame a 

 year ago. There is talk of making the 

 first of May a holiday in his honor mak- 

 ing it "Dewey's Day," but we fear there 

 is shrewd practical sense as well as 

 patriotism at the bottom of this idea as 

 people can move and have a holiday on 

 one and the same day. 



Curtis 

 Letter 



It was with great pleasure we 

 noted the prominence given to 

 irigation interests in a recent 

 issue of the Chicago Record. The letter of 

 Wm. E. Curtis about two columns in 

 length was deyoted almost exclusively 

 -to the discussion of this important subject. 

 The Record is the "people's paper" to 

 such a great extent that any issue taken 

 up by it is sure to be brought to public 

 attention, and the mention made is there- 

 fore all the more appreciated. Under the 

 department of "Pulse of Irrigation In- 

 dustry" we quote extracts from this inter- 

 esting article. 



The Advocate and News of 



What it , . T;r 



Should be. J- opeka,> Kansas, has been suc- 

 ceeded by the Farmers Advo- 

 cate. In the editorial announcing the 

 change there are some good ideas as to 

 what a farm paper should be. "We are 

 of the opinion," it says, that what the 

 farmer wants is not so much to be told 

 how to farm. ****** Our idea 

 of a good farm paper in something like a 

 candidate for office with truthfulness 

 added, a regular visitor to the farm home, 

 telling the farmer what has happened 

 outside in the world during the past week, 

 watching his interests at points which he 

 cannot reach, giving him an interchange 



