THE IRRIGATION AGE. 87 



one who complies with all-the requirements' under a well planned sys- 

 tem is tolerably well sure of a final decree for the amount diverted. 



For nearly a decade the irrigators of Wyoming have been deliv- 

 ered from the evil effects of irrigation litigation. They have lived in 

 peace, not on account of the angelic sweetness of their dispositions, 

 but because the State has endeavored to remove all cause of disputes 

 and controversies. The cardinal principle of their system may be 

 summarized in the old proverb ; 'An ounce of prevention is better than 

 a pound of cure." Frequent disputes have been averted and peace 

 maintained by stringent regulations and close inspection regarding 

 the appropriation and diversion of water as well as by careful measure- 

 ments of the quantity diverted in different seasons and the areas of 

 land which these streams water. 



The reason that our sister state has adjucated so many water 

 rights with so small an expenditure of money, is due to the fact that 

 from the day State-hood was granted, up to the present time, she has 

 worked along one well defined system. Every acre of irrigated land, 

 and every second foot of water measured by State officers have been 

 done for a definite object, namely: to protect the rights of the irriga- 

 tor and to enhance the value of his home by granting him a secure 

 title to his share of the neighboring stream. 



In view of the importance of this subject, this congress it seems to 

 me, should urge the necessity of state legislation regarding the settle- 

 ment of water rights apart from litigation, and the just division of all 

 appropriated waters, after the rights of claimants have been deter- 

 mined. 



Some may say, why urge the arid states to exercise control when 

 district or community control is preferable. To such I would say that 

 however wise may be the provisions of the district law it can never 

 take the place of state supervision and control. Communities like mu- 

 nicipalities may elect to manage their own water supplies, but to se- 

 gregate the waters of a state between a large number of districts which 

 shall be entirely independent of a governing or central bureau is too 

 much like the introduction of the feudal system in Western America. 

 We have to look ahead but a few years to see the limitations of even 

 state control over inter-sr,ate and international streams. 



Men may differ as to questions of detail but I believe a large ma- 

 jority of Western people are in accord on the following propositions: 



(1) The creation in each state of a central bureau of irrigation to 

 which all data pertaining to this subject should be forwarded and from 

 which information could be obtained. 



(2) The appointment of competent parties to collect and collate 

 the physical facts pertaining to the irrigable lands and the appropri- 

 ated waters with a view to the final settlement of all water rights. 



(3) The establishment of a special tribunal to grant water titles 

 for a nominal sum on the basis of carefully determined facts rather 



