THE IRRIGATION AGL. 



337 



the steamers of light draft that ply between 

 those ports and Tien Tsin," 



Chefoo is considered an extremely im- 

 portant treaty port by reason of the con- 

 stant and growing demand for American 

 goods at that point. Its importance to 

 American interests is pictured by Consul 

 Fowler in a report to the state department 

 in which he says: "It is satisfactory to 

 see that during the six months under re- 

 view the following American goods show a 

 gain over the same period of 1896: drills, 

 13,214 pieces; sheetings, 111,040 pieces; 

 kerosene oil, 942,050 gallons. 



Xewchwang, while a comparatiyely 

 small city of about 60,000 population, is 

 of especial importance to the United 

 States as a treaty port. American cottons, 

 oils, and American Manufactures gene- 

 rally are in great demand in the province 

 of Shingking, and goods reach the interior 

 by the Muren river, which is navigable 

 nearly to the northern border of the pio- 

 vince. 



Some of the California news- 

 papers are advocating the div- 

 ision of the state into two 

 states. The sentiment seems strongest 

 among the papers of Southern California, 

 the Santa Ana Standard being a particu- 

 larly strong partisan. The fact that 

 Santa Ana is spoken of as the capital of 

 the southern state, should the division be 

 made, may have something to do with it. 

 Upon this subject the Ontaria (Cal.) 

 Record says editorially: "Nature has 

 made a division between the northern and 

 southern ends of this state, and man 

 would do well to make his dividing lines 

 conform to those laid down by nature. 

 The people of Siskiyou county have more 

 interests in common with the people of 

 Maine than they have with those of San 

 Diego, and there is no reason for having 

 the tremendous area that is within Cali- 

 fornia's present border confined to a single 

 state. 



Southern California, with its orange 

 groves, its. mines, its oil wells and its 

 thousands of other industries, is large 



One 



or 



Two. 



enough, rich enough and brainy enough 

 to be given statehood, and its people can 

 be better served by having their interests 

 looked after by the state of Southern Cali- 

 fornia than they ever can hope to be served 

 under present conditions." 



In connection with the ques- 

 tion of government irrigation 

 of arid lands, which is now 

 beginning to attract so much attention 

 throughout the West, a report was made 

 about ten years ago by a committee on 

 arid lands of the California State Board of 

 Trade, which is of special interest just 

 now. In this .report, the committee 

 draws attention to the fact that most of 

 that part of the United States west of the 

 one hundredth meridian either requires, 

 or would be benefited by, irrigation. 

 Without it, crops are not certain. Thus, 

 irrigation not only becomes a question of 

 national interest, but a question of 

 national necessity. The vast territory in 

 the United States requiring irrigation 

 covers over one-third of the inhabitable 

 part of our country, and if the national 

 government can wisely expend millions of 

 dollars in keeping the water off from a 

 portion of the inhabited part of the 

 country, can it not, with equal wisdom, 

 expend wisely money to put water upon 

 that portion of land which most needs it? 

 D As showing the large area of the United 

 States where irrigation would be advan- 

 tageous, and where it is most necessary, 

 the following figures are given: 



Area of Acres. Square 



miles. 



California 100,992,640 157,801 



Orgeon 60,975,360 92,274 



Ut-ih 54,380.800 84,970 



Washington 44,769 160 69,994 



New Mexico 77,568,640 121,201 



Nevada 71,737600 112,090 



Arizona 72,906,240 150,932 



Colorado 66,880,000 104,500 



Wyoming 62,645.120 97,883 



Idaho 55,238,160 86.290 



Montana.... 92,016,640 143,776 



To this may be added the northern and 

 western part of Texas, with an area of 

 about one hundred thousand square miles. 



The population of our country is in- 



