THE 1RR1GA T10N A GE. 





129 



in regions where normal rainfall prevails. 

 Philadelphia North American. 



The West is a unit in desiring the re- 

 clamation of its arid lands. Appropria- 

 tions for this purpose are demanded not 

 only by reason of the obligation of the 

 nation to improve its property, but as an 

 offset to the great sums contributed by the 

 arid interior for the improvement of the 

 rivers and harbors of the rest of the 

 country. T.he work of the National Irri- 

 gation Association has been mainly a prop- 

 aganda among the merchants and manu- 

 factures of the East for the purpose of 

 arousing them to the importance of open- 

 ing new markets by irrigation. This prop- 

 aganda has been remarkably successful. 

 San Francisco Chronicle. 



The people of the arid region who un- 

 derstand the irrigation problem desire na- 

 tional appropriations to be confined to the 

 construction of storage reservoirs, and, in 

 a very few cases, to long and expensive 

 canals, the construction of which is be- 

 yond the ability of private or state enter- 

 prise. If the reclamation of the arid region 

 makes homes for 10,000,000 people it will 

 more than justify all the expense involved. 

 Denver Republican. 



The advocates of Federal aid to irriga- 

 tion declare that the scientific storing and 

 distribution of water would so regulate the 

 amount which finds its way to the rivers 

 as to make extreme fluctuations almost 

 unknown. Wing dams, levees and rip- 

 rap would not be destroyed, channels 

 would not be suddenly choked with sand, 

 and thus millions would be saved. The 

 argument is an interesting one, and there 

 are others in support of irrigation under 

 government control that are evep more 

 forcible. Minneapolis Timzs. 



What the nation is asked to do for the 

 arid lands of the West is just what the 

 nation has been doing for almost a century 

 for the low-lying bottom lands of the 



lower Mississippi, and that is, to construct 

 such works for the government of the 

 water offthe country as will render the 

 land habitable and tillable. Albuquerque 

 (N. M.) Journal Democrat. 



The question of irrigation has passed 

 beyond the experiment stage, and both 

 theory and practice have demonstrated the 

 necessity of the reclamation of the vast 

 quantities of arid land now neglected, 

 which, as was once said about Australia, 

 will, "if tickled with a straw, be taught to 

 laugh a harvest" the straw in this case 

 being water. E. A. Hitchcock, Secretary 

 of the Interior in Annual Report for 

 1900. 



The great scramble for farm lands re- 

 ported from Minnesota in the White 

 Earth reservation, including only four 

 townships lately ceded for occupation by 

 white settlers, certainly indicates that the 

 reclaiming of land by irrigation would be a 

 popular measure of government. More 

 than 2,000 people joined in the rush to 

 secure homes, and for days hundreds of 

 men waited at the door of the land office 

 to buy homes at $1.25 per acre. These 

 are genuine home seekers. Youngstown 

 (0.) Vindicator. 



Under government supervision and con- 

 trol irrigation will make a garden land out 

 of what has bee/i called a desert, and the 

 entire community will share in the great 

 benefits. Minneapolis Progress. 



In calling attention to the National Ir- 

 rigation Congress, the president of the 

 Pennsylvania State College refers to " the 

 planting on the soil of a great population 

 with the employments and habits of rural 

 life, and yet so compactly settled as to be 

 able to secure the advantages in the way 

 of schools, colleges, churches, entertain- 

 tainments and all that goes to make up 

 the best social and public life which can 

 commonly be secured only in the largest 

 towns. Aew York Journal of Commerce* 



