172 



THE JRRTGA1ION AGE. 



cannot be raised on them to improve them, 

 but must be invested before they have any 

 value. Every argument that has been 

 made for other national improvements ap- 

 peals with greater force for this. St. 

 Paul Dispatch. 



The question of the reclamation of mil- 

 lions of acres of western lanas by irriga- 

 tion is no longer a sectional issue it is a 

 national one. It is time that the subject 

 should receive that attention its impor- 

 tance demands. 



The reservoir system will prove the so- 

 lution of this problem, while abolishing 

 floods in the Missouri and Mississippi 

 rivers. 



It is a national enterprise and should be 

 so considered. 



It is legitimately the work of congress. 

 That body should attend to it. St. Louis 

 Chronicle. 



The Irrigation Congress has intrenched 

 itself in the broad principle that it is the 

 duty of the national government to take 

 care of the arid lands, and it will make a 

 vigorous though not necessarily a last 

 ditch fight to have congress shoulder the 

 burden. Kansas City (Mo.) Journal. 



It is proposed to ask an appropriation of 

 ten million per annum on a " continuous 

 plan," as is recognized in the river and 

 harbor work, For ourselves, we think the 

 possession and occupation of "arid Amer- 

 ica" more likely to "expand our trade and 

 give us greater strength among the na- 

 tions" than the acquisition of all China. 

 Jacksonville (Fla>) Times Union. 



The first and most immediate benefits 

 would result to agriculture in the use of 

 the water to irrigate the arid lands of the 

 far West. The second result would be 

 the diverting of tho^e flood waters from the 

 Mississippi river, thereby relieving the 

 lowlajids of the valley from the inunda- 

 tions they periodically cause without such 

 diversion. While Louisiana has a general 



interest in the improvement of the entire 

 country, and in the promoting of its agri- 

 culture, this state's special interest is in 

 the relief from floods from the great rivers 

 that pour their waters down from the 

 mountains upon the lowlands. New Or- 

 x Picayune. 



The national irrigation movement is no 

 longer an experiment. Its annual con- 

 gresses have increased in size and impor- 

 tance for nine years. The object of carry- 

 ing the convention East is to awaken 

 eastern interest in the irrigation move- 

 ment as something which, if successful, 

 opens an extensive new market to eastern 

 manufacturers and jobbers. T'jpeka 

 Capital. 



Slowly but surely the importance of a 

 national system of irrigation is being im- 

 pressed upon the United States govern- 

 ment. The great work being accomplished 

 by irrigation associations, of which the 

 National Irrigation Association is the 

 strongest, will in time be the upbuilding 

 of the arid West. The government must, 

 and will in a few short years, take hold of 

 this important question. Paso Rohles 

 (Cal.) Record. 



Both political parties have pledged their 

 support to plans for reclaiming the arid 

 lands of the West. 



The last year-book of the Department of 

 Agriculture says that private irrigation 

 has practically reached its limit, and that 

 in many instances it is proving a losing 

 business. The reason for this failure 

 would not exist in the case of government 

 operations. Eventually every possible 

 acre of sand and sage brush must be made 

 productive. &an Jose (Cal.) Neics. 



Private and State enterprise have al- 

 ready done much to develop the possi- 

 bilities of some sections. But there are 

 greater problems to be solved, and the 

 members of the irrigation congress are 

 doubtless right in holding that this is 



