230 THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



Mr. STEWART. You will hear it right now. We are spending 

 $10,000,000 in the river and harbor bill to improve the navigation of 

 the Mississippi river, when we all know that that is not the purpose. 

 It is to protect the lands there. We know that is the purpose. A 

 great many things are done by indirection. I should not be surprised 

 if my friend the Senator from Wisconsin has done some cunning things 

 by indirection. He does not always tell what he is after. I am will- 

 ing to say that I should like to see this experiment tried, because it is 

 the only way of supplying the Indians, and in addition it may illus- 

 trate a great principle. There should be no objection to it. 



Mr. SPOONER. As a lawyer I have not always informed m\ an- 

 tagonist what I was about, but as a legislator I have endeavored to be 

 frank and not to seek in legislation to accomplish anything by indirec- 

 tion.- 



Mr. STEWART. I am not seeking to accomplish anything by indi 

 rection. 



Mr. SPOONER. Every time this irrigation proposition comes before 

 the Senate, instead of coming at an early day in the session and in the 

 form of some well-defined plan, reported by the Committee on Irriga- 

 tion, so that we can consider it and be educated by the Senator 



Mr. STEWART. It would take a long time to educate you. We 

 could not get a hearing. 



Mr. SPOONER. It would take a long time, perhaps, to be educated 

 by the Senator from Nevada. 



Mr. STEWART. Yes. 



Mr. SPOONER. But it always comes under cover. 



Mr. STEWART. Who is making this speech? 



Mr. SPOONER. If you do not want me to interrupt you, I will not. 

 But it always comes under cover. 



Mr. STEWART. No; it does not come under cover. It does not 

 always come in that way. Here is a proposition in this bill for irrigat- 

 ing Indian land. It has gone through every time, but there is objec- 

 tion to this because it may incidentally irrigate other lands. It is a 

 proposition where you can not irrigate the Indian lands without irri- 

 gating other lands, and because you cannot do it, are you going to let 

 the Indians starve? There are over 5,000 Indians there. There is no 

 way of getting a permanent supply of water unless you build the res- 

 ervoir, which will provide more water than the Indians need, which 

 can be used for irrigating some other Government land. Therefore, 

 rather than benefit the white man, you will not have a survey and you 

 will not have an investigation. 



Nobody is going to undertake this enterprise unless the land can 

 be reserved. If the lands are not withdrawn before the survey is 

 made there will be obstructions in the way. Nobody will do it, private 



