THE IRRIGA Tl ON A GE. 



349 



in the important reclamation work upon 

 ivhich we have just entered. 



In justice to Mr. Maxwell, we will say 

 that he is a good talker, and has a manner 

 that is winning. Without those requisites 

 he would not have represented so many 

 large corporate interest? for the past three 

 or four years. We say further that it is a 

 credit to the railroads to employ men. who 

 can educate the people in irrigation mat- 

 ters, who can talk intelligently with the 

 leading men of the country, and aid in the 

 adoption of such national policies, as will 

 build up the country to which the trans- 

 portation lines may be tributary. The 

 question is, do the railways gain anything 

 by employing agents who antagonize those 

 who have been, and are yet working for 

 the development of the arid west? Does 

 it aid the railroads to secure the services 

 of persons to go from one legislature to an- 

 other, for the purpose of defeating reform 

 legislation in irrigation matters? Would 

 it not be better for theVailways, as well as 

 for the government service, if the agents 

 employed by the transportation lines, 

 should advise with, instead of dictate to, 

 the engineers actually in charge of the re- 

 clamation work? To a disinterested per- 

 son, it seems that the authority which Mr. 

 Maxwell has assumed will sooner or later 

 discredit the work of national reclamation 

 from which the West hopes much. 



Large Irrigation Irrigation enthusiasts will 

 Fund in Sight. be gratified to learn that 

 there is 7,772.733 to be applied on the 



Never, 



How's This? 



semi-nrid regions of the West to make 

 them blossom. The fund represents the 

 net proceeds from the sale of public Innds 

 in the semi-arid states during the last two 

 fiscal years, which, under the law, can be 

 applied to the promotion of the national 

 irrigation project. 



The IRRIGATION AGE has 

 never seen anything to 

 compare with the effrontery with which Mr. 

 Geo. H. Maxwell attempted to control 

 everything conneeted with the Irrigation 

 congress. 



If the National Irrigation 

 Association was formed to 

 act as business agent for the National Irri- 

 gation Congress, and if this association 

 has, as its principal in fact so far as any 

 one has been able to learn its only repre- 

 sentative, Mr. Maxwell stated on the 

 floor of the Tenth Congress, a membership 

 of over 2, 300, who pay from $5 per annum 

 upward to $100, why then is it necessary 

 to write immediately after adjournment of 

 the congress calling for $10 and $20 from 

 delegates to help pay for publishing pro- 

 ceedings and photographs. The IRRIGA- 

 TION AGE has already invested $100 in 

 half tones and engravings illustrative of 

 the eongress, and if those interested will 

 follow its columns during the next few 

 months, a fairly comprehensive report of 

 the proceedings may be obtained without 

 paying out the above amount. 



