THE IBBIGATION AGE. 



45 



delegates was somewhat overestimated by them, but 

 among those who attended were some of the brainiest 

 men in the country. 



When our Invitation Committee went to Ogden 

 last year to capture the Congress it made certain 

 promises which the Local Committee, of which I be- 

 came Chairman, felt compelled to carry out. This 

 we have done to the* letter, as is evidenced by the 

 many expressions of satisfaction heard from all the 

 delegates attending the Convention. 



Among the substantial benefits to accrue from 

 the meeting might be mentioned the solving of the 

 irrigation problem of this portion of the Eio Grande 

 Valley by the endorsement of the Elephant Butte 

 project. A settlement of this question which has so 

 long existed regarding an equitable distribution of 

 the waters of the river, if settled right and in justice 

 to our own people and our neighbors, would of itself 

 justify an expenditure of many times the amount 

 of money it has cost the people of El Paso to entertain 

 the Congress. 



I am not yet personally prepared to say that the 

 proposed settlement of the rival dam questions is fair 

 to all concerned, for I have had no time to give the 

 subject any thought, but I do sincerely believe that 

 much was done at this Congress toward the consum- 

 mation of the great irrigation project for the val- 

 ley. 



I sincerely hope that the people of El Paso will 

 take the same view that I hold concerning the great 

 importance of the last session of the Congress and of 

 the great good which will result." 



It will be noted that Mr. Turney, as well as other 

 citizens, was somewhat dissatisfied with the mislead- 

 ing claims of Chairman Boothe, who predicted an at- 

 tendance of 3,000 or more delegates. It is all very well 

 to make large claims, but it is doubtful if it was fair 

 for the members of a crowd who are running outside 

 affairs to mislead the citizens of El Paso in this man- 

 ner. 



Mr. William E. Smythe, who conducted one of 

 the sections, rendered valuable aid and voiced the 

 sentiment of the delegates present in thanking the 

 citizens of Texas, and El Paso in particular, for their 

 hospitality and kindness. 



The following resolutions, some of which will be 

 discussed later on in this journal, were adopted by the 

 Congress : 



Our thanks are due and are hereby heartily ten- 

 dered to Hon. W. A. Clark for his manifold and valu- 

 able services as President of this Congress during two 

 successive terms. 



It is the opinion of the National Irrigation Con- 

 gress that the National Irrigation Law be so extended 

 by Congress as to include the State of Texas within 

 its provisions in so far as to permit the Secretary of 

 the Interior to direct engineers of the United States 

 Eeclamation Service to examine and report upon feasi- 

 ble irrigation projects, and when approved according 

 to the terms of said law to superintend their construc- 

 tion to the end that Texas may have the benefit of 

 the same service that is now extended to the other 

 arid sections. 



The full extent of the National Eeclamation Act 



should be printed in the official proceedings of this 

 Congress and all the proceedings of the present Con- 

 gress be published in book form and properly 

 indexed; and that such published report should include 

 the constitution and by-laws of the Twelfth Annual 

 Session. 



The appropriation of funds for forest planting on 

 denuded watersheds in the forest reserves is essential 

 to the progress of irrigation, and we strongly urge 

 upon Congress legislation to that end duing the com- 

 ing session with the view of increasing the value of 

 streams still flowing and restoring those which have 

 disappeared. 



We express the fullest confidence in the honesty, 

 ability and capacity of the officials of the reclamation, 

 forest and weather service and commend its impartial 

 and non-partisan administration; and our hearty 

 thanks are hereby tendered to the officials of the In- 

 terior Department and of the Department of Agri- 

 culture who have so ably contributed to the success 

 of the meeting. 



We heartily commend the work of the Weather 

 Bureau in the preparation of the climatological die- . 

 tionary now in progress, and we bespeak for this pub- 

 lication the widest possible publicity. 



We repeat and emphasize the resolutions of the 

 previous Congresses in favor of the consolidation of all 

 Government forest work in the Department of Agri- 

 culture, owing to the peculiar fitness of that depart- 

 ment for the work, and urge the immediate passage of 

 the bill for this purpose 1 now before Congress. 



The presence of the distinguished delegates from 

 our sister Eepublic of Mexico has strengthened the 

 bond of friendship between the two Nations, as well 

 as enlarged our scientific and general knowledge of this 

 continent, and in appreciation of the cordial treatment 

 of this Congress while we were on Mexican soil, by the 

 officials of the State of Chihuahua and delegates to 

 this Congress from the Eepublic of Mexico, we cordial- 

 ly invite the Eepublic of Mexico to send a delegation 

 of her citizens to the National Congress to be held in 

 Portland, Oregon, in 1905. . 



We endorse the policy of the Government in the 

 construction of a ship canal along the west shore of 

 the Sabine Lake in Southwest Texas with the view to 

 opening to navigation the Sabine and Naches Eivers, 

 which, in addition to opening the inland fresh water 

 harbors nearest Kansas City and St. Louis, has aided 

 in conserving the fresh water supply of these streams 

 for rice irrigation, and we urge that similar work be 

 extended to the localities throughout the Nation where 

 practicable. 



It is the sense of this Congress that the remaining 

 public domain should be sacredly preserved to all the 

 people of the United States and should be rigidly re- 

 served for the benefit of actual homeseekers who will 

 live upon the land and in good faith cultivate the soil. 

 We recognize that much has been accomplished to this 

 end ; and under the provisions of the national irriga- 

 tion law, forty million acres of agricultural land has 

 been withdrawn from entry except under that act and 

 from the operation of laws which permit the absorp- 

 tion of public lands for private speculation, and eighty 

 million acres of timber land has been withdrawn from 

 entry' in order to protect the watersheds, thereby in- 

 creasing the source of water supply and conserving the 

 public good. 



