74 



THE IRKIGATION AGE. 



hardship in this, because the assignee generally knows 

 they are fraudulent. And if he doesn't, why not put 

 him on his inquiry? There is plenty more land he 

 can get if he must have some. And if the assignment 

 is for a debt he is generally no worse off than before. 

 Perhaps fraudulent patent could be canceled now in 

 the hands of an assignee, certainly in the hands of 

 one not giving any new consideration. But it is not 

 done. A little doing of it would be enough to prevent 

 much fraud. 



I know not how it is elsewhere, but under our 

 officials of the land office in Los Angeles fraud under 

 the arid land act is very difficult. As such entries 

 are generally in groups, it would be no great task to 



First Crop on Sage Brush Land, near New Plymouth, Idaho. 



have an agent of thu Interior Department investigate 

 all cases on the ground. I think it will be found that 

 the compliance with the requirements of the arid land 

 law is generally more in conformity with the spirit of 

 the act than in case of the homestead law on similar 

 lands. I have known many cases where parties unable 

 to comply have given up their filing. I am now work- 

 ing out an irrigation proposition where some thirty 

 claims, all but one, were thus abandoned to the Gov- 

 ernment again. There were no homesteads, but it 

 is safe to say they would not have been abandoned. 

 If a man don't abandon to the Government under the 

 arid land act he is very likely to do it in favor of 

 some one who will water the land, because he knows 

 his holding of it is too precarious under that act. But 

 he knows equally well that under the homestead act 

 all he needs is a few hundred feet of cull lumber and 

 a couple of friends to make the title good. And they 

 don't have to be strong friends, either. I have not yet 

 seen the man so poor, so mean or so unpopular that 

 he could not get witnesses of respectability in the 

 community to prove up his homestead claim, no matter 

 what the real facts might be. 



Those who demand the repeal of the arid land 

 law are right in saying it is in the way of the Govern- 

 ment irrigation works. And so is the homestead law. 

 But there is no reason why either should be. There are 

 hundreds of thousands of acres that will never be re- 

 claimed except under the desert land law, especially so 

 in the artesian belts, whose exploration has yet hardly 

 begun. It is about the same with all pumped or de- 



veloped water, all too small for Government to bother 

 with, as well as too uncertain. There will be danger 

 enough to the Government enterprises from the clamor 

 of different sections to have some of that money put 

 in circulation where it will "do us some good," with- 

 out regard to the future outcome and repayment of 

 the money. And these will be backed up by other sec- 

 tions on the principle of "you tickle me and I'll tickle 

 you." So that Uncle Sam can't afford to risk any- 

 thing on a lot of small propositions. For if the East 

 and South once get the notion that the irrigation serv- 

 ice is being abused the whole thing may be repealed. 



The withdrawing of large areas of arid land goes 

 far toward meeting some of the objections, but not 

 far enough. It seems to me that a law something like 

 the following would protect the land without cutting 

 off too much of the revenue of the Reclamation Serv- 

 ice. I offer this, not as perfect, but merely as a sug- 

 gestion for perfection. I have submitted it to some 

 experts in this matter, and they can see no fault in 

 it. I should like to have any one point out any ob- 

 jection that can not be quickly met with an amend- 

 ment. 



I believe, too, that a law like the following would 

 unite enough members of Congress from each side to 

 secure its passage, whereas it may take a struggle of 

 years to repeal the desert land law, and in the mean- 

 time much of the mischief will have been done. The 

 following is the proposed bill : 



"All public land hereafter entered under any act 

 of Congress shall be subject to the following condi- 

 tions : 



"To be used by the United States, in whole or in 

 part, for reservoir sites, rights of way, for all main 

 ditches and laterals, including drainage ditches, with 

 right of ingress and egress for cleaning and repairs. 



"To the use for reclamation of arid lands of all 

 water rights of every kind now appurtenant to said 

 land, with the right to divert water to other watersheds 

 or on lands not riparian. 



A New Farm, Payette Valley, Idaho. 



"To be made a part of any irrigation system un- 

 dertaken by the United States, and, therefore, to the 

 payment to any such additional sum as may be as- 

 sessed upon other lands under the same system for the 

 repayment of the cost of irrigating the same, or any 

 other liabilities to which such other lands may be sub- 



