136 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



one occasion. Through the favors extended by an- 

 other he has met congressmen who have been particu- 

 larly active in the movement for national aid, and has 

 thus been brought into contact with the Secretary of 

 the Interior. He has had their support in meetings 

 of the Irrigation Congress or wherever their services 

 have been needed. He has been introduced into clubs 

 at Washington and has appeared before engineering and 

 scientific societies. Only a short time since, both Mr. MaJc- 

 well and one of his Government assistants appeared be- 

 fore an economic society in Washington to promote 

 their mutual policies. Through the publications con- 

 trolled by Mr. M&xwell he has been able to repay his 

 debt to these gentlemen. Besides, he has flooded the 

 country with material, sent to the daily newspapers, 

 advertising those who have been of service to him. He 

 has realized that should the Government embark on 

 a plan whereby the West is to be reclaimed it would be 

 to his advantage to have his friends maintained in 

 places where they would be valuable in carrying out 

 the policies of the National Irrigation Association. We 

 have a bale of newspaper clippings sent out by this 

 bureau relating to the thorough training and wide ex- 

 perience of the men with whom Mr. Maxwell has found 

 it advisable to work. 



Mr. Maxwell has always been active in working for 

 specific appropriations for the construction of projects 

 which he has already selected. These projects need not 

 be mentioned here, as they are enumerated in the re- 

 port of the Secretary of the Interior for the year 1901, 

 published eight months prior to the passage of the 

 irrigation bill. No reliable preliminary surveys had 

 been made to determine the feasibility of these projects 

 up to that time, and this work has not yet been com- 

 pleted. Why should the Secretary of the Interior place 

 himself on record as favoring one or all of these 

 projects unless his subordinates had so recommended ? 

 Through whose influence were the subordinates in- 

 duced to advocate Government construction of these 

 projects? It is not our place to guess or surmise as to 

 how the Secretary of the Interior was thus led to 

 commit himself. We feel, however, that an explanation 

 should be made as to why, if the Secretary of the In- 

 terior should advise the construction of these projects 

 two years ago, the Eeclamation Service has found it 

 necessary to spend much time since then making sur- 

 veys as to their feasibility. 



Mr. Maxwell has led the way in planning the work 

 of the Government during the past year. He goes here 

 and there, promising what the Eeclamation Service will 

 do for this or that community and formulating regu- 

 lations under which the act of June 17th can be carried 

 out without delay. He has been especially active along 

 Salt Eiver Valley in Arizona, where conditions are 

 rather unusual. Mr. Maxwell was hailed first as a 

 prophet, but his domineering tactics have robbed him 

 of much of his power and influence. Men with whom 

 he first cooperated have turned against him, and it is 

 extremely doubtful if any, of the measures he has ad- 

 vocated will be indorsed by a majority of the people of 

 the valley. In a number of States those chosen by him 

 to act as vice-presidents of his associations are now 

 using their influence to make known the character of 

 the organization and the man who dominates its poli- 

 cies. 



The question as to who has given Mr. Maxwell 

 permission to represent the Government in irrigation 



matters is often asked. If you should ask him he 

 would probably answer that he is acting as the chair- 

 man of the Executive Committee of the National Irri- 

 gation Association. Those who have read what has 

 gone before know what this means. He does not get 

 his position from the Association, however, but from 

 Government officials . who are willing that he should 

 represent them. That this places the national irriga- 

 tion program in the hands of those who furnish the 

 financial support to the propaganda is plain. 



To show how Mr. Maxwell attempts to control the 

 Eeclamation Service through his Association, a copy 

 of a letter sent out recently to the members of th& 

 organization is given. Attention is called to his de- 

 mand for the construction of "specific projects" and his, 

 reference to his ''own work" : 



"CHICAGO, ILL., February 14, 1903. 



"Dear Sir: The National Irrigation Association 

 is working for results. We want to see the irrigation 

 works built, and the increased population and trade 

 actually created. 



"When completed, the Tonto, or Salt Eiver, reser- 

 voir in Arizona, costing $2,700,000, with a capacity of 

 1,500,000 acre-feet, will rival the Nile dam as a great 

 engineering work. It will more than double the pro- 

 daHctwenesSj population and trade of the Salt River 

 Valley. 



"To make the influence of the National Irrigation 

 Association effective, it must be concentrated on spe- 

 cific projects which will demonstrate the benefits of 

 national irrigation to the entire country, and this Salt 

 River reservoir is such a project. 



"The Homemaker for January contains, in both 

 the illustrated section and the editorial section, articles 

 giving in detail an account of this great project and 

 my own work in connection with it. Read it carefully. 



"The enemies of the national irrigation movement, 

 our erstwhile opponents, who wanted the States to 

 control the great work of reclamation, though scotched, 

 are still active and venomous. They are leaving no- 

 stone unturned to undo the great work we have accom- 

 plished. 



" 'By their fruits ye shall know them' is the rule 

 by which the friends of the national irrigation move- 

 ment, who comprise the National Irrigation Associa- 

 tion, must be measured. So far it is a record of 

 things done. Yours faithfully, 



"GEORGE H. MAXWELL. 



It will readily be seen by those who have followed 

 the matter closely that what Mr. Maxwell claimed in 

 his letter dated February 14, 1903, as to the National 

 Irrigation Association working for results, has had 

 some effect. This is particularly true in the Tonto 

 Basin Reservoir case in Arizona, where, as we have 

 repeatedly stated, 160,000 to 200,000 acres of land 

 held in private ownership are to be irrigated by fund* 

 obtained under the reclamation act. Does it seem fair 

 that speculators and private landowners in Arizona 

 should be permitted to reap the benefit obtained from 

 money expended under this act through the sale of 

 lands in the Dakotas and other States where irrigation. 

 is nearly, if not quite, as important as in Arizona ? It 

 is strange to those who are acquainted with the whole 

 situation that the railway companies traversing the 



