THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



137 



Dakotas or other States similarly situated should per- 

 mit a large percentage of the money derived from the 

 sale of lands in these States to be used for the purpose 

 of irrigating territory remote from that section terri- 

 tory that can never in any sense benefit, in a commer- 

 cial way, the States from which this money is taken. 



It is presumed that the railway companies have 

 learned that the National Irrigation Association and 

 Mr. Maxwell, or perhaps it would be better to put it 

 Mr. Maxwell and the National Irrigation Association 

 (as he seems to be about all there is to that organiza- 

 tion), has attempted to run things with a too high 

 hand, causing too much ill feeling against the Reclama- 

 tion Service and the Interior Department, under which 

 this wcfrk is being carried out. Those who have fol- 

 lowed the columns of THE IRRIGATION AGE in the past 

 will readily understand the feeling which exist? 

 throughout the West, where the Government, through 

 its Reclamation Service officers, is attempting to cur- 

 tail the development of legitimate private projects in 

 many sections. This is particularly true in Idaho and 

 some adjoining States. Some time ago a report was 

 sent to the Secretary of th*e Interior, Washington, D. C., 

 at his request, covering a lot of facts concerning the 

 action of the officers of the Reclamation Service. Ttis 

 report gave information about how these officers used 

 unfair means to hamper and retard development work 

 under legitimate and worthy projects controlled by 

 private capital. THE AGE has been gathering infor- 

 mation along these lines, which will be submitted to 

 the proper authorities when the time comes, and there 

 is every reason to believe that steps will be taken to 

 relieve the service of individuals who have been prime 

 movers along the lines indicated. 



To illustrate how some of the better-posted hy- 

 draulic engineers of the West feel toward the Interior 

 Department and the Reclamation Service, we are pub- 

 lishing herewith a letter from Mr. Walter H. Graves, 

 of the firm of Graves & King, Boise, Idaho, which is 

 self-explanatory. We received a number of inquiries 

 as to who was the author of letters recently published 

 in these columns signed "Ontario." These letters were 

 written by Mr. Graves; it was thought better at that 

 time, however, to omit his name, for fear the officers 

 of the Reclamation Service would attempt to injure 

 him in a business way in Idaho. A request, however, 

 came from Washington asking for the name of the 

 author of these letters, and the following reply from 

 Mr. Graves was forwarded, which we feel at liberty to 

 publish at this time: 



February 11, 1905. 

 D. H. Anderson, Esq., Chicago, 111.: 



Dear Sir: In reply to your favor of the 1st inst., 

 which has been delayed on account of the press of other 

 matters, I beg to say that I see no reason for with- 

 holding my name in connection with the communica- 

 tions published in your journal over the signature of 



"Ontario." When I wrote you I did not do so with 

 the idea that the communication would appear in print, 

 but to let you know how I felt in regard to the course 

 of the reclamation officials in this section of the coun- 

 try, and especially in regard to Mr. Newell's gratuitous 

 and uncalled-for attack on those engaged in develop- 

 ing sections of the West along lines of "private enter- 

 prise." I have spent a good many years of my life in 

 the irrigation business, that is, in constructing irriga- 

 tion works and ditches. As engineer I have laid out 

 and had charge of the construction of nearly 5,000 

 miles of irrigation canals and ditches, and in doing 

 this have had the supervision of the expenditure of 

 something over $8,000,000. There are today over 30,- 



000 people living under and by reason of these ditches. 

 My experience in this direction has probably been du- 

 plicated by other engineers and men in the West. We 

 were engaged in this business before Mr. Newell knew 

 what the word irrigation meant, and when he attacked 

 the men that had for years been engaged in this busi- 

 ness and had the magnificent record behind them as 

 public benefactors it naturally made me indignant, and 

 if I had had the time I certainly should have gone into 

 the matter more thoroughly and would have sought the 

 use of the columns of some public journal, like your 

 own, to have given more vehement expression to my 

 indignation, but I was limited in time and opportunity 

 and one evening sat down in my office and delivered 

 myself of the hastily prepared communication ad- 

 dressed to you in the first instance. When your re- 

 quest came for permission to publish it I was in the 

 field and my partner opened the letter and communi- 

 cated its contents in substance to me, and at the same 

 time suggested the advisability of declining your re- 

 quest on the ground that we had already suffered con- 

 siderable at the hands of the reclamation officials, and 

 the communication would only serve to arouse their 

 animosity more. However, I advised you of the situa- 

 tion and suggested publishing it over the signature 

 "Ontario," and in doing this I was prompted solely by 

 a desire to conform to the wishes of my associate. 

 There was nothing in the communication to cause me 

 to wish to hide my identity, and since it has seemed to 

 cause some one to think there might have been some ul- 

 terior motive in the matter I do not see why I should wish 

 to conceal it longer. I can hardly believe - 



- has any real desire to know the name of 

 the writer. I can see no reason for his wishing it. 

 Should he wish to verify any of my statements he 

 can do so without leaving his office, and I do not be- 

 lieve it will have the slightest weight with him in any 

 course that he is at all likely to pursue with reference 

 to the plans or methods of the Reclamation Service. 



1 have no doubt his request is prompted solely by Mr. 

 Newell. However, as it does not signify in either case 

 I have no hesitation in allowing you to inform 



- as to my connection with the letters referred 

 to in his request. 



I have been in the service of the Government long 

 enough to know the futility of attempting to reach an 

 erring official by placing a charge or complaint before 

 the departments at Washington. Such matters are 

 usually referred back and forth and ultimately land 

 in the hands of the wrongdoer, only to be used as a 

 "big stick" against the accuser, and who usually be- 

 comes the culprit in the case. Nor do I know of any 

 department of Government service that is used more 

 freely of more effectively to gratify personal malevo- 



