THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



201 



from the authorities at Washington that they ignored 

 the reclamation officials altogether; a course which has 

 resulted up to this time in the confiscation of their 

 entire scheme, plans and all, and this is practically the 

 history of every other irrigation undertaking along the 

 Snake Eiver that had been projected prior to the time 

 the Beclamation Bureau began its operations in that 

 field. Had the "private enterprise" concerns been 

 allowed to proceed most of them would doubtless have 

 had the construction of their systems well along toward 

 completion by this time, as has been the case with the 

 Twin Falls Irrigation Company, which has, at an ex- 

 penditure of over $2,000,000 dollars practically com- 

 pleted within the last three years one of the largest 

 and most complete irrigation systems in this country, 

 or, for that matter, in anv other country. Most of 



as has been done recently by the Reclamation Bureau at 

 Minidoka. It may be possible to do this under the 

 provisions of the Reclamation Act, but it is hardly pos- 

 sible to do it under the provisions of the "Carey Act," 

 without someone paying pretty dearly for the blunder. 

 Under the Carey Act system the water user has 

 the assurance of knowing in advance not only what 

 the water will cost him in the first instance but also 

 the subsequent charges for maintenance and operation, 

 which are determined by the State authorities. Upon 

 the purchase of his "water rights" he becomes a; stock- 

 holder in the enterprise and when the majority of the 

 stock is sold the management passes to the control of 

 the stockholders. He is not hedged about by innumer- 

 able and onerous restrictions and conditions and he is 

 as free to carry on his business and conduct his own 



Dry Creek Reservoir, Twin Falls Land & Water Co., Lincoln County, Idaho. 



these projects were organized under the provisions of 

 the "Carey Act," which requires a contract with the 

 State authorities covering every detail of construction 

 and operation, a bond to enforce the fulfillment of every 

 specification of this contract, and the fixing by the State 

 officials of all charges to be made against the water 

 users, so that the people living under and patronizing 

 these irrigation systems enjoyed every possible guar- 

 antee and protection against imposition or injustice. 



Under such an arrangement it would have been 

 impossible for one of these corporations to have misled 

 and deceived 500 settlers by inducing them to enter 

 upon lands and improve them through widely pub- 

 lished and persistent announcements that the lands were 

 to be supplied with water and then subsequently dis- 

 cover the project to be impracticable and abandon it, 



affairs as the ordinary citizen. The contrast between 

 this system and that proposed under the Government 

 Reclamation Act is striking at least as the reclama- 

 tion officials have announced and promulgated their 

 methods and plan of operation. Under the Government 

 plan the settler is required at the very beginning to 

 sign an agreement conveying to the Government or its 

 agents a; perpetual lien or mortgage upon his lands, 

 the purpose of which is to enforce the collection of 

 any and all charges of whatever sort and amount that 

 may be assessed against him and also to enforce com- 

 pliance with all of the conditions and regulations that 

 may be arbitrarily established by the officials of the 

 Reclamation Service. He is required to limit his land 

 holding to whatever area the Government agents may 

 be pleased to fix for him, which has been variously 



