40 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



principal owner. He is one of the shining lights in 

 the field of implement trade- journalism, original, witty, 

 forceful. 



Mr. Hall aspires to make the Implement Trade 



Journal one of the greatest trade papers in the world 



and that he will win out, his friends have no doubt. In 



discussing this matter wth friends recently he made 



the following statement: 



"It may sound hold and presumptuous, but I believe 

 that I can, with the able force now supporting my 

 efforts, in the course of a few years, demonstrate that the 

 implement trade paper of to-dav is but a shallow make- 

 shift that not one of them comes anywhere near being 



MR. CLIFFORD F. HALL, 

 President Implement Trade Journal Co., Kansas City. Mo. 



what a representative dealers' paper should be, and that's 

 what all of them purport to be and on the strength of 

 such a claim gain advertising patronage. In a field 

 where advertisers discriminate so lightly it has been 

 comparatively easy for "most any old thing" in the 

 shape of a trade publication to get along, but it will not 

 be so easv in the future. We expect to advance the 

 Journal to a weekly, beginning with January 3, 1903, 

 and we hope to do much thereafter toward raising the 

 standard of papers of this class." 



In presenting a likeness of Mr. Hall we gently re- 

 frain from comment further than to say that he looks 

 his best in an evening suit. 



Home 

 Rule? 



Mr. George H. Maxwell, who pretends to direct 

 the policy of the Government in irrigation mat- 



ters, has recently delivered an address at Oma- 

 ha, which, unfortunately for his reputation as an author- 

 ity, has been given spme publicity through the Omaha 

 papers and a- periodical of Washington, D. C., "Forestry 

 and Irrigation." In this address Mr. Maxwell took oc- 

 casion to criticize the state engineer's office already cre- 

 ated, to warn law makers of the dangerous character 

 of such officers and to arouse a feeling of distrust of 

 State control of streams. The arguments he presents 

 do not make clear his reasons for taking the position 

 he attempts to defend, hence we must presume that 



he has some ulterior motive, which, if disclosed, would 

 not strengthen his case. That the States which have 

 adopted the best water laws and have employed efficient 

 irrigation officers have afforded the best protection to 

 the water user and have reduced litigation in the set- 

 tlement of rights to a minimum, is an established fact. 

 Mr. Maxwell understands this as well as any one and 

 it is difficult to understand how in the face of such evi- 

 dence he can advocate "home rule" as he calls it, in- 

 stead of State control. What does home rule mean? 

 It means that the rights to use water from every small 

 tributary would be settled under a different procedure. 

 When the rights were adjudicated each tributary would 

 have distinct rules and regulations for carrying the de- 

 cree into effect. As water is used from the tributaries 

 the main stream is effected. How would Mr. Maxwell 

 settle the rights on the main streams? As it is, county 

 boundaries have been disregarded in the settlement of 

 rights to use water from a stream flowing through sev- 

 eral of these small political divisions. It is plain that 

 interstate streams will soon have to be treated under 

 a broader code of water laws than now exists among 

 the ami states. Let no one be deceived by believing 

 that when the time comes for the settlement of these 

 rights generally, the States will fail to get together a-nd 

 adjust their differences. What could they do toward a 

 just division of the water if each were divided into- 

 many small districts each enjoying "home rule"? 



That the State Engineer's offices are not what they 

 .should be in all cases is not disputed, but their short- 

 comings ejmnot be attributed to the officers themselves, 

 but to the State Legislatures which have to give ear 

 to those who profit by the existing chaos as well as 

 those who seek reform. Nevertheless, the sentiment in 

 favor of the creation of central offices of record is grow- 

 ing and this winter will see a number of the western 

 states falling in line and establishing offices where the 

 proposing investor and the government engineers in 

 charge of the construction of irrigation works can be- 

 come acquainted with the flow of the streams, the extent 

 of diversion therefrom and the area and location of 

 the land irrigated along each. Supposing that each 

 State could already furnish this information to the 

 Government construction engineers. An inspection of 

 the records of these offices would disclose to them the 

 facts which they must secure before deciding upon the 

 location of irrigation projects. In addition private 

 enterprise could become acquainted with the undeveloped 

 districts of each State and the irrigators along the vari- 

 ous streams could easily satisfy themselves whether or 

 not enough unappropriated water remained in the tribu- 

 tary supplying them to warrant them in extending canals 

 or building storage works. Where States have not pro- 

 vided such offices this kind of information is not avail- 

 able. Neither the Agricultural nor the Interior De- 

 partments have collected minute details of the irriga- 

 tion development along a single western stream. The 



