THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



Ill 



ment on the part of the officers charged with that duty ; 

 therefore, be it 



Resolved, That we join in earnest commendation 

 of the wisdom and foresight of the men who framed the 

 Nebraska irrigation law and secured its passage; and 

 be it further 



Resolved, That we hereby express our apprecia- 

 tion of the manner in which the said law has been ad- 

 ministered by the Nebraska State Board of Irrigation, 

 acting through its representative, the state engineer, sec- 

 retary and his assistants, at all times and under the 

 administration of the different political parties. 



F. G. HAMER, Chairman. 



At the afternoon session the president called Mr. 

 F. G. Hamer to the chair. Addresses were made by 

 J. S. Hoagland, W. H. Wright, F. G. Hamer and others 

 and a general discussion of the subject of irrigation, 

 its methods and effects was participated in by a large 

 number of delegates and was of particular interest. 



A very interesting and instructive address on the 

 subject of "Drainage as Affecting the Different Alkalies 

 Contained in the kSoil and Their Removal by Flooding 

 and Drainage," made by Prof. 0. V. P. Stout, 

 whose experience as an expert of the U. S. Department 

 of Agriculture in California, Nebraska and other places 

 particularly qualifies him to speak on this subject, was 

 the feature of the afternoon session. 



The selection of a time and place for the next an- 

 nual irrigation convention was left with the executive 

 committee. 



INFANT DAMNATION. 



Deacon Johnson "Does yo' b'liebe in infant dam- 

 nation, Brudder Jackson ?" 



Brother Jackson "Deedy no ! Dey'll pick up cuss 

 words 'nough widout bein' swored at by deir parents."- 

 Puck. 



VICE VERSA. 



Here's a late story anent Christian Science. A 

 Boston mother said to her little daughter, "If you had 

 my faith, darling, you would have no toothache." 



The child replied, "Well, mother, if you had my 

 toothache you wouldn't have any faith." Boston Her- 

 ald. 



TRAIL SONG. 

 Here's out on the open trail, my lass, 



With a heart for rain or shine. 

 Here's out to race with wind in the face, 

 To roam and to rove at the wilding pace 

 Where the weather thrills like wine. 



We'll follow the wind of the way, my lass, 



Where it chases a truant stream, 

 We'll loaf along with a vagrant song, 

 With the glow of life and all thrilling strong, 



And the future a vibrant stream. 



For what's a day or a year, my lass, 



But time for finding joy? 

 We've naught to do, we crony two, 

 With the ship of Worry's crafty crew, 



We're free from all annoy. 



Then here's a song, a song, my lass, 



A song for the open trail ! 

 We're off to seek the crimson streak 

 That's sunk behind West Mountain's peak, 



And to drink from Freedom's grail. 



Frank Farrington in Lippincoit's. 



A PROFESSIONAL IRRIGATIONIST. 



We would like to know who appointed George H. 

 Maxwell the dry nurse of all irrigation legislation, says 

 a recent issue of The Oakland, Cal., Tribune. Mr. 

 Maxwell has for years enveloped the subject of irriga- 

 tion in a cloud of talk, but so far as anybody that is, 

 anybody not on the inside is able to discern not a 

 drop of water has yet fallen from these clouds, not a 

 yard of earth has felt any moistening influence from 

 his percolating ambience and eloquence. What's his 

 graft, anyhow? He is the high cock-a-lorum of some 

 association or society or other that is about as misty 

 in personnel as the Kings of the Fourth Egyptian 

 dynasty. But the association or whatever it is has 

 money to spend, and that is what is letting out the slack 

 of Maxwell's jaw. 



Who is doing the putting up? And what is the 

 putting up being done for? Maxwell is a lawyer. At 

 least he is an attorney which sometimes means the 

 same thing. He butted into the irrigation question 

 some years ago, and has since been butting into every- 

 thing that pertained to water and forest legislation, 

 and everything, as well, that was connected with the 

 public domain, from cattle raising to timber. One 

 thing is quite certain. Maxwell is not muddying the 

 irrigation waters for his health. Only we would like 

 to know whose black jack he has got in his pocket. 



Maxwell is opposing the Works irrigation bill pre- 

 sented by the California Water and Forest Association 

 on the ground that it will destroy riparian rights. This 

 very clearly indicates that he represents interested par- 

 ties, for he is not an interested party himself. Pro- 

 ceeding a little further, it is not difficult to reason out 

 that his clients are men who want an irrigation law 

 with a kink in it, a law that will enable them to 

 monopolize the irrigable waters in certain sections. If 

 this is not the joker up Maxwell's sleeve we are mightily 

 mistaken. 



The Arabs have a proverb to the effect that he who 

 owns the water also owns the land. Mr. Maxwell didn't 

 get this maxim out of the lawbooks, but he evidently 

 wants to get it into the law books in a form that will 

 allow certain thrifty persons, most likely the members 

 of the aforesaid association, to make a practical applica- 

 tion of it for their own benefit. 



The question now is not as to the desirability of 

 irrigation; it is a plain question of the economic prac- 

 ticability of a wholesale application of it throughout the 

 arid sections of the West. The most valuable, because 

 the most _productive, farm lands in the United States 

 are in those parts of the arid regions where irrigation 

 is practiced ; for agriculture by irrigation yields larger 

 crops of nearly all the staples than are produced upon 

 the same acreage in the humid districts and agriculture, 

 even now, is the chief resource of nearly all of the arid 

 states and territories. 



The apparent need is that the construction of reser- 

 voirs shall be managed by the General Government. 

 That would obviate the chief causes of failure, and would 

 place the individual farmer upon a more secure footing. 

 There must also be an intelligent modification of exist- 

 ing laws respecting both land and water rights, to meet 

 actual needs. Then the prairies will enter with con- 

 fidence upon a future of limitless achievement. In the 

 arid and humid zones together there will be more than 

 one-quarter of a billion acres of productive farms. 



