232 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



his connected with Government bureaus, on several mem- 

 bers of Congress not members of the Irrigation Com- 

 mittee, and through these people and his friends in 

 the Government bureaus before mentioned, he finally 

 succeeded in reaching the President's ear, with the re- 

 sult that strangely enough the newspapers came O'jt 

 stating that some Western Congressmen and others had 

 been before the President and had reported to him 

 that the national irrigation bill was a very villainous 

 measure, and that the President had expre?sed himself 

 as in opposition to certain provisions of the bill. This 

 was Mr. Maxwell's trump card, and was expected to 

 be very effective, as in fact it seemed for a time that 

 it would be. 



To block this nefarious opposition and attempt 

 to hoodwink the President himself, Mr. Roosevelt was 

 called upon by a committee who suggested a confer- 

 ence. This was called, and the President beii.'g a man 

 of good hard sense, it did 'not take him long to discover 

 the real motives for the animus displayed by the oppo- 

 sition. He found that the opposing element and the 

 whole opposing force was Maxwell just Maxwell 

 a mountain in labor that brought forth a mouse. At 

 the end of the conference the President expressed him- 

 self as being satisfied that the bill had b?en cart-hilly 

 drawn. 



With one or two slight changes in the phraseology 

 of the bill, one relative to state control which strengthens 

 the bill, and another with regard to the power of the 

 Secretary of the Interior to withdraw lands, Mr. Max- 

 well had either- to acknowledge himself for what he 

 really was, an enemy of the entire proposition for gov- 

 ernment aid, or else come into camp and support the 

 bill. He came into line, but not out of respect to the 

 President, the Congress of the United States, or for 

 common justice, but a little bird says that certain rail- 

 roads that were putting up for him had their eyes slight- 

 ly opened and ordered him to right-about-face. When 

 the bill was up for consideration it was found lhat 

 those most violently opposed to it were using Mr. Max- 

 well's arguments against it. 



In the face of this Mr. George H. Maxwell is mov- 

 ing barrels of printers' ink, and the jackscrew of "you- 

 scratch-my-back-and-I'll-scratch-yours," to make the 

 people believe that he was the most .important factor in 

 securing the passage of the national irrigation bill ! 



Can duplicity reach any further, or is it possible 

 to believe that there are any persons honestly abject 

 enough to believe him? He would have killed it if he 

 had been able, and the Lord knows he tried hard enough. 



He formerly strenuously advocated state control 

 over the distribution of water used in irrigation, and no 

 attempted to disguise his real objects under the cloak 

 of philanthropy and a disinterested desire to do a public 

 service. In his present attempt to secure the repeal 

 of certain provisions of the land laws he is following 

 his old tactics, using the name of the Irrigation A-^o- 



ciation and showing the indorsement of the National 

 Business League of Chicago, and other well meaning but 

 entirely uninformed and deluded persons and associa- 

 tions. 



It is time to make an effort to throw overboard 

 such a man, who for some inscrutable reason, is per- 

 mitted to meddle with national and private matters, 

 to such an extent that some people who cannot see a 

 pike staff ten feet distant, think he is I T. 



Were Grover Cleveland politically alive and in the 

 proper position to make his words of national import, 

 he would say, "Who the h 1 is George H. Maxwell?" 

 And nobodv but Maxwell could answer. 



INFLUENCE IN THE NATIONAL IRRIGATION 

 PROGRAM. 



(Continued from May number.) 



BY D. H. ANDERSON. 

 CO-OPERATION WITH GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS. 



Before the plan submitted to the railroads by Mr. 

 Maxwell was accepted he had the campaign fairly well 

 outlined in his mind. He saw that it would be neces- 

 sary for him to become intimate with Government offi- 

 cials who could bring him into contact with Congress- 

 men, members of the cabinet, and even the President. 

 He had already become acquainted with those who had 

 ambitions to direct the irrigation policy of the coun- 

 try, and through them he met heads of bureaus in 

 Washington who hoped, through his co-operation, to 

 broaden .the sphere of their influence and work. We 

 do not wish to bring these men into disrepute and do 

 not say that their ambitions are either to be commended 

 or condemne^. We do say that their methods are open 

 to criticism. That they have been working with Mr. 

 Maxwell for the past two or three years is an estab- 

 lished fact. The readers of "Forestry and Irrigation" 

 can easily inform themselves as to the bureaus which 

 are working with Mr. Maxwell to maintain that pub- 

 lication. Those who were at the Irrigation Congress 

 held in Chicago in 1900 have no doubt as to who the 

 gentlemen are, and they fully appreciate the support 

 which the National Irrigation Association has since re- 

 ceived. The arrangement made with Mr. Maxwell by 

 these officers is not known, but since 1900 the National 

 Irrigation Association has advertised these men and 

 their work in return for substantial support of another 

 kind. Mr. Maxwell has, through one of these men, 

 been able to confer with the President upon more than 

 one occasion. Through the favors extended by another 

 he has met Congressmen who have been particularly 

 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 Wash- 

 ington, and has appeared before engineering and scien- 

 tific societies. Only a short time since both Mr. Max- 

 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. Maxwell he has been able to repay his 

 debt to these gentlemen. Besides, he has flooded the 

 country with material sent to the daily newspapers, ad- 

 vertising those who have been of service to him. He 

 has realized that should the Government embark on a 



