THE IBHIGATION AGE. 



39 



We are in receipt of a clipping from the 

 Hired Jackson, Michigan, Morning Patriot of 



Man November 27, 1908, in which considerable 



Maxwell. space is devoted to a recent issue of that 

 nearly forgotten journal which goes 

 through the mails under the title of Maxwell's Talis- 

 man. 



It is very evident from the tone of the article taken 

 from the Patriot that the editor of that journal has 

 formed a wrong opinion of the forestry and other 

 governmental affairs, through the press agent of the 

 Forestry Bureau and through the medium supposedly 

 owned and published by George H. Maxwell, who is 

 without doubt in the employ of the Forestry Bureau. 



The clipping goes on to say that in the great 

 economic questions of the day those relating to land 

 and labor it is always sound and instructive, "it" be- 

 ing Maxwell's Talisman. 



The article then goes on to enumerate the com- 

 pact statements made of the waste involved in destroy- 

 ing forests around the head of streams and then comes 

 some of the dense matter suggested by Mr. Maxwell's 

 publication on erosion, which follows denudation, and 

 how this deposits annually untold volumes of silt and 

 rubbish into the rivers and harbors, which Congress 

 annually appropriates millions to clear out. 



This sort of argument taken from the Talisman is 

 in line with the usual "rot" published in that journal. 



Erosion and denudation and deposits of untold 

 volumes were going on when Maxwell and Pinchot and 

 their ilk were but spirit specks in the million-year horo- 

 scopic observation of that long ago. 



They are telling us nothing new. In fact, they are 

 enlarging upon original conditions to stir the people up 

 with what object? Some of us fully comprehend. 



Assuming that Mr. Maxwell is sincere in his pres- 

 ent work, we cannot grant him any great degree of con- 

 sistency or interest in the welfare of unborn genera- 

 tions, in view of facts which have recently been pre- 

 sented to us by people whose word is unquestioned. 



In conversing recently with a prominent western 

 gentleman who is related to one of the officials of a 

 large corporation, with headquarters in Chicago, the 

 gentleman informed the writer that after having been 

 appointed as a delegate to a national irrigation con- 

 gress he received a letter from his relative, stating that 

 he was glad he had been appointed, and urged him to 

 become acquainted with the then representative of the 

 railways at the Irrigation Congress, George H. Max- 

 well, and assist him in putting through a resolution 

 favoring a repeal of the Timber and Stone and Desert 

 Land acts, as by the repeal of these laws, so the letter 

 from the corporation attorney to his nephew read, the 

 corporation in which he was interested and all who wer% 

 large holders of lieu land scrip would be greatly bene- 



fited; when it is known that the repeal of these laws 

 would make it more difficult for homeseekers to obtain 

 title to land and thereby retard western development 

 and when it is also made clear that the man who is act- 

 ing as spokesman for the corporations who would be 

 benefited is also posing as the head of an organization 

 whose slogan is "small farms, homes on the land," which 

 is misleading and intended to convey the idea that he is 

 a public benefactor the hypocrisy of the individual is 

 "really and truly" disgusting. 



This is the same Mr. Maxwell who poses in his 

 Talisman as the father of the fatherless and friend of 

 the widow. The philanthropist who aims to aid those 

 who are helpless and oppressed. As stated above, we can 

 hardly consider that his attitude on the denuding of 

 forest areas and his persistent effort along this line is 

 sincere in the face of the facts above stated. Nor can 

 we understand why Messrs. Pinchot and some of his 

 friends feel it necessary to have Maxwell champion 

 their cause. If the cause is righteous, it needs no cham- 

 pion, however good. If it is the opposite, they should 

 chose a different character as champion. 



We may, some day, if conditions warrant it, pub- 

 lish the letter mentioned above. Our only object in 

 withholding it at this time is to protect the gentleman 

 who wrote the letter to his nephew in Kansas. 



Supreme Court Decisions 



Irrigation Cases 



RIGHTS ACQUIRED BY PRESCRIPTION. 



Owners of land acquired by prescription title to an irriga- 

 tion ditch over the land of another, with a right to carry 

 through it a specified quantity of water. The third person sub- 

 sequently claimed to be the owner of the ditch, and executed 

 leases therefor. The owners were in possession of the prop- 

 erty at the time of the execution of the leases, and never en- 

 tered into possession under the third person. Held, that 

 though the effect of the leases might be to prevent the ac- 

 quiring of title by prescription, they did not operate to divest 

 a title acquired by prescription. Strong v. Baldwin. Supreme 

 Court of California. 97 Pacific 178. 



PRESCRIPTIVE TITLES COMPLETE. 



A title by prescription is as effectual and complete as one 

 obtained by a conveyance, and, unless extinguished by virtue 

 of special statutory provisions like Ciy. Code, Sec. 811, pre- 

 scribing the conditions for the extinguishment of a servitude, 

 continues until conveyed by the possessor or lost by another 

 adverse possession for the required time. Strong v. Baldwin. 

 Supreme Court of California. 97 Pacific 178. 



RIGHTS OF RIPARIAN PROPRIETORS. 



The nature and extent of the right of a riparian pro- 

 prietor to the water of a stream for irrigation cannot be 

 measured by any definite or fixed rule, nor can the amount 

 of water which he is entitled to use for that purpose or- 

 dinarily be definitely determined; it being necessarily a vary- 

 ing quantity depending upon the use by other proprietors, 

 and whether its use by him will be an injury to them. 

 Williams v. Altnow. Supreme Court of Oregon. 95 Pacific 

 200. 



