204 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



the paradise upon earth has been descovered. To be 

 perfect it only needs such minor modifications as will 

 make it a home for man. 



The question which should interest us now relates 

 to the methods that are being employed to establish the 

 race firmly in this natural Utopia. We must admit that 

 the fundamental problems to be solved relate to irriga- 

 tion and the use of water in general. This being true, it 

 would be well for us to ascertain whether or not wise 

 plans have been made for the utilization of this most 

 important resource. A few moments of reflection should 

 satisfy us that ideas for bringing about irrigation devel- 

 opment have been sufficiently prolific. We could be as 

 easily convinced, probably, that many of these ideas have 

 been brought forward and put in practice for selfish 

 reasons. We have the individual irrigator to begin with. 

 His land lies along a small stream and he is able to 

 build his own ditch. He is king of all he surveys. It 

 never occurs to him that there are great problems before 

 him or that he must in time share in the responsibility 

 of distributing the water supply in a great irrigated 

 community. Before he has obtained great satisfaction 

 due to his isolation, neighbors settle around him. By 

 and with his consent they make use of his ditch by in- 

 creasing its section and extending it to cover other lands. 

 Before he is fully aware of the new conditions that have 

 arisen, all kinds of community problems are brought to 

 him. Among these is the questions as to how the com- 

 munity canal should be managed. This means that he 

 must organize with his neighbors to the end that each 

 may pay his proportionate share toward maintainence 

 and impose penalties upon those who refuse or neglect 

 to comply with the rules of the majority. 



In the meantime many similar canals are built and 

 other communities come into being. Not satisfied with 

 individual and community effort, capital is induced to 

 invest in large storage works and an extensive canal sys- 

 tem which is designed to reclaim a large area of "bench" 

 land. This is so successful, probably from a financial 

 standpoint, that the wily promoter pricks up his ears 

 and looks in the direction of the promised land. He un- 

 dertakes to perform some financial exercises and outlines 

 plans for large irrigation development, possibly under 

 the provisions of the Carey act. He obtains some docu- 

 ments from the public that enables him to present the 

 project to capitalists. The latter, being more willing to 

 invest money of other people than funds of their own, 

 propose a bond issue. The stock of the company is dealt 

 out to those who promote and their friends. The bonds 

 are sold and construction is begun. It is necessary to 

 pay the interest due each year on the bonds from the 

 money derived from their sale. This means that unless 

 work is pushed rapidly on the irrigation system the 

 capital will all be dissipated before the settler begins to 

 repay the same in return for his proportionate interest 



in canals and reservoirs. All kinds of schemes are then 

 brought forward to bring in the needed cash for con- 

 struction. In some cases it is found that the first esti- 

 mates were too low in others that the promoters may 

 not have secured any engineering advice. It is seldom 

 that bonds can be sold at this late day except after a 

 favorable engineering report has been obtained. At- 

 tempts are sometimes made to dispose of the lands and 

 the relative interests in irrigation works, commonly 

 called "water rights," before construction has been fair- 

 ly started. The settler, under such conditions, is run- 

 ning some risk. He does not know what kind of irriga- 

 tion works he is to obtain finally. He does not know 

 whether the money he pays to the company will be used 

 in construction or not. This kind of practice should not 

 be tolerated in any country. 



To build anything of value requires capital. No 

 person or association of persons should plan to profit 

 through the expenditure of money, not their own, and 

 take chances that they would not incur with their own 

 funds. There are occasions when a bond issue is of bene- 

 fit to all concerned in this kind of development work. If 

 the stock is given away and no money returns to the 

 company therefor, the entire development work hinges 

 on the bond issue. The stock should bring enough 

 money into the treasury of the company to carry con- 

 struction to that point where the security of the bond 

 issue, if an issue is found necessary, is unquestionable. 



The larger and well known bond houses carry on 

 their work in a wholly different manner and securities 

 offered by them are based on advice of the best engi- 

 neers and good construction. 



When the promoter has had his day and has been 

 forgotten, the United States Reclamation Service comes 

 along and proposes to do things on even a larger scale. 

 The natives, unused to khaki uniforms, plane tables, 

 slide rules and current meters, stand in awe of this 

 mighty arm of the government service. The papers lo- 

 cally are full of the great plans for the future. The 

 Reclamation Service, through its advertising department, 

 gladly furnishes information for the printer and every 

 detail of the finished irrigation works is known before 

 the first shovelful of earth is turned. Estimates are 

 made as to the final cost of the so-called "water rights." 

 These estimates are generally about twenty to thirty 

 dollars per acre during the early advertising stage of 

 the project. As work progresses the pioneers of the 

 country have an object lesson as to what can be done by 

 the Government. The best kind of construction, only, is 

 countenanced. Steel, masonry and concrete take the 

 place of earth, wood and burlap. The construction is 

 supervised by one responsible man on the ground who 

 has two men under him. These two each have several 

 subordinates. The organization continues to grow in 

 this way to such an extent that the interested observer 



