206 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



and will be sufficiently benefited by a move of this kind, 

 to make it worth their while to put up that money with- 

 out any guarantee of return. 



THE IRRIGATION AGE has found occasion at various 

 times to criticise Mr. Maxwell and his methods, but a.s 

 suggested in preceding lines, it would be very glad, in- 

 deed, to work in conjunction with him, and assist him 

 in any way possible in this enterprise. Any method 

 which leads to the bringing out from the crowded, un- 

 healthy conditions in the tenement districts, families 

 who could make good under favorable conditions is en- 

 titled to the support of all of us, and we wish Mr. Max- 

 well much success in his undertaking. 



EDITORIAL NOTES. 



BY G. L. SHUMWAY, 

 Executive Chairman, American Irrigation Federation. 



More than 100,000 acres of land, exclu- 

 Development sive of government projects, will be added 

 in Wash- to the irrigated area in eastern and north 

 ington central Washington this year, and arrange- 



ments are also under way to put water on 

 thousands of acres of land in northern Idaho and Ore- 

 gon, western Montana and southeastern British Co- 

 lumbia. As most of these lands will be devoted to ap- 

 ples, peaches, pears and plums, it is estimated that 

 from 7,000,000 to 10,000,000 trees will be planted dur- 

 ing the next fourteen months, giving employment to 

 hundreds of men in various parts of the Inland Empire 

 this spring, next fall and the spring of 1910. 



Reports are also current in Spokane that the fed- 

 eral government will take up the Benton and Kittitas 

 projects, 877,800 acres, in Yakima, Klickitat and Ben- 

 ton counties, already reported upon by the Reclamation 

 Service, and it is believed that the Palouse projects, 

 100,000 acres, abandoned by the Reclamation Service 

 because of the lack of funds, will receive attention this 

 year. Other government works in Washington to be 

 taken up include 50,000 acres in the Ellensburg district, 

 200,000 acres in the Rattlesnake and Coal Creek dis- 

 tricts and 100,000 acres in the Okanogan country. 



The government will in time have reclaimed 1,- 

 500,000 acres of wholly or partly waste lands in the 

 state of Washington at an estimated cost of $50,000,000, 

 which is prorated among the owners of the land where 

 water is used. The projects in operation and under con- 

 struction by the Reclamation Service include these 

 works in the Yakima valley: Sunnyside, 90,000 acres, 

 to cost $1,600,000; the Ticton, 30,000 acres, costing 

 $1,500,000, and the Wapato, 120,000 acres, to be com- 

 pleted at a cost of $1,500,000. 



Send $2,50 for The Irrigation 



Age one year and 

 The Primer of Irrigation 



After the National Irrigation Congress held at 

 Portland, Ore., in 1906, there was an evident need of a 

 national organization to aid all deserving irrigation 

 plans; a tribunal of appeal (albeit without legal pow- 

 ers), to adjudicate, if any existed, the relative justice of 

 contending claims, and to advise settlements of disputes 

 to the end that the home-maker suffers no injustice, and 

 that the development of the west be pushed on toward 

 its ultimate goal. As a result of a preliminary confer- 

 ence at Portland, representatives from several states met 

 at Omaha, Neb., on January 10, 1907, where the Amer- 

 ican Irrigation Federation was born. 



The declaration of principles which were then and 

 there given out were in harmony with the expressions 

 and opinions of leading irrigators of practically all the 

 western states, and are as follows: 



First To endeavor to harmonize conflicting interests. 

 Second To counsel with federal authorities and private 

 enterprise relative to determining their respective 

 priorities and privileges. 



Third To promote essential legislation, propose laws 

 to encourage irrigation development, and to perfect 

 those already on the statutes. 

 Fourth To circulate instructive irrigation literature, 



and exploit best methods of irrigation farming. 

 Fifth To aid in the settlement of the newly reclaimed 



areas. 



Sixth To accomplish as quickly as possible the reclama- 

 tion of the greatest available acreage, and peopling 

 it with the most desirable, intelligent and progres- 

 size citizenship possible to obtain. 



Seventh To fearlessly criticise the reclamation officials, 

 or private promoters, should they offend our sense 

 of justice. 



Eighth To aid in the adjustment of freight rates to 

 and from new areas, and to recommend the estab- 

 lishment of mills and factories where needed. 

 Ninth To accomplish by criticism and suggestion in- 

 creased efficiency and perfection of the national ir- 

 rigation act. 



Tenth To invite friendly discussion and earnest co- 

 operation in efforts to perfect the reclamation serv- 

 ice and prevent errors and waste that must eventual- 

 ly be borne by water users. 



Eleventh To preserve the rights of the pioneers of ir- 

 rigation against unjust aggression and confiscation. 

 It will be seen by the foregoing that the purpose 

 was to promote the interests of the greater West, and 

 was not intended to hamper legitimate enterprise in 

 any way, yet there were those whose interests were of 

 such a precarious and unjust a nature that they found 

 fault with the proceedings. Some of the reclamation of- 

 ficials also imagined for a time that this organization 

 contained some kind of a veiled threat or menace to gov- 

 ernment irrigation. This illusion we now believe has 

 been happily dissolved. 



