THE IKRIGATION AGE. 



32? 



associates in a hundred towns and cities of Nebraska 

 and Iowa he has taken thousands of prospective purchas- 

 ers into Western Nebraska and by force of logic and con- 

 tact, has drawn the visitors into profitable investment 

 and removal to the fertile tracts along the North Platte. 

 With the possible exception of the land department of 

 the Union Pacific, his individual efforts have accom- 

 plished more than any other agency toward the peopling 

 of the North Platte district. 



Those with whom Mr. Payne has been associated 

 marvel at his accurate conception and tireless energy. 

 It is only after rigid investigation that he may be in- 

 duced to accept the control of sales for any district; 

 convinced of value his first sale is to himself. Having 

 backed his opinions with his own purse he is then pre- 

 pared to interest others. 



Critics declare his methods to be spectacular. To 

 this charge he makes no denial, yet an unbroken record 

 of quick, successful campaigns during which scores and 

 hundreds of buyers were induced to invest after personal 

 inspection and investigation, are proof of the keen fore- 

 sight upon which he bases those methods. His thorough 

 confidence in the worth of the lands leads to enthusiasm 

 for their sale. His advertising campaigns are sharp, but 

 liberal. Enthused by his energy and perseverence, his 

 associates respond to the sudden impetus and soon a spe- 

 cial train filled with eager buyers is whirling toward 

 the fertile valleys where comfort and plenty may be 

 found. 



Just now Mr. Payne is completing a most gratify- 

 ing campaign for the sale of Scotts Bluff land, offered 

 by the Tri-State Land Company. Another success is 

 about to be added to the long record. Looking to the 

 early termination of his work in this direction, he is 

 planning other conquests. The "man with the method" 

 has won many laurels but the end is not yet. A man 

 like Mr. Payne, with his organization duplicated in 

 various central and eastern states, would rapidly colon- 

 ize all projects under the Reclamation Act. 



Much as may be the regret of both the 

 Eastern wage-earner and the employer at the finan- 



Wage-earners cial stringency of the past two years, there 

 Looking are, nevertheless, some educational and 



Westward. beneficial results to be gained therefrom. 

 Deep in the minds of the employes in 

 many large eastern cities and villages there is a nucleus 

 of thought that may easily be turned to the advantage 

 of the great west. 



Regardless of whether the hard times resulted from 

 the national election, the tariff revision, or the disposi- 

 tion of certain legislatures to unnecessarily oppose and 

 impede the progress of railroading, the wage earning 

 public has been taught a sound lesson. Their pay en- 

 velopes have been woefully depleted and many have en- 



tirely disappeared for long intervals. The condition in- 

 duced deep thought. 



To be independent of this irresponsible pay check 

 is a consummation devoutly wished for. Holding no 

 hope for future affluence, it has suddenly failed of tem- 

 porary support. There is but one solution for the puz- 

 zle it must give place to more substantial and depend- 

 able income. 



Toward the mountains, the sparkling waters and 

 the pure air of the west, an exhausted, discontented east 

 has turned its head. Behind lies drudgery, helplessness, 

 an old age of want. Bound by the weight of toil, it 

 leans upon its wage staff and peers into the future and 

 the west. Its home ties are deep rooted, yet its love of 

 home and comfort bends its ear to the glorious promise 

 of independence and plenty in view of the snow caps 

 of the Rockies and Sierras. 



Does the west hear? Has it been so busy with 

 the normal pulsations of its progress that it is heedless 

 of the opportunity? 



Never before in the history of irrigation activities 

 of the west have conditions been more auspicious. The 

 east is made restless by the failure of its Saturday night 

 income. Its people, made cautious by late experience, 

 are now saving. Records of small bank deposits show 

 heavy gains. Soon there will have been accumulated 

 sums sufficient for investment. Shall these monies 

 turn into the coffers of the stock brokers, the wily mine 

 promoters or the watered stock of the giant corpora- 

 tions? Or, will it carry its owners into the smiling, 

 bountiful valleys where earth wooes sky and man is 

 man? 



The answer will be given within the next year or 

 two. 



TO OUST WYOMING CENTRAL. 

 Governor of Wyoming Plans Firm Action Against Irriga- 

 tion Company. 



On the grounds that in the past it has taken no adequate steps 

 toward the development of the project for which it was licensed, and 

 that its presence is a bar to the proper reclamation and settlement of 

 the district, Gov. Brooks, of Cheyenne, is said to be preparing to take 

 drastic measures to cancel the state rights granted to the Wyoming 

 Central Irrigation Company. 



In his note of protest to Joy Morton, of Chicago, president of 

 the company, Gov. Brooks is reported to have pointed to the fact that 

 little progress has been made in the work, despite the elapse of time, 

 and that the force of employes now employed is inadequate for the 

 completion of the project within a reasonable period. 



Newspapers in Cheyenne assail the company on the ground that 

 it is a promoters' project, and declare that its officers have conspired 

 to exempt the land from use by settlers. The rights now held by the 

 company embrace about 200,000 acres of the ceded portion of the 

 Wind River Indian reservation. 



GRAND JUNCTION EXTENSION CANAL. 



Private capital organized into what is known as the Marrs High 

 Line Extension Canal is said to have filed plats at Grand Junction, 

 Col., for the construction of a canal 100 miles in length in a westerly 

 direction from the lower end of the government canal in this dis- 

 trict. 



Send $2.50 for The Irrigation Age, one year, and 

 the Primer of Irrigation, a 260-page finely illustrated 

 work for new beginners in irrigation. 



