1900. 



AMERICAN FORESTRY ASSOCIATION. 



291 



and ways of thought among the people. 

 The two sister organizations which are 

 striving for the objects you have in view, 

 the National Irrigation Association and 

 the American Forestry Association, are 

 perhaps the most useful agents at your 

 command for this purpose. Use and sup- 

 port them to the full, and see to it that in 

 every city, town, and village, East and 

 West, the people understand the vital in- 

 terest of the whole nation in the protection 

 and wise use of the forest and the stream. 

 JAMES WILSON, 

 Secretary of Agriculture. 



THE LETTER FROM GENERAL MILES. 

 NOVEMBER 20, 1900. 



THE NATIONAL IRRIGATION CONGRESS, 

 Chicago, Illinois. 

 Gentlemen : 



It is a personal disappointment to find 

 myself at the last moment unable to join 

 you in this year's Congress and fulfill my 

 part in the discussion of a question of 

 such mighty import as that of the reclama- 

 tion of arid America. 



My interest in the subject of irrigation 

 began some three decades ago when, in 

 the performance of official duty, I had oc- 

 casion to explore more or less thoroughly 

 that vast extent of sparsely settled or un- 

 occupied land bounded on the east by the 

 one-hundredth meridian, on the north by 

 the 49th parallel, on the south by the Rio 

 Grande, and extending to the Sierra Ne- 

 vada and Cascade ranges on the west. 

 The thought often occurred to me then 

 and the thought has grown into a convic- 

 tion as the years have gone by that it was 

 not a part of the economy of nature to 

 have this enormous expanse of land lie 

 inert and waste. Millions of acres were 

 apparently desert, where the coyote starved 

 and only the cactus and sage bush could 

 live ; yet the soil held within itself the ele- 

 ments of productiveness, the air was pure 

 as heaven, scenery inspiring as a beautiful 

 picture, the application of the vivifying 

 water being the only thing lacking to 

 arouse its rich potential energies. 



Since those early days I have, from time 

 to time, w r ith voice and pen done what I 



could to advocate the conservation of the 

 water supply of our arid lands and the 

 preservation of the trees, which are the 

 guardians of the fountains at the waters' 

 source. Ten years ago I responded to an 

 invitation to express my views in public 

 print on the subject of our unwatered em- 

 pire. I would refer you to those views 

 now, as I have had no reason to materially 

 alter them. 



Since the foundation of our Govern- 

 ment the center of population has been 

 steadily moving westward, the pioneer 

 spirit of the east seeking homes and inde- 

 pendence far away from the stifling atmos- 

 phere of the large over-crowded cities. 

 This united desire of our people to own 

 a home rather than to rent one to be 

 their own landlord rather than some land- 

 lord's tenants assures the vitality of the 

 great American Republic. The American 

 farmer is sovereign to-day, and the dignity 

 and independence engendered by his free 

 environment, the healthfulness of mind 

 and body resulting from the pure air he 

 breathes, the love of country which home- 

 owning stimulates, make him the pre- 

 server of those beneficial institutions 

 under which we live. It would be a sad 

 day, full of evil portent to the republic, if 

 homebuilding should become unpopular, 

 if gravitation towards the cities should 



o 



overcome the outward march into the 

 expansive country, if tenantry in an over- 

 crowded alley should be chosen in prefer- 

 ence to a free quarter section in valley or 

 upland. Therefore, I say, the devising t 

 means whereby the public domain is 

 made available for home-seekers and the 

 arid lands are made habitable and produc- 

 tive, is now one of the most important 

 lines of American endeavor. I reiterate 

 the saying of the keen satirist ami wise 

 philosopher: ''That whoever could make 

 two ears of corn, or two blades ol 

 to grow upon a spot of ground v\here 

 only one grew liefore, \\onl.l deserve l>ct- 

 ter'of mankind and do more essential ser- 

 vice to his country than the whole rac 

 politicans put together." 



The utility ot" irrigation erased to In- 

 questioned thousands of \> "- -'" ll 



we have the records of successlul methods 



