196 



THE FORESTER. 



August, 



income, and thus no widespread disturb- 

 ance of industrial conditions can be made 

 possible. The gradual bringing into use 

 of public lands through such reclamation 

 works will be no more than needed to 

 keep pace with the increasing population. 



In the discussions in Congress, atten- 

 tion was given to the disposal of the lands 

 thus reclaimed, and arguments advanced 

 that these lands should be reserved wholly 

 for the use of actual settlers, under the 

 terms of the homestead act, restricting the 

 acreage, however, to So or even 40 acres, 

 since a well-irrigated farm of this latter 

 size will, under favorable climatic condi- 

 tions, be more than sufficient to support a 

 family. In grazing regions, where the 

 principal crop irrigated is used for forage, 

 larger areas must of course be had for a 

 homestead. 



The proposition was made that when 

 the works of reclamation have been con- 

 structed, the cost should be ascertained 

 and also the area of land irrigable, and 

 having in this way found the average cost 

 per acre of reclaiming the land, this 

 amount should be made a charge upon the 

 land, payable in ten or more annual in- 

 stallments, title to pass onlv when these 

 deferred payments have been made. 



It was not proposed to actually irrigate 

 the land, but to bring the water to a point 

 where private enterprise can step in, as 

 was the case in earlier days. The pioneers 

 found numerous streams where water 

 could be taken out by ordinary farming 

 tools, and they were then able, alone or 

 in cooperation, to bring under irrigation 

 considerable areas of land along the 

 streams. The later comers find these op- 

 portunities already utilized, and a vast 

 extent of vacant land which cannot be 

 supplied with water until certain great 

 obstacles have been overcome. The pro- 

 positions now under discussion are in the 

 line of surmounting these obstacles ; such, 

 for example as storing the flood waters, 

 or diverting large rivers by canals and 

 tunnels, leaving to the settler the con- 

 struction of a distributing svstem com- 

 parable to the older small ditches which 

 lead from the rivers. 



The question is, " Why cannot private 



capital continue' to build these works?" 

 The reasons are primarily that, in the 

 majority of cases such work as before 

 started has not been built with profit to 

 the investor. 



Private capital must have a gain com- 

 mensurate with the magnitude of the work 

 and risks. In the irrigation scheme there 

 is usually first a promoter's profit, then an 

 investor's profit, next a bond-buyer's pro- 

 fit, and finally interest charges, and before 

 the settlers are located on the lands the price 

 is of necessity so high that few can afford 

 to take it ; such has been the experience 

 in the majority of cases of large irrigation 

 enterprises. 



Private capital has rarely been able to 

 secure satisfactory returns from invest- 

 ments of this character and large works of 

 reclamation are practically at a standstill. 

 It is recognized that if the arid lands are 

 to be utilized all of the water must be con- 

 served as far as practicable by reservoirs 

 and the large streams diverted to make 

 available the fertile lands. Private enter- 

 prise has already made the experiment 

 and shown the feasibility but has demon- 

 strated that it will not pay. 



The investor or speculator looks at these 

 matters solelv from the standpoint of his 

 own profit and not from that of the great- 

 est good to the greatest number; while on 

 the other hand, it is urged that the higher 

 interests of the country must be served by 

 the creation of the largest number of pros- 

 perous homes. The Government is war- 

 ranted in making expenditures which 

 would not be profitable to the private in- 

 vestor, since indirect returns compensate 

 many times over for immediate losses. 

 That is to say, if 500 homes can be made 

 possible by larger and more expensive 

 works, but which cannot be made to show 

 a profit of more than one per cent. ; and 

 on the other hand, 200 homes can be 

 made with a less expenditure, but showing 

 a profit of ten per cent., the Government 

 is warranted in building the first while the 

 private investor would find it for him a 

 better business project to construct the lat- 

 ter, even though the opportunity for mak- 

 ing 300 homes would be forever de- 

 stroyed. 



