1903 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



219 



law, and the timber and stone act. 

 These circulars are headed ' ' Homes for 

 the homeless, lands for the landless." 

 The resolutions follow : 



"Whereas, For the reclamation, 

 through irrigation, of the arid regions 

 of the West by the United States Gov- 

 ernment, for the purpose of providing 

 small tillable farms for settlers and 

 home-builders only, and for the conse- 

 quent enlargement of the agricultural, 

 industrial, and commercial interests of 

 the country, the national irrigation law 

 was enacted June 17, 1902 ; and 



" Whereas, Through the provisions of 

 certain preexisting national laws, the 

 spirit and purpose of the aforesaid na- 

 tional irrigation law cannot be properly 

 fulfilled, as indicated in President Roose- 

 velt's second message to the Congress 

 of the United States, December 2, 1902, 

 as follows : 



" ' So far as they are available for 

 agriculture, and to whatever extent 

 they may be reclaimed under the na- 

 tional irrigation law, the remaining 

 public lands should be held rigidly for 

 the home-builder, the settler who lives 

 on his land, and for no one else. In 

 their actual use the desert land law, the 

 timber and stone law, and the commu- 

 tation clause of the homestead law have 

 been so perverted from the intention 

 with which they were enacted as to 

 permit the acquisition of large areas of 

 the public domain for other than actual 

 settlers and the consequent prevention 

 of settlement : ' 



' ' Therefore be it 



"Resolved, That the National Busi- 

 ness League, through its standing com- 

 mittees, hereby respectfully requests 

 the early repeal of the desert land law, 

 the commutation clause of the home- 

 stead law, and the timber and stone 

 law, for the purpose of removing all 

 legislation in conflict with, or perversion 

 of, the best interests of the home-seeker 

 and for forest preservation in connection 

 with the aforesaid public lands ; and be 

 it further 



' ' Resolved, That copies of this reso- 

 lution be sent to each member of the 

 Senate and the House of Representa- 

 tives at Washington, to all manufact- 

 urers, commercial organizations, and 



prominent business firms throughout 

 the country." 



& 



South Africa The different provinces 

 and Forestry* of South Africa are 

 making rapid advances 

 in forest work on account of the need 

 of conservation of resources and, at this 

 time, as a direct result of the active 

 interest of Lord Milner in the subject. 

 He is one of the foremost foresters 

 among Englishmen, and, curiously, 

 Cecil Rhodes was the reverse. Natal 

 has appointed a permanent conservator 

 of forests, and Mr. E. Hutchins, in 

 charge of the South African work, has 

 lately returned from a tour in the Trans- 

 vaal and Rhodesia, during which he 

 noted material progress. He was for- 

 merly in the Indian Forest Service, but 

 has been connected with the same class 

 of work in South Africa since 1891. 

 He is at present trying to get a man 

 from India to take charge of the Trans- 

 vaal Forest Department, in order to put 

 that province on a secure basis in the 

 work. Rhodesia is taking up forestry. 

 The Island of Mauritius has borrowed 

 $500,000 for the forest work there. The 

 Cape government railways have appro- 

 priated $50,000 as the first installment 

 of $250,000 for plantations to grow 

 sleepers, which are now being imported 

 from Australia. The executors of the 

 Rhodes estate have asked Mr. Hutchins 

 for a working plan for the historical 

 Groote Schur forests, and will spend 

 $50,000 to put them in order. 



^ 



New Projects involving ex- 



Irrigation tensive irrigation im- 



Ventures. provements in three 



western states have 

 lately been inaugurated. Most of these 

 are in California and Wyoming, and sev- 

 eral are of considerable importance. 

 One transaction involving $500,000 and 

 30,000 acres of ground is the result of a 

 merging of the interests of the Artesian 

 Water Company, the Santa Monica 

 Water Company, the Water Company 

 of Sawtelle, and a number of individuals, 

 all in the neighborhood of Los Angeles, 

 California. The purpose is to furnish 

 water for irrigation and domestic pur- 





