ORANGE CULTURE IN CALIFORNIA. 69 



a comparatively slow development of the country. That while 

 we believe, as we have already stated, that the best policy is 

 for the farmers to build and own the canals, we also believe that 

 when the farmers are unable to build, and when the State is 

 unable or unwilling to build, it may be, and probably will be, 

 the best policy to invite the aid of private enterprise. We refer, 

 in support of our opinion, to numerous instances in Spain and 

 Italy in which this system is now in successful operation. 



"'That private companies undertaking such enterprises should 

 be subjected to certain conditions, some of which are as follows : 

 That after a stated period the franchise shall pass in favor of 

 the State, or of the irrigators, or that after a certain period the 

 State shall have the right to purchase on certain previously de- 

 fined conditions. 



"'That the prices of water shall be fixed by agreement, each 

 party in interest being represented by arbiters. 



"'That the State shall have the right to charter an association 

 of irrigators to administer the works, the company merely sell- 

 ing the water, but having nothing to do with it after it leaves 

 their channels, the association making all arrangements for its 

 distribution and for the collection of the water rates. The latter 

 provision has several advantages. It relieves the company from 

 the odious duty of discriminating in times of scarcity, and from 

 the endless disputes that attend the distribution of water, and 

 puts the responsibility on the irrigators, where it belongs. It 

 favors each irrigator, for he becomes a member of a company 

 strong enough to stand up for its rights in any contest with the 

 capitalists. For a successful system of this kind, we refer to 

 the 'Association for Irrigation in the Vercelles, in Italy,' given 

 elsewhere in this report. That we see no reason why the rights 

 of farmers and the rights of capitalists may not be adjusted by 

 some such plan, on the basis of justice and mutual interest. We 

 observe that the conditions just referred to place a company of 

 capitalists in the light of temporary owners, and that they con- 

 template a period when the works shall be owned by the State, 

 or by the farmers. That when any of the canals are built, the 

 State should establish a system of inspection by which a proper 

 construction shall be secured ; that the quantity of water to be 



