JOHN \YKSI.KY I'oNYKu, PAYIS 



tinued for the next two years ; it was raised to $605,000 for 

 1888-1889, reduced to $551,000 for 1889-1890, and reached the 

 maximum of $719,000 for 1890-1891. 



The decrease of nearly $90,000 for the following year 

 marked the opening of a period of adversity which culminated 

 in the summer of 1892. The establishment of the Irrigation-^ 

 Survey four years before had aroused the opposition of large 

 land-owners and cattle kings in the West, a result that was not 

 unexpectable when the scientific administration of a public 

 bureau in the interests of the country as a whole clashed with 

 the personal interests of men who were rapidly growing rich 

 under the unrestricted use of public resources; and unhappily, 

 at about the same time, Powell's wounded arm gave him much 

 pain ; the suffering thus caused made it difficult for him to 

 labor with Congressional committees as successfully as he had 

 before. The first successful stroke of the opposition was made 

 in 1891, not only by the reduction of the appropriation for the 

 year ending June 30, 1892, as above noted, but further by the 

 assignment of definite sums for the salaries of designated 

 members of the Survey and for special branches of work; work 

 on irrigation was not mentioned and was therefore suspended. 



The following year was nothing less than disastrous. The 

 appropriation for the year ending June 30, 1893, voted at the 

 late date of August 5, 1892, fell to $430,000; definite sums 

 were assigned to work and salaries as before ; but now four- 

 teen stated salaries were discontinued, and at the same time 

 the amount of money assigned to topographic surveys was so 

 large a part of the total that the balance left for geology was 

 scanty. Field work was in active progress by a number of 

 divisions of the geological branch when this blow fell. It was 

 stopped by telegraphic orders, and the workers were directed 

 to prepare records already in hand for publication, or at least 

 to put their material into systematic shape, so that it might be 

 used later. Many salaries that were not cut off entirely were 

 seriously reduced; some members of the Survey voluntarily 

 worked through the following winter on small pay or no pay. 

 It was a time of distress. The next year the appropriation 

 was raised to nearly $500,000 ; but the volume in which this is 

 announced opens with a page from Powell to his collaborators, 



57 



