102 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



It has been a matter of much speculation 

 Milk as to why certain interests, particularly 



in the those nearest some of the large railway 



Cocoanut. systems which have no land grants, are so 



vigorously advocating a repeal of the land 

 laws. It is well understood why those roads that have 

 land to sell want the Government land taken from 

 public entry, as in that case prospective settlers would 

 be compelled to avail themselves of the five-year-resi- 

 dent requirement in order to obtain a home, or buy 

 their land from the railway companies and large cor- 

 porations who would be the only owners of other avail- 

 able lands. The explanation of the activity of the inter- 

 ests allied with the non-land grant roads may be found 

 in the fact that they hold enormous amounts of scrip 

 which may be used to acquire millions of acres of valu- 

 able land adjacent to their line. 



Senator Gibson, of Montana, who is recognized as 

 the representative of the Great Northern Railway, is 

 vigorously urging the repeal of the land laws, although 

 if the repeal bill becomes a law it will withdraw from 

 settlement practically all the lands along that road in 

 Montana. It would certainly place beyond the reach of 

 the settler those vast areas of agricultural lands adja- 

 cent to the Great Northern Railroad in the vicinity of 

 Senator Gibson's own home. No man in the country 

 has done more than James J. Hill, president of the 

 Great Northern Railway, to develop the resources of that 

 great stretch of country which before the advent of his 

 lines was a barren waste. His courage and far-sighted 

 wisdom in pushing lines of his road up through the 

 frozen prairies of North Dakota and westward over the 

 barren plains of Montana and Idaho through to the 

 Pacific coast, transforming them into prosperous areas 

 and opening up hundreds of thousands of acres to settle- 

 ment has aroused the admiration of the world and 

 marked him as one of the most progressive and useful 

 men of the nation. It is hard to believe, therefore, that 

 Senator Gibson is deliberately seeking to withdraw the 

 land along the road of the Great Northern in Montana 

 for the purpose of preventing their early settlement. 

 It is barely possible that somebody who is closely allied 

 to Great Northern interests holds a large amount of 

 scrip which is intended to be used to acquire these 

 lands after they have been withdrawn from settlement 

 and thus control their disposition. 



The Oregon Irrigator is the euphonious 

 Oregon title of a new paper devoted to irrigation 



Irrigator. and published at Irrigon, Ore. The name 



of the paper, town and state are so sug- 

 gestive of water that one instinctively feels like putting 

 up his umbrella. The Irrigator is a vigorous exponent 

 of irrigation and is putting in some good licks for 

 Morrow County as an ideal place for fruit growing and 

 general farming. 



The Supreme Court of California has 

 Decision rendered a very important decision in an 



as to action by the owner of an artesian well to 



Underground enjoin a neighbor from operating wells 

 Waters, for the purpose of supplying water to a 



distant tract by which the flow of the first 

 wells was stopped. The court held that the diversion 

 and sale of the underground water was an injury to the 

 plaintiff which the courts would prevent and this deci- 

 sion has been reaffirmed after another hearing. 



The general principle laid down by this ruling is 

 one of great importance not only to California, but to 

 all countries where artesian wells are used for irriga- 

 tion. This decision abandons the common law doctrine 

 that the owner of land has an absolute right to all the 

 waters lying underneath it, to dispose of them as he 

 pleases without regard to the rights of adjoining prop- 

 erty owners. The point of the decision is that a land 

 owner who has used percolating waters upon his land 

 has paramount rights to those of a subsequent appro- 

 priator who takes the water to distant lands. Another 

 important point is that a land owner who is using 

 artesian or underground waters will not be permitted 

 to stop the flow of his wells by drawing off the water for 

 sale. If he is using the water for irrigation, he is not 

 entitled to a larger quantity than is necessary for his 

 own use. 



The decision, which is delivered by Justice Shaw, 

 refutes the idea that might is the only protection to 

 property owners and quotes these lines : 



"The good rule 



Sufficeth them, the simple plan, 



That they should take who have the power, 



And they should keep who can." 



The decision thoroughly protects the right of a 

 land owner to the uninterrupted use of the waters under 

 his own land for the purpose of making that land pro- 

 ductive and will not allow an avaricious neighbor at a 

 distance to deprive him of it. The sound logic and 

 hard . common sense contained in this ruling will be 

 commended by all honest men everywhere. 



Some of the arid States are disposed to 

 The find fault with Senator McCumber's bill 



McCumber on the ground that its requirements are 

 Bill. unscientific and illogical and would 



greatly delay the work of the Government 

 where it is most needed at this time. The trouble is not 

 so much with the provisions of Senator McCumber's 

 bill as with the provisions of the reclamation act itself. 

 Under the law, the States which have contributed the 

 least amount of money to the reclamation fund are 

 likely to receive the greatest amount of benefit from it. 

 For instance, Nevada, which has contributed only $35,- 

 000 to the fund, is the most arid State in the West and 

 the Government work now in progress in that State will 

 amount to $1,500,000. North Dakota, which has con- 



