THE IRRIGATION AGE 



VOL. XIX 



CHICAGO, MAY, 1904. 



No. 7 



THE IRRIGATION AGE 



THE D. H. ANDERSON PUBLISHING CO., 



PUBLISHERS, 

 112 Dearborn Street, CHICAGO 



Entered at the Postoffice at Chicago, 111., as Second-Class Matter. 



D. H. ANDERSON ) BH ., 



W. J. ANDERSON \ c< 



Western Office: Chamber of Commerce Building, Denver, Colo. 

 GEO. W. WAGNER, Mgr. W. L. JACKSON, Editor, Western Dept. 



SUBSCRIPTION PRICE. 



To United States Subscribers, Postage Paid, . . . . . $1.00 



To Canada and Mexico, 1.00 



All Other Foreign Countries 1.50 



In forwarding remittances please do not send checks on local banks. 

 Send either postomce or express money order or Chicago or New York 

 draft. 



A monthly illustrated magazine recognized throughout the world as 

 the exponent of Irrigation and its kindred industries. It is the pioneer 

 journal of its kind in the world, and has no rival in half a continent. It 

 advocates the mineral development and the industrial growth of the West. 



Tn f P>t-P>cf i r\ rr f r> A A TT-^-rf i c^-rc II ma ^ Merest advertisers to know that The Irrigation Age is the only publication 

 -LlC.LCC5l.lllg LU .T1.U VC1 USC1O. - m tfae worW h aving an actua l pa id in advance circulation among individual 



irrigators and large irrigation corporations. It is read regularly by all interested in this subject and has readers in all parts of the world. 

 The Irrigation Age is 19 years old and is the pioneer publication of its class in the world. 



EDITORIAL 



While a great deal of discussion is taking 

 Lieu place in the newspapers and elsewhere 



Land Scrip concerning the subject of the possibility 

 and the of a scandal along irrigation lines, where- 



Land Laws.' in numerous heads of departments, as 



well as the head of the so-called National 

 Irrigation Association, a purely one-man organization, 

 are likely to become implicated, it is well to consider 

 some specific charges and movements made by the above 

 named gentlemen. It is well understood that some time 

 in 1900 or 1901, when what was known as the Forest 

 Beserve Act was passed, the intention of the two legis- 

 lative bodies, as well as the President, was for the 

 preservation of all forests with a view to protecting 

 the water sheds and stopping the wholesale taking over 

 oi fine timber tracts by individuals for personal gain. 

 When the Forest Eeserve 'Act was passed it developed 

 that in taking over these large areas by the Government, 

 certain small tracts in some of them were held by pri- 

 vate individuals, who had secured the patent, or title, 

 to same from the Government under the Homestead Act, 

 commutation clause, or the Timber and Stone Act. and 

 it was decided, if we understand the case correctly, that 

 these individuals, whose lands would be taken over as 

 part of large tracts or bodies, were to have the right 

 of entry on any unoccupied Government land for an 



equal number of acres. This was a reasonable enough 

 arrangement and would have worked out all right, had 

 it not been for the fact that large corporations, whose 

 numerous holdings were turned in to the Government 

 under this act (and by the way, thousands and thou- 

 sands of acres of this land turned back by the railways 

 under the Forest Keserve Act were practically worthless 

 lands), took it upon themselves to turn over to the 

 Government large tracts of land, taking in return what 

 is known as lieu land scrip, or scrip applicable for 

 entry upon any unoccupied Government lands. This 

 lieu land scrip was subsequently disposed of in large 

 blocks by the corporations to speculators in paper of 

 that class, who in turn disposed of it to others at an 

 advanced price and in many instances the scrip eventu- 

 ally came into the hands of individuals engaged in 

 the lumber industry, many of whom entered the scrip 

 on different tracts throughout the West and Northwest 

 and will no doubt secure good lands through their in- 

 vestments. 



It is not our intention to discuss at length the ad- 

 visability of the original plan of allowing the railways 

 t:> turn in large tracts, for which they received scrip 

 in lieu. Eeferring, however, to the act of Congress, 

 or the several acts pertaining to the location of scrip 

 and its relation under the Timber and Stone Act, or 

 any other entry, upon Government lands, the Govern- 

 ment owns these lands and when it sells to the individ- 

 ual, it seems that it is legally bound to protect that 

 individual in his rights. To. illustrate this more clearly 

 the Forest Eeserve was brought about by proclamation 



