THE IKEIGATION AGE. 



213 



BROUGHT BY THE POSTMAN. 



FLORENCE, ARIZ., April 15, 1904. 

 EDITOR IRRIGATION AGE, CHICAGO, ILL. 



Of all the fifty delegates to the Ogden Irrigation Con- 

 gress from Arizona, I had the distinguished honor to be the 

 only one who opposed the repeal of the Desert Land and 

 other laws from which the irrigation fund is derived. By 

 means of railroad passes, handled by George H. Maxwell, 

 an effort was made to get the endorsement of the Congress 

 for this unworthy proposition, which all the world now 

 knows is solely in the interest of the transcontinental land- 

 grant railroads, that their lands and lieu-land scrip may 

 become more valuable. 



The recent expose of Maxwell by his own words in his 

 testimony before the House irrigation committee has shown 

 the wisdom of the Ogden Congress in discrediting the alleged 

 gentleman. I promised him more than a year ago that I 

 would make his name stink from one end of the country to 

 the other; but he has saved me the trouble by performing 

 the public duty himself. That he has failed to work his schemes 

 before the National Legislature, as he did at Ogden, is a 

 matter for general congratulation and much of the credit 

 therefor is due your valuable magazine. 



At this time it might not be out of place to reproduce a 

 letter written by Maxwell. It refers to the only "graft" 

 he has been successful in working and was addressed to 

 members of the mythical National Irrigation Association, 

 whoever they may be besides the land-grant railroads which 

 pay him his princely salary. The letter is as follows : 



CHICAGO, ILL., February 14, 1903. 



"Dear Sir The National Irrigation Association is work- 

 ing for results. We want to see the irrigation works built, 

 and the increased population and trade actually created. 



"When completed the Tonto, or Salt River, reservoir in 

 Arizona, costing $2,700,000, with a capacity of 1,500,000 acre- 

 feet, will rival the Nile dam as a great engineering work. It 

 will more than double the productiveness, population and 

 trade of the Salt River Valley. 



"To make the influence of the National Irrigation Asso- 

 ciation effective, it must be concentrated on specific projects 

 which will demonstrate the benefits of national irrigation to 

 the entire country, and this Salt River reservoir is such a 

 project. 



"The Homemaker for January contains in both the illus- 

 trated section and the editorial section articles giving in detail 

 an account of this great project and my own work in con- 

 nection with it. Read it carefully. 



The enemies of the national irrigation movement, our 

 estwhile opponents, who wanted the 'States to control the great 

 work of reclamation, though scotched, are still active and 

 venomous. They are leaving no stone unturned to undo the 

 great work we have accomplished. 



" 'By their fruits ye shall know them,' is the rule by 

 which the friends of the national irrigation movement, who 

 comprise the National Irrigation Association, must be meas- 

 ured. So far it is a record of things done. Yours faithfully, 



"GEORGE H. MAXWELL." 



It will be seen by the above letter, Maxwell considers 

 himself the great "I am" of the Reclamation service and that 

 he has deceived others into the same belief, "the more's the 

 pity." 



The facts are these : First, the Tonto or Salt River 

 project in Arizona can not prove otherwise than a dismal 

 failure. If, as Maxwell says, the reservoir is to have a ca- 

 pacity of 1,500,000 acre-feet, it would take seven years to 

 fill it, without draining out a drop of water. In 1902 according 

 to the measurements of the United States Geological Survey 

 there were but 211,313 acre-feet of water discharged at the 

 damsite. (See First Annual Report of Reclamation Service, 

 page 93.) In 1903 the discharge was still less and the present 

 year, so far, has been no better. It is but fair to state that 

 we have been having a succession of dry years and 1 have no 

 disposition to distort the truth. 



Second If there is no water to fill the reservoir, there 

 can be no electricity generated for pumping purposes, either 

 for suffering Pima Indians or suffering farmers. 



Third There are more than 300,000 acres of land held in 

 private ownership in the Salt River Valley and for the past 

 three years there has not been a sufficient supply, even if it 

 were stored, to amply irrigate one-third of it. Hence the 

 folly of claiming that any Government land can be brought 

 under cultivation, as was intended by the law. 



Fourth As Tonto is purely a private land scheme, worked 

 up by Maxwell, the people of Arizona generally take no 

 particular interest in it. There are hundreds of them who 

 desire to file on homesteads under a Government reservoir, 

 and they see no justice in exhausting our pro rata in the irri- 

 gation fund on a private proposition. This sentiment is preva- 

 lent even in the Salt River Valley, where land is held in 

 blocks of as much as 20,000 acres by private owners and cor- 

 porations. 



I am among those who believe that corruption has been 

 used in bringing about the selection of this unworthy project. 

 I have not hid my light under a bushel, but months ago laid 

 the facts before the Secretary of the Interior in carefully pre- 

 pared charges against certain engineers of the Geological Survey. 

 If there has ever been an investigation of those charges, I have 

 not heard of it, and at last I am forced to the conclusion that 

 the Interior Department is as rotten as the Postoffice Depart- 

 ment has proven to be. CHAS. D. REPPY. 



CHEYENNE, WYO., April 4, 1904. 

 THE IRRIGATION AGE, CHICAGO, ILL. 



Dear Sirs There seems to be a sentiment prevailing now 

 in the East that the land laws are not suitable to the condi- 

 tions existing in the West. I have never heard it said that 

 the land laws are not satisfactory because they do not offer 

 the proper inducements to settlement or because they do not 

 protect the people who have built homes in the arid region. 

 The claim is that the Government is being robbed and de- 

 frauded. I do not believe any person of average intelligence 

 can read the land laws which have been attacked and under- 

 stand how land can be obtained fraudulently, providing the 

 officers charged with carrying out their provisions are fur- 

 nished with such assistance as to make this possible. In 

 transactions between private parties an inspection of property 

 disposed of is essential, but when the Government extends 

 patents to lands, whereby, it is said, great fraud has been 

 committed, it is the exceptional case in which an officer investi- 

 gates the conditions and satisfies himself for the Government 

 that the law has been complied with on the part of the 

 entryman. 



As far as Wyoming is concerned, the people should be pro- 

 tected rather than the Government, as fraud is not common 

 here, regardless of the inefficient administration of the land 

 laws as far as inspection is concerned. If any change is 

 made in the existing laws it should tend to make the acqui- 

 sition of lands less difficult and there should be some provision 

 whereby small ranchmen could secure at least a temporary 

 control of a sufficient grazing area to support their live stock. 

 The lack of such a provision has led to fencing the public 

 domain ; otherwise the cattle business especially would have 

 become a thing of the past years ago. The Government should 

 recognize this condition as a necessity and make the statutes 

 conform to it instead of compelling those who engage in the 

 cattle business to violate the law. 



I have too much faith in the representatives of the West- 

 ern people in Washington to believe that any great changes 

 will be made in the land laws unless it be in the interest 

 of those who are seeking to develop the country. The cry of 

 fraud against the Government is seldom heard outside of the 

 lobby headed by Mr. Maxwell and his object in seeking repeal 

 of the land laws is too well known to guarantee him much 

 support in the West. Sincerely yours, 



CLARENCE T. JOHNSTON, 



State Engineer. 



FALLON, NEV., March 10, 1904. 

 THE IRRIGATION AGE, 112 DEARBORN STREET, CHICAGO, ILL.: 



Enclosed please find postoffice order for one dollar, re- 

 newal of my subscription to IRRIGATION AGE for one year. 



The practical courses outlined by your paper regarding 

 drainage in agriculture as well as horticulture are on the 

 right line, perhaps a little in advance of some communities, 

 but sooner or later such communities must toe this line 

 or be distanced in the march of agricultural progress. 

 Truly yours, H. ROWLAND LEE, U. S. G. S. 



CROWN POINT, IND., March 20, 1904. 

 THE IRRIGATION AGE, 112 DEARBORN STREET, CHICAGO, ILL.: 



Dear Sir Win you kindly advise me what States afford 

 the best opportunity for a civil engineer to become identified 

 with irrigation work. I presume this work is generally pro- 

 jected and carried out on a large scale by capitalists who, 

 often being non-residents, make such engineering hard to 

 secure except for those in touch with them. 



