198 



THE IRKIGATION AGE. 



gation field and assist in the great work of directing 

 eastern people to prosperous, happy homes in the west, 

 the IRRIGATION AGE offers its co-operation and the ex- 

 change of fraternal courtesies. The field is growing 

 with each succeeding year. The west needs every 

 assistance that it can rally to its standard. There 

 should be no friction between workers in a common 

 cause. 



But any journal that inflates its circulation, exag- 

 gerates its influence, or deceives its advertisers into 

 expectation of results that can not be returned, is as 

 great a menace to irrigation and colonization work 

 as the wild-cat bond scheme or the dollar-a-week land 

 seller. Eastern advertisers demand proof of circula- 

 tion before investing in space and, likewise, western 

 land sellers should be equally cautious in spending 

 money for publicity unless it can be demonstrated 

 that the number of readers is sufficient to warrant ex- 

 pectation of results. 



In this respect, the AGE speaks only from desire 

 to protect the public against unnecessary loss through 

 investment in spurious forms of advertising. In 

 another column will be found the publisher's state- 

 ment of growth of this journal and its assured suc- 

 cess. 





As might be expected under the circum- 

 So-Called stances, the Renaissance of interest in 

 "Carey Act ^ e ' an( ^ s ^ tne "West" has brought 

 Guides" w ^^ ^ a harvest' of publications pur- 



porting to guide the footsteps of the un- 

 initiated in his quest for public lands. Some of them 

 contain information of real value, while others bear 

 the unmistakable evidences of having been hastily 

 thrown together by novices or shirkers whose only 

 purpose appears to be the garnering of the dollars of 

 the unwary. 



It is an unfortunate condition that prevents the 

 Federal Government from issuing a comprehensive 

 and popular review of all the statutes and regulations 

 of interest to the landseeker, or indeed, a codification 

 of the land laws to date ; although, as is well known, 

 pamphlets treating of the various land laws, sepa- 

 rately, are distributed gratis, by the Land Office to 

 all applicants. 



As a case in point, the AGE has recently come 

 into possession of a work entitled the "Carey Land 

 Act," priced at one dollar, which contains a brief 

 summary of the regulations adopted by the State of 

 Idaho, presented "as applying to the States of 

 Idaho, Washington, Montana, Colorado, Wyoming, 

 Utah, California, North Dakota and South Dakota." 

 It appears incomprehensible that any one preparing 

 a treatise, for profit, upon so important a topic should 



permit so palpable an error to appear upon the very 

 title page. It is a fact of which one may convince 

 himself by inquiry of the proper authorities, that the 

 states of Washington, California and North Dakota 

 have never adopted the provisions of the Carey Act, 

 and for natural reasons, never will. On the other 

 hand, all references to Oregon and New Mexico 

 states holding great potential possibilities, as well as 

 of South Dakota, have been omitted. 



Our readers may judge for themselves how mis- 

 leading such a classification may prove. Those who 

 have followed the scholarly recital of the provisions 

 of the individual states now appearing in the Acffi 

 prepared by Mr. Bohm need no specific mention of the 

 many important details of Carey Act administration, 

 with reference to which the states are at great variance. 



The AGE welcomes anything designed to promote 

 the general diffusion of knowledge, but it would be 

 false to its principles were it to omit a note of timely 

 warning, against such rubbish. 



In a recent contribution to the Chicago 

 "Back Examiner, headed "Back to the Land," 



To the Milo Hastings tells the interesting story 



Land." f reclamation work that has brought un- 



der cultivation more than three millions 

 of acres of arid land and has provided homes for 

 nearly a quarter of a million of people. In explaining 

 the terms of the old Homestead law he notes the diffi- 

 culties encountered by the Reclamation service in re- 

 lation to the division of land and the solution of the 

 problems presented by the private ownership of large 

 tracts desired for irrigation purposes. This leads to 

 explanation of means taken by the Reclamation ser- 

 vice to force heavy land owners to sell their holdings. 



He asserts, in fact, that the methods employed by 

 the government through its reclamation service, e. g. 

 the stirring up of sentiment against the land owner 

 and his forced acquiesence even at great financial lose 

 to himself, was justified by the results the creation 

 of thousands of homes for the people. 



But in his study of previous conditions Mr. Hast- 

 ings fails to recognize the injustice to those ranch 

 owners who had completed fairly comprehensive irri- 

 gation systems at considerable expense and had them- 

 selves been the pioneers in reclaiming arid lands. 

 The IRRIGATION AGE has, in years past, taken the at- 

 titude that the land owner who, by his industry and 

 perseverance had bnilded himself a home at the ex- 

 pense of his own happiness, should not be disturbed in 

 the enjoyment of the fruits of his labors. In forcing 

 him to abandon his holdings, by raising public senti- 

 ment against his attitude and thus causing his ostra- 

 cism from social affairs, government agents were guilty 



