548 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



Mr. Newell's management. His department had such 

 abnormal growth that in a few years the "tail wagged the 

 dog," according to the verdict of those who were ac- 

 quainted with the situation. 



The public has always been kept informed as to Mr. 

 Newell and his work. He has been strong on the pub- 

 licity idea and he has always kept his ear close to the 

 ground. From 1895 until a year or so ago Mr. Newell, 

 Mr. Gifford Pinchot and Mr. George H. Maxwell made up 

 ;i little triumvirate that has never been excelled in pub- 

 licity practices. Mr. Maxwell was employed by the trans- 

 continental railroads to lobby and advertise everything 

 and everybody that favored national irrigation. He or- 

 ganized all kinds of associations. The National Irrigation 

 Association, the National Manufacturers' Association and 

 many others had their birth in his fertile mind. Press 

 bureaus were so thick at Washington that they over- 

 lapped. Mr. Maxwell advertised both Mr. Pinchot and 

 Mr. Newell. Mr. Pinchot advertised Mr. Newell and 

 both Mr. Pinchot and Mr. Newell aided Mr. Maxwell in 

 all of his undertakings of mutual concern. Those who 

 attended sessions of the National Irrigation Congress or 

 the Trans-Mississippi Commercial Congress during the 

 past fifteen years will remember how the Pinchot-Newell- 

 Maxwell machine worked. The ccmmittees in charge of 

 each congress would be relieved of much of the responsi- 

 bility of advertising and arrangement of program by tak- 

 ing advantage of the help offered by this self-appointed 

 committee of three. Things would be "fixed" weeks be- 

 fore delegates began to arrive. No opposition could 

 develop enough strength to get a hearing even before a 

 committee. The organization prior to the session of the 

 congress was complete and effective. Politicians who 

 favored all that these men indorsed easily secured a place 

 on the program, and the congress degenerated into a 

 plaything. 



While these political moves were being made, the 

 press bureaus at Washington did not lose sight of the 

 fact that national irrigation might soon be a realization. 

 Of course, Mr. Newell was the man to take charge of 

 this work. He had the necessary training in the bureaus 

 and he had the political strength that can only be obtained 

 by publicity. Mr. Newell's case reminds us that this 

 bureaucratic publicity always avoids the whole truth. W r e 

 have never found any truthful review coming from this 

 source as to Mr. Newell's actual training and experience. 

 These press bureaus never said that his only experience 

 in the field consisted of a few months' work in mines. 

 They never informed the eager public that Mr. Newell had 

 never surveyed a ditch or reservoir and had not even 

 laid out a lateral. He had simply been at the head of a 

 political division of a greater political department. Mr. 

 Newell was afraid that some competent man might show 

 up from the West, where irrigation experience might have 

 trained an engineer for this important government work. 



He was afraid of Dr. Elwood Mead, the greatest irri- 

 gation expert in the world today, who has taken charge 

 of irrigation for the Australian Government. We could 

 show by example how Mr. Newell directed all of his 

 political strength to prevent Dr. Mead from being con- 

 sidered a possibility. We should like to have the findings 

 of a certain commission appointed to report on the ad- 

 visability of a re-subdivision of the scientific work of the 

 government, made public. We should like the names of 

 the members of this commission to be placed where all 

 may read them. We should like to know why this com- 



mission was appointed. On whose recommendation was 

 President Roosevelt led to appoint such a commission? 

 Why, after months of "investigation" and after the report 

 was prepared, was it smothered? Does Mr. Newell re- 

 member a meeting of this commission at the home of Mr. 

 Pinchot in Washington, in July, 1903? Was Mr. Garfield 

 there? W'as the Director of the U. S. Geological Survey 

 there? 



The press bureaus at Washington, were in the mean- 

 time, doing great things. Mr. Maxwell was also exerting 

 himself. The eastern press was regaled with stories of 

 Mr. Newell's prowess. In the face of these misrepre- 

 sentations it was plain to the casual observer that Mr. 

 Newell would land the position he sought. Because of his 

 advertising, system and his influence with the President 

 through Mr. Pinchot, he was appointed by Mr. Hitchcock 

 as Chief Engineer of the Reclamation Service. When Mr. 

 Garfield was appointed Secretary of the Interior, a new 

 era opened for Mr. Newell. Mr. Garfield had helped Mr. 

 Newell before. Because the Reclamation Service was at 

 first under the Geological Survey, this placed Mr. Walcott 

 in charge, although it was understood that Mr. Newell was 

 to have a free hand. Mr. Walcott was quietly let rut 

 and given a berth in the Smithsonian Institute. '/Ir. 

 Newell was made temporary Director of the Geological 

 Survey and then the Reclamation Service as it is known 

 today was organized. Mr. Newell went with the new 

 organization as Chief Engineer, but this title was evi- 

 dently a misfit, even to him, so that he was later made 

 Director of the Reclamation Service while a civil engineer 

 became Chief Engineer. 



So ably have the press agents at Washington con- 

 tinued their labors that the public is as fully misinformed 

 as to the progress of national irrigation as it was as to 

 the merits of Mr. Newell. What has beep accomplished? 

 Instead of taking up some small projects which could be 

 hurried to completion and from which the funds spent 

 would begin to return quickly, Mr. Newell proceeded to 

 spread himself out in the construction of engineering 

 monuments throughout the West. Irrigation development 

 and opportunities for homes has been a secondary object. 

 The main thing has been to get something big started. 

 Mr. Newell long since discovered that tenure of office 

 often depends upon the volume of unfinished work. The 

 result is that no project has been completed. Settlers 

 have been waiting years for water. Mr. Newell's friends 

 admitted when he was first appointed that he did not pre- 

 tend to be an irrigation engineer, but that he was a great 

 organizer. He is an organizer as well as an advertiser. 

 He organized the Reclamation Service so thoroughly that 

 his organization has cost about one-fourth as much as he 

 has spent for construction. Where private parties build 

 irrigation works and defray the expense of organization 

 with an outlay equal to from five to eight per cent of the 

 total cost of the work, Mr. Newell has spent from 25 to 

 35 per cent. As his organization grew, it became more 

 valuable to him as a political asset. He called his en- 

 gineers to Washington every winter and paraded them 

 about for political effect. He kept Congressmen informed 

 as to his progress by personal interviews, reports, lectures, 

 lantern slides and by keeping his press bureau in good 

 running order. Why there should be an office in Wash- 

 ington, except for disbursing funds, was never plain to 

 western people. It is unnecessary, except for its political 

 value. 



Recently the President has deemed it wise to place 



