THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



39 



years will see a great interest developed in Tree Grow- 

 ing throughout the United States. 



We are publishing elsewhere in this issue a photo- 

 graph of Hon. A. H. Greene, President of the Federa- 

 tion of Tree-Growing Clubs of America. 



Among the many letters received dur- 

 ing the past two months concerning the 

 Irrigation Congress held at Sacramento, 

 California, early in September of this 

 year, we find numerous complaints con- 

 cerning the manner in which the program for that 

 congress was framed up. One man who is prominent 

 politically in a western state, writes as follows : "The 

 meager press reports received during the congress in- 

 dicate that it was in a manner a sort of a "Government 

 Bureau Love Feast," and that he is still searching 

 through the proceedings of the congress for any con- 

 siderable amount of live discussion on Important and 

 vital questions concerning the irrigationist. He states 

 further that he has no doubt but that the papers pre- 

 sented by the gentlemen connected with the Reclama- 

 tion and Forestry service were excellent, but that if the 

 Irrigation Congress is to be representative of western 

 sentiment, and is to be helpful with discussion and sug- 

 gestions in regard to those matters which vitally in- 

 terest the home seeker and irrigationist there will have 

 to be a radical change in the program and in the 

 lines of discussion in the future, as it seems that a 

 considerable amount of the discussion was on subjects 

 but distantly related to irrigation. 



The gentleman who expressed these views was not 

 in attendance at the congress and is only able to discuss 

 it on information secured from press reports, and it 

 may be readily understood that if a man observes this 

 sort of a condition from meager reports which were 

 sent out, he could have had much greater reason to 

 complain, perhaps, had he been in attendance. It is 

 a fact that one who was not in attendance at the con- 

 gress, should not be critical, and it is our impression 

 that it is not the disposition of this gentleman to be so 

 understood. 



It is the opinion of the editor of IRRIGATION AGE 

 that leading thinkers have become somewhat disgusted 

 with the methods of conducting the irrigation con- 

 gresses, and the fact that Reclamation Service officials 

 and representatives of other bureaus take entirely too 

 prominent a part in the deliberations of that body. 

 This is particularly true of the Reclamation Service, 

 which has seen fit to bring men from remote points 

 who are connected directly or indirectly with that 

 bureau, place them upon prominent committees and 

 through their manceuvering dictate the policy of the 

 congress. It may be readily understood that the Reclama- 

 tion Service is looked upon by the western newspapers 



as the means of salvation for the west and the work 

 performed by this service will no doubt stand forever 

 as a monument to the good judgment of many of the 

 able men connected with the service and many men 

 outside of the service who were active in developing 

 sentiment leading to the passage of the reclamation law. 



It was not the intention, however, of the men who 

 saved the Irrigation Congress when an attempt was 

 made to combine it with the Trans-Mississippi Congress, 

 that this body should be conducted by the heads of 

 bureaus or individuals with "axes to grind." The idea 

 of the gentleman who made a fight for the life of the 

 congress at Colorado Springs was that it would be a 

 good meeting place for those who cared to consider 

 methods of irrigation, a place for the discussion of 

 work being carried on by the government and if neces- 

 sary a rostrum from which criticisms of the Reclamation 

 Service or other co-related departments could be ex- 

 pressed and answered by government representatives in 

 attendance. It certainly was not expected, if the writer 

 understands the situation correctly, that the congress 

 should be taken over and managed entirely according 

 to plans laid down by representatives of the different 

 bureaus in Washington, D. C. 



Perhaps one of the most alarming features in con- 

 nection with government dictation in the conduct of 

 this congress is the fact that the newspapers in the 

 city and state in which the congress is to be held are 

 naturally inclined to look upon the Reclamation and 

 Forestry Service, as expressed in foregoing lines, "Sav- 

 iors of the West." They are prone to accept state- 

 ments from the different representatives of the Bureau 

 as facts, without further investigation. A fairly good 

 illustration of how the newspapers may change the 

 policy of deliberations of this sort is ihat of the men 

 from Southern California, who arrived in Sacramento 

 a little too zealous, perhaps, with the intention of ques- 

 tioning what they believed to be injustice shown their 

 section of the country by representatives of the Reclama- 

 tion Service. These gentlemen were, no doubt, some- 

 what hasty in explaining their plan and were designated 

 by the reclamation people and others as "kickeys," and 

 were so emphatically belittled by the press of California, 

 particularly the northern part, that when the time came 

 for exploiting their grievance, they were given scant rec- 

 ognition. Perhaps, also, these gentlemen were not well 

 equipped with data to support their claims. It is pos- 

 sible that in this case they went off "half-cockecl," and 

 should have arrived better supplied with specific data 

 to support their contentions. That, however, does not 

 do away with the gravity of a situation which will 

 permit government officials to belittle their claims in 

 the public press prior to the time of their delivery be- 

 fore that body, which, as stated above, was meant to 

 be conducted along the line of a critical body, if neces- 

 sary, whereby the private citizen has as good a right to 



