110 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



The Conservation of Our Water Resources 



DAVID MEGAHY. 



In considering a question of this nature, the first 

 care before accepting any proposed policy should be to 

 insure the protection of the settler and home-builder. 

 Legislation enacted by the state of Wyoming relating 

 to the control of water resources has been passed with 

 this fundamental object always in view. It is impos- 

 sible for those who have not experienced pioneer life 

 or who have never made a study of conditions under 

 which settlement takes place to understand the difficul- 

 ties which confront the settler or to formulate laws or 

 regulations relating to the control of our natural re- 

 sources which will assist him instead of being a detri- 

 ment to his progress and prosperity. A settler gen- 

 erally depends largely upon public officers for advice. 

 It is difficult if not impossible for him to present his 

 cause in such a way that he will be understood unless 

 he is given an opportunity to do so verbally. Rules 

 and regulations made at Washington are often not 

 understood even by the local officer who is charged 

 with their administration. The settler seldom sees the 

 local officer, and when he makes an inquiry, the rules 

 and regulations are generally sent him without inter- 

 pretation. Under these conditions any policy which 

 will lead to a centralization of control of all natural 

 resources at Washington will tend only to increase the 

 hardships of the settler and render his condition less 

 enviable. 



In order that we may clearly understand the pres- 

 ent power and influence of some great bureaus at 

 Washington we must study their policies and their 

 methods of securing support. Those who scrutinize 

 the papers and magazines of the times cannot fail to 

 notice that articles identical in purport and language 

 are published on the same day in many widely sepa- 

 rated towns and cities. The reader who desires to 

 continue his studies will find that these large bureaus 

 it Washington control press agencies which are conducted 

 by men employed at the expense of the government. 

 These press bureaus are maintained for the sole pur- 

 pose of advertising the chiefs of the bureaus, creating 

 public sentiment in favor of their policies and criticiz- 

 ing and ridiculing all persons and policies which in 

 any way oppose these great administrative machines. 

 The heads of these press agencies may be designated 

 on the pay roll as statisticians or by some other title 

 which protects the bureau and serves to mislead the 

 public. By co-operation with staff reporters at Wash- 

 ington, dispatches indorsing the policies of the bureaus 

 are sent to the press of the country. These great 

 bureaus have other opportunities for exploiting the 

 chiefs and their policies. Certain periodicals, have been 

 established and have received government support for 

 their purpose. Two prominent bureau chiefs for sev- 

 eral years co-operated with a moulder of public senti- 

 ment employed by the railroads and hundreds of thou- 

 sands of dollars were spent each year in advertising 

 these favored men and at the same time criticizing and 

 condemning those who have unfortunately nothing but 

 ability and a creditable official record to recommend 

 them. Many publications issued by these bureaus are 



designed to secure the indorsement of the people re- 

 gardless of the truth or of scientific fact. 



It would be presumed that the. business of these 

 great bureaus would consume the time and energy of 

 any single man charged with such a responsibility and 

 that he would have little opportunity or occasion to 

 appeal to public sentiment to obtain support for his 

 department. Work well done is generally recognized 

 even under a republican form of government. Regard- 

 less, of this natural assumption, these bureau chiefs 

 spend much of their time attending conventions and 

 resorting to all kinds of political expedients to obtain 

 favorable indorsements from meetings called for the 

 purpose of obtaining an expression of sentiment from 

 the people. I shall refer to one striking example of 

 the past year. The last session of the National Irriga- 

 tion Congress met in Sacramento early in September. 

 Some weeks prior to the opening of the Congress two 

 bureau chiefs, pursuant to directions sent we know not 

 how, met the local secretary of the congress at Chi- 

 cago, where the program of the congress was outlined to 

 their satisfaction. Having been warned that discus- 

 sion might take place at this congress, which would 

 not be pleasant to the bureau chiefs or of a nature 

 indorsing their policies, steps were taken to avoid this 

 in so far as possible. The records of the Congress are 

 sufficient evidence of the success of the plans made in 

 Chicago. 



While we of the west can easily satisfy ourselves 

 regarding the activity of these men in our local affairs, 

 yet we seldom appreciate the workings of the great 

 bureaus at the national capitol. The writer has ap- 

 peared before committee of congress where some of 

 these bureaus have been represented by their chiefs and 

 by an army of employees. He has been able to study 

 their system of lobbying and fully appreciates the 

 disadvantage resulting to any department of the gov- 

 ernment or state whose interests may conflict in any 

 way with one of these great machines as long as the 

 present practice is allowed to continue. 



The history of civilization shows conclusively that 

 the best use of natural resources is made when the 

 control of such resources is intrusted to those locally 

 concerned either in development or in their conserva- 

 tion. Under all conditions the burden of public con- 

 trol and maintenance falls on the community where 

 the natural resource is found, and this has been recog- 

 nized by the great bureaus at Washington. In spite of 

 the fact that some of those bureaus receive millions of 

 dollars annually, they still advertise the fact that the 

 cost of their local administration in the field is already 

 self-supporting or will soon be in that condition. These 

 bureaus hold that while the government does not need 

 the fees obtained from such a source, yet the principle 

 should be. enforced which requires the party benefited 

 to pay for the benefits received. Under this theory 

 our seaport towns should defray the expense of con- 

 structing and maintaining the navy ; the Panama Canal 

 should be dug by those who are interested in the com- 

 merce of seas; the Great Inland Water Ways should be 



