112 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



When we study conditions we find that waste of 

 those natural resources which belong to the people has 

 thus far taken place under national statutes. These 

 great bureaus advertise through their various mediums 

 that our natural resources have already been wasted 

 in a large degree. They estimate that the coal, the oil, 

 the lumber, and even the public domain have been 

 squandered and their mathematicians tell us in lan- 

 guage plain that one resource will fail us in twenty- 

 nine and one-half years, another seventeen and five- 

 . sixteenths years, and so on through the list. This 

 waste, this evidence of prodigality has taken place 

 under national laws, and under national supervision 

 and administration of these laws. The unjust steward 

 now comes to hi& master, the people, and argues that 

 matters will be corrected by a more centralized national 

 control. The states have done more to bring about 

 recognition of public interest in all resources under 

 their jurisdiction than has even been attempted by the 

 nation at large. Why is it now necessary to centralize 

 authority over all natural resources at the national 

 capital? There is no question regarding the attitude of 

 the great bureaus on this important problem. Recently 

 the Inland Water Ways Commission, of which two 

 great bureau chiefs are members, recommended that 

 the government should control all water power sites. 

 It is difficult enough to do what little business must 

 be transacted at present with federal authorities when- 

 ever any development is undertaken. We have to wait 

 months and years for a decision relating to a simple 

 right of way application unless we are fortunate enough 

 to have paid attorneys and lobbyists in Washington. 



Wyoming has never received enough capital to date 

 to enable her to fully understand the extent of its water 

 power resources. She needs light, heat and electric 

 power. Her people invite capital to undertake hydro- 

 electric development. This kind of dvelopment would 

 be carried on under the same wise laws and regulations 

 as govern the use of water for irrigation and the na- 

 tional government has never suggested any rules or 

 regulations relating to the supervision or administra- 

 tion of any natural resources under its jurisdiction 

 which compares in any manner favorable with the laws 

 of Wyoming relating to the use of water. We do not 

 wish to apply the same principles in the management 

 of our streams that the government now indorses in 

 the control of forest reserves. They should not be kept 

 mainly for the benefit of some great bureau at Wash- 

 ington, posterity and wild animals. To date no misuse 

 has been made of the water power resources of Wyom- 

 ing. Her citizens know more about its rivers and about 

 possible power development than any bureau in Wash- 

 ington, although they lack press agencies for advertis- 

 ing their theories. When they have developed the 

 water power of the state to its full extent under state 

 laws and local supervision, they may rest satisfied that 

 the people most concerned will be using this great nat- 

 ural resource in such a way as to benefit themselves 

 in the largest measure. What they need is development. 

 These people have never obtained enough real growth 

 to enable them to distinguish between monopolies fos- 

 tered by the government and those which thrive inde- 

 pendently. That which the state has undertaken so far 

 relating to the management of natural resources has 

 been carried on in a manner eminently satisfactory to 



the people at large. If possible they would like to avoid 

 monopoly. They cannot discourage investors generally 

 because of being afraid of monopoly. If the state finds 

 that evils of this kind will result even when develop- 

 ment is carried on under the wisest rules and regula- 

 tions it can frame, it will then be time for its citizens 

 to display the flag of distress and to call on the con- 

 servers of all things for relief. Her citizens have more 

 interest in natural resources and in the welfare of 

 posterity than those federal officers who now assume 

 to exercise so much concern for themselves and their 

 children, yet show it in a different manner. They wish 

 development to be carried on properly and under local 

 control in order that it may improve conditions for 

 those who follow. The responsibility of this work will 

 develop great men who will spend their lives in the 

 west and whose influence will be felt in succeeding gen- 

 erations. The pioneer of the Mississippi Valley burned 

 the forests in order that he might build himself a home. 

 He had many of the difficulties and hardships to con- 

 tend with that confront the settlers of Wyoming. The 

 timber he destroyed would doubtless be of considerable 

 value today, yet the civilization he created is of greater 

 value than the combined forest wealth of the world. 

 If western men do their part towards assisting the 

 builder of the west they may well believe that poster- 

 ity will thank them as they no doubt thank their an- 

 cestors for establishing homes in the wilds of the cen- 

 tral valleys, even though this were done through the 

 destruction of some natural resources. 



IRRIGATION IN CHILE. 



Increased Interest and Large Possibilities Are Manifest. 



Consul Alfred A. Winslow, of Valparaiso, makes 

 the report that the agricultural interests in Chile are 

 giving irrigation much more attention than ever be- 

 fore. His statements continue: 



The two or three dry years preceding the present 

 are largely responsible for this. Over quite a portion 

 of what had been considered fairly good farm lands 

 crops for those years were almost total failures. The 

 lack of moisture is the principal cause of the failure 

 to have a fair crop in this county, unless it be on land 

 that has been seeded with the same crop for several 

 years in succession. The soil of Chile is naturally 

 very productive and will grow almost amything if 

 water can be supplied. 



There are a large number of small rivers running 

 down from the snow-capped Cordilleras that can be 

 made to turn their valleys into productive farms were 

 scientific irrigating methods adopted, where at least two 

 crops of corn, potatoes, garden vegetables, beans, etc., 

 could be grown each year. The possibilities along this 

 line are great and with a good market for all in sight. 



The Chilean government understands this and en- 

 couragement is given to those who seriously undertake 

 this work. The poor native, of course, can do prac- 

 tically nothing along this lin,e, for it requires capital 

 to develop the system. The government of Chile has 

 not as yet gone so far as to construct a public irrigation 

 system, but this may come soon. At present there are 

 several valleys partially under irrigation, with good 

 results. 



