1064 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



The National Irrigation Congress 



by Arthur Hooker 

 Secretaiy National Irrigation Congress 



The nineteenth annual meeting of the National Irri- 

 gation Congress will be held in Chicago from the fifth to 

 the ninth of this coming December. In many ways this 

 will be an eventful meeting of this great agricultural and 

 commercial development agency. This will be the second 

 meeting in Chicago, the first meeting having been held in 

 that city in 1900. At that time Elwood Mead, then of 

 Cheyenne, Wyoming, was president. Mr. Mead is now 

 chairman of the State Rivers and Water Supply Commis- 

 sion of Victoria, Australia. George H. Maxwell, of Chi- 

 cago, was chairman of the executive committee at the 

 first Chicago meeting and H. B. Maxson, of Reno, Neva- 

 da, was secretary. 



This year is also of special interest to the Irrigation 

 Congress, as it marks the twentieth anniversary of its or- 

 ganization. The first Irrigation Congress met at Salt 

 Lake City, September 13, 1891, remaining in session 

 three days. The increasing interest in irrigation at that 

 time has led to the holding of a state irrigation conven- 

 tion at Lincoln, Nebraska, in February of that year. Gov- 

 ernor Arthur L. Thomas of Utah took the initiative in in- 

 viting the governors of the western states to appoint dele- 

 gates to the first Irrigation Congress. Over four hundred 

 and fifty delegates came the first day and this number 

 was increased by other arrivals on the following days. 



Colonel John T. Donnellon was temporary chairman 

 of this first meeting. C. C. Wright, of California, was 

 president and Wm. E. Smythe, now of San Diego, Cali- 

 fornia, popularly known as the "Father of the National 

 Irrigation Congress," was secretary. Senator Newlands, 

 of Nevada, took a prominent part in this first meeting and 

 there were addresses by George Q. Cannon, Wilford 

 Woodruff and other leaders in this movement in those 

 early days. Since this early meeting the Congress has 

 been entertained by various cities from Chicago to the 

 Pacific and from near the Canadian line to the Mexican 

 border, leaving in every meeting place definite results and 

 contributing beyond estimation to the wealth, happiness 

 and prosperity of the people of the arid and semi-arid 

 states. The appended table shows the meeting places and 

 officers of the Congress since its organization. 



The men who have been behind the National Irriga- 

 tion Congress and whose efforts have given it the com- 

 manding position which it now occupies are of that stamp 

 who believe the way to do things is to do them. It fol- 

 lows that the history of the Congress is a record of 

 achievements. And what a wonderful record it is. It is 

 doubtful if there are many persons today who fully realize 

 the importance of the work started and fostered by the 

 National Irrigation Congress. 



The Reclamation Act, the Carey Act and other na- 

 tional and state legislation has accomplished that which 

 was only dreamed of a few short years ago. But it has 

 done more than that which the enabling clause contem- 

 plated. It has placed the seal of government approval 

 upon reclamation work and thereby given a standing and 

 created a confidence in it, which otherwise never would 

 have been. And this has made it possible to enlist pri- 

 vate capital and enterprise to an extent hardly realized, 

 making the irrigation, reclamation and home-building 

 movement today one of the most remarkable in the world's 

 history. 



The honor of entertaining the nineteenth meeting of 

 the Congress was won for Chicago by her delegates and 

 supporters after a spirited contest at the meeting at 

 Pueblo, Colo., last September, in which Los Angeles came 

 near taking the honors away from Chicago. Yielding to 

 the Chicago spirit of "I Will," the friends of Los Angeles 

 at that time signified their determination to secure the 

 1912 meeting of the Congress and are coming to the De- 

 cember meeting with their determination strengthened 

 that Los Angeles shall entertain the twentieth Congress. 

 The Los Angeles delegations may not have everything 



their own way, as there are several cities anxious to se- 

 cure the next Congress, and, with the great interest being 

 shown in drainage reclamation, New Orleans is being 

 mentioned as a strong candidate for the privilege of en- 

 tertaining the 1912 meeting, it being urged that no other 

 city could so effectively support a drainage reclamation 

 campaign and unite the development forces of the West 

 and South. 



Following the meeting at Pueblo in September, 1910, 

 the executive committee organized to carry on the work 

 between meetings to the best advantage. The active rep- 

 resentatives of the executive committee between sessions 

 are the board of governors, consisting of: R. Insinger, 

 of Spokane, chairman; B. A. Fowler, Phoenix, Arizona; 

 Dr. W. J. McGee, Washington, D. C.; W. S. Hopewell, 

 Albuquerque, N. M.; W. G. DeCelle, Chicago, and Arthur 

 Hooker, Chicago. 



Soon after the Pueblo meeting there was organized at 

 Chicago a board of control of one hundred of Chicago's 

 leading business men which, through its five large com- 

 mittees, is making extensive preparations for the recep- 

 tion and entertainment of the visitors and delegates. The 

 chairmen of the committees are: Committee on foreign 

 representation, Dr. W. A. Evans, former health commis- 

 sioner of Chicago, chairman; committee on entertainment, 

 John C. Shaffer, president Chicago Evening Post Co., 

 chairman; committee on attendance and transportation, W. 

 L. Park, vice-president Illinois Central Railroad, chairman; 

 committee on care of delegates, Frank E. Scott, president 

 Scott Transfer Co., chairman; committee on publicity, Ed- 

 mund T. Perkins, president Edmund T. Perkins Engineer- 

 ing Co., chairman. 



The general officers of the Congress are: President, 

 B. A. Fowler, Phoenix. Arizona; vice-presidents, first, Fred 

 W. Fleming, Kansas City. Mo.; second, L. Newman, Great 

 Falls, Mont.; third, A. G. Watson, Pueblo, Colo.; fourth, 

 John Fairweather, Fresno, Cal.; fifth, B. C. Buffum, Wor- 

 land, Wyo.; foreign secretary, Dr. E. McQueen Gray, Au- 

 buquerque, N. M.; secretary, Arthur Hooker, Chicago. 



It has been said: "The National Irrigation Congress 

 stands for no party, no interest, no clique and no section 

 of tho country. It should be the forum where all parties 

 could be heard, all individuals have the same right, no 

 section monopolizing or controlling the action of the 

 Congress, which stands for the whole country and espe- 

 cially for the irrigation needs of the great arid West. In 

 this organization we know no North, no South, no East, 

 no West. We should not be influenced by the political 

 platforms or policies as against the truest and best inter- 

 ests of the nation as a whole. 



"Full discussion of every question should be allowed, 

 not only allowed but invited. There may be sharp differ- 

 ences of opinion and judgment, but they should be differ- 

 ences of gentlemen where patience, forbearance and uni- 

 versal courtesy are not only the rule, but absolutely re- 

 quired, and demanded of each speaker. Only by such a 

 policy as this will the Irrigation Congress ever reach its 

 high ideals, ever achieve the results for which it is aim- 

 ing; while on the other hand, to pursue an opposite course, 

 is to invite deterioration, even suicide and death. This 

 should be the announced policy of the Congress. We 

 have nothing to cover up or conceal and on its platform 

 the slogan must be, 'Equal rights to all and special privi- 

 leges to none.' " 



There are in this country close to 40,000,000 acres of 

 arid land capable of irrigation and for which there is wa- 

 ter available. Of the swamp and overflow lands capable 

 of drainage there are 80,000,000 acres. These figures are 

 so large that their meaning and the possibilities they pre- 

 sent are not fully comprehended. They emphasize, how- 

 ever, the importance of the utilization of our water and 

 the reclamation of our land. They offer one solution for 

 the great problem of the increased cost of living. 



To quote the late Governor John A. Johnson, there 

 are in the West "Homes for the homeless; food for the 

 hungry; work for the unemployed; land for the landless; 

 gold for the penniless; freedom for the enslaved; adven- 

 ture for the restless: dangers for the brave; an unknown 

 world to conquer, and room for all." The National Irri- 

 gation Congress plans to make known these opportunities 

 to those who are looking for them and eager to take ad- 

 vantage of them. 



