THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



109 



of the benefits received and lands under cultivation 

 prior to the coming of the service be assessed a 

 comparatively small amount; that no tract of land 

 in private ownership be supplied with water unless 

 sold at prices approximating those at which the 

 government lands are sold to settlers; and that 

 pending the building of a dam on the Gila the 

 Indians there be supplied with water from the 

 Roosevelt dam. 



While this report comes as a shock to persons 

 not familiar with reclamation affairs, it occasions 

 no surprise to those who for years have labored in 

 every way possible to prevail upon the officials of 

 this service to do their plain duty. Many of the 

 matters complained of have been repeatedly criti- 

 cised through the columns of this magazine. The 

 storm that has been gathering for over ten years 

 has broken, and when the sun again shines through 

 the clouds we hope it will illumine the homes of 

 happy, prosperous farmers instead of the dismal 

 habitations of despairing beings "scourged to their 

 dungeons like the quarry slaves at night." 



SUBDIVISION OF ESTABLISHED FARM 

 UNITS. 



We are informed that the Stockton River Regu- 

 lation Association which has been supporting the 

 bill of Senator Newlands, providing for river regu- 

 lation and flood control announced recently that a 

 fund of $12,000 would be raised in Stockton, and 

 $30,000 additional in northern California for the 

 campaign in aid of the Newlands measure which 

 provides for an appropriation of $50,000,000, divided 

 into ten equal installments, for the improvement and 

 control of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers. 

 Half of the $12,000 necessary has been pledged, and 

 it is now suggested that the western people co- 

 operate with Pittsburgh, New Orleans, and Los 

 Angeles, where similar organizations have been or- 

 ganized. 



As stated in a former issue, it would be well 

 to investigate carefully and learn what use is made 

 of this money and how much of it goes into the 

 hands of George H. Maxwell and his co-workers. 

 Judging from past experiences, caution is advised. 



The question which presents itself to us is, why 

 the people of the Sacramento valley, or elsewhere, 

 find it necessary to provide a fund to carry the pass- 

 age of a bill which, if as good as represented, should 

 pass on its merits. We cannot understand where 

 all this money will go if Pitsburgh, Los Angeles, 

 New Orleans, Mobile, Stockton and northern Cali- 

 fornia towns are called upon to contribute. 



If. Mr. Maxwell and his friends will come out 

 and explain what the money is to be used for, and 

 why it is necessary, it would appear that they will 

 find it less difficult to secure what is needed. 



An increasing desire on the part of the settlers 

 on irrigation projects to take up small farms has 

 necessitated regulations facilitating the subdivision 

 of established farm units. On most of the govern- 

 ment projects the farm units consist of forty and 

 eighty-acre tracts, the majority containing eighty 

 acres. So many applications have been received 

 for the smaller tracts that the Secretary of the 

 Interior his issued the following order: 



ORDER. 



AMENDMENT OF REGULATIONS RELATIVE TO SUBDIVI- 

 SION OF FARM UNITS. 



1. Entry may be made of a part of an estab- 

 lished farm unit (a) when the remaining portion 

 of said unit is also desired for entry simultaneously 

 by another person, and is, in the judgment of the 

 project manager, sufficient, if carefully managed, 

 to return to the reclamation fund the charges appor- 

 tioned to the irrigable area thereof; or (b) can be 

 advantageously included as part of an established 

 farm unit; or (e) can, in combination with existing' 

 farm units, be advantageously replatted into new 

 farm units, each sufficient, if carefully managedj to 

 support a family and return to the reclamation fund 

 the charges apportioned to the irrigable area of 

 the several new farm units. 



2. Where it is desired to make entry of part 

 only of a farm unit, an application for the amend- 

 ment and subdivision of each unit should be filed 

 with the project manager. If such subdivision is 

 rectangular and survey is not required to determine the 

 division of the irrigable area of the farm unit as pro- 

 posed to be divided, no charges will be made. If A 

 survey shall be found necessary to determine the 

 boundaries of the subdivision of any such farm 

 unit or the division of the irrigable area, the 

 project manager will proceed as directed in para- 

 graph 32 of the General Land Office Circular 

 approved April 29, 1912. Upon such application 

 being filed, the project manager will either approve 

 or disapprove the same, and if approved, proceed 

 as directed in paragraph 33 of the said circular. 



CONVICTED FOR STEALING WATER. 



John F. Gabel was accused of stealing water 

 on the Lower Yellowstone project, and after trial 

 before a jury in the United States District Court 

 sitting at Minot, North Dakota, was convicted and 

 fined $50.00. Considering that he probably had to 

 pay somewhat more to his attorney, this method 

 of getting water would not appear to be very profit- 

 able. 



The case is of special interest from the fact that 

 there was no United States statute relative to the 

 matter. The United States statutes do provide, 

 however, that where an act, made an offense by 

 State statute, is committed on lands reserved or 

 acquired for the exclusive use of the United States 

 and over which the United States has exclusive 

 jurisdiction, it shall be deemed an offense against 

 the United States and the commission thereof can 

 be prosecuted in the Federal Courts. 



