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THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



$2,000 or $2,500 is a sufficient burden to load on 

 any town that is willing to take on the other ex- 

 penses incident to entertaining the congress. 



There were, of course, good reasons why many 

 of the western cities were desirous of entertaining 

 the congress in past years. This was illustrated by 

 the manipulation of affairs at Albuquerque ; also by 

 the conduct of the congress at Pueblo. There is no 

 doubt that securing the congress for Sacramento 

 saved for that city the capital, as there was a 

 strong movement at that time to move the capital 

 to Berkeley or some other more favorable point. 

 Sacramento, through her energetic citizens, raised 

 and spent something like $55,000 to entertain the 

 congress. Under the circumstances, it was a good 

 investment. 



Spokane spent considerable money, and if her 

 chamber of commerce had fulfilled its obligations 

 fully she would have spent more. They repudiated 

 some verbal agreements which reduced the cost to 

 them somewhat. 



A report is current that Boise, Idaho, would 

 be willing to put up the money and entertain the 

 congress. It appears to the writer that holding the 

 next congress at any particular town, would benefit 

 mainly the secretary and his assistant. This has, 

 in fact, been true of the last two or three congresses. 



If Boise, Idaho, feels that it wishes to con- 

 tribute the sum named for this purpose it is, of 

 course, at liberty to do so. 



The truth is, and we may as well face it, that 

 the usefulness of the Irrigation Congress is ended. 

 The great cause of irrigation will not be affected 

 if this particular annual gathering is abolished. 



In view of recent investigations in and around 

 Phoenix, it is just possible that the people there 

 prefer not to have too many investigators on the 

 ground at present. May this have had something 

 to do with turning down the congress? 



We will attempt to keep our readers informed 

 as to the attitude of other cities. 



DIRECTOR NEWELL CONTRADICTS STATE- 

 MENT MADE BY JAMES J. HILL. 



The attention of Director F. H. Newell, of the 

 Reclamation Service was called to the alleged state- 

 ment by James J. Hill printed in the Washington 

 Post recently regarding the relative cost of govern- 

 ment irrigation work. Mr. Hill is quoted as stating 

 that this work cost twice as much as it should have 

 cost, and twice as much as the same work would 

 have cost in Canada. 



"It is obvious from the statement made by Mr. 

 Hill that he is not well informed concerning the 

 actual cost of government and private irrigation 

 work," said Mr. Newell. "A compilation of the 

 cost of all of the irrigation works of considerable 

 size recently built or in process of construction in 



the United States by private and corporate capital, 

 including in these over a hundred large systems, 

 show that the average cost of water per acre is not 

 far from $60. On the other hand the average cost 

 of the government works is about $45. The gov- 

 ernment works, it is generally admitted, are better 

 built, and what is far more important, have an 

 assured water supply, while many of the private 

 projects have taken large risks in this matter of 

 securing a complete supply of water, especially 

 during the low water periods. 



"Mr. Hill's attitude is apparently that of a 

 man who does not wish it to be known that the 

 government has and is doing work on an efficient 

 and economical basis. It is believed that a study 

 by a competent and impartial mans of the work per- 

 formed by the Reclamation Service will show that 

 taking into consideration the requirements of the 

 eight-hour law and other restrictions, the works 

 have cost and are costing less than many of those 

 constructed by private parties." 



Mr. Newell went even further in this assertion, 

 that taking work executed by the Great Northern 

 Railroad and by the Reclamation Service, he be- 

 lieved it could be shown that in comparable work 

 the results obtained by the government were as 

 economical as those obtained under Mr. Hill's or- 

 ganization. 



"It is a very popular notion, carefully culti- 

 vated by interested parties, that government work 

 is necessarily extravagant, but like many other fal- 

 lacies, no proof is offered. 



"It is not to be expected that irrigation works 

 in Canada would be as expensive as those in the 

 United States. The industry is much younger there 

 than in this country and the usual inexpensive proj- 

 ects that have long since been developed by private 

 capital in the United States are just now being 

 worked out in Canada. Moreover, the character of 

 crops raised in Canada will not warrant the develop- 

 ment of difficult and expensive projects. It is evi- 

 dent that a project depending upon the production 

 of small grains and forage for its main returns 

 cannot bear as high charges for water as can 

 projects that depend upon fruits, truck, and diversi- 

 fied crops of higher value for their support. Another 

 thing that has to be taken into consideration in 

 making a comparison of the costs of irrigation 

 works in the two countries is the fact that lumber 

 is comparatively cheap in Canada, and is used to a 

 much greater extent in the construction of irriga- 

 tion works there tham in the United States. The 

 Reclamation Service structures are usually of con- 

 crete and steel. 



"Taking these things into consideration it will 

 be found that the cost per acre of land actually 

 reclaimed in Canada is as high, if not higher, than 

 that of similar private works in the United States, 

 which have cost on an average more than like work 

 being done by the government." 



Send $1.00 for 1 year's subscription to the IRRIGA- 

 TION AGE and bound copy of THE PRIMER OF IRRIGA- 

 TION. If you desire a copy of The Primer of Hy- 

 draulics add $2.50 to above price. 



