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THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



Director Newell, in conversation with the 

 Editor of IRRIGATION AGE, has stated repeatedly 

 that there can be no law passed which will create 

 a fund of this kind, owing to the opposition of 

 members of Congress, particularly those of the 

 East, who are inclined to hold down appropriations 

 which would benefit the Reclamation Service. 



As has been repeatedly urged by this publica- 

 tion a fund should be created whereby general ad- 

 vertising could be placed with the papers through- 

 out the country and a demand thereby created for 

 these lands. 



Australia sends representatives to the United 

 States with a large fund for advertising to induce 

 settlers to locate in that country, and offers much 

 better inducements than have ever been placed be- 

 fore prospective colonists by either the United 

 States or Canada, notwithstanding the fact that 

 Canada makes very liberal offers, sufficiently so as 

 to enable her to draw over the border-line thou- 

 sands of settlers who, if the same inducements 

 could be offered by our home government, would 

 be retained here and who, with their knowledge 

 and money, would help develop the unoccupied 

 tracts throughout our western country. 



These facts have evidently not been brought to 

 the attention of Secretary Lane, and it is strange 

 that some of his advisers have failed to suggest 

 them. Until the United States can compete with 

 foreign countries who are making offers to settlers 

 within our borders so much more advantageous 

 than can be offered under our present laws, we can- 

 not hope to compete in the matter of land settle- 

 ment and development. 



Word reaches us from Washington 

 Investigating that Secretary Lane has decided that 

 Salt the Reclamation Service is not at 



River fault in the matter of the Salt River 



Project Valley project in Arizona. The report 



goes on to say that for almost two 

 months Secretary Lane has been investigating the 

 conduct of the Reclamation Service in Washington, 

 and in order to determine whether the course it has 

 pursued was right or wrong he made an effort to 

 ascertain the effect of such policies upon the people 

 working under the projects, and in this effort he 

 no doubt relied largely upon the advice of Reclama- 

 tion Service -officials in the selection of members of 

 water users' associations throughout the west, who. 

 were called to Washington to give their views on 

 the subject. 



This it appears to us is the wrong way to go 

 about the matter of an investigation of this char- 

 acter. .Instead of bringing one or two hundred 

 'members of water users' associations to Washing- 

 ton to testify, the names of whom may have been 



suggested by Reclamation Service officials in various 

 parts of the country, the Secretary should have 

 sent out dependable men to gather data about each 

 project ; men who had no interest in one side or 

 the other; and whose testimony would be unques- 

 tioned. 



It is not likely that an officer of a water users' 

 association in any of the western states, who has 

 found it necessary to work directly with Reclama- 

 tion Service officials, would be inclined to go on to 

 Washington and give testimony detrimental to the 

 service. In fact, he could not afford to do so and 

 at the same time protect his own interests at home. 



THE IRRIGATION AGE would like very much to 

 know who selected the names of the members of 

 various water users' associations who were brought 

 on to Washington, and what position they occupy 

 in the associations, and it would also be glad to 

 learn how close contact these gentlemen had with 

 Reclamation Service officials. 



The Secretary should understand first that the 

 water users' associations were organized as part 

 of the Reclamation Service. In other words, no 

 project was developed unless an organization of 

 this kind was perfected and the members agreed 

 to certain stipulations laid down by the director 

 of the Reclamation Service or his various assistant 

 engineers. It is safe to say that there were very 

 few men in this group of one or two hundred who 

 criticised the actions of the service, and when the 

 Secretary learns more about how affairs are 

 manipulated in Washington he will no doubt finally 

 reach the conclusion that this government of ours 

 is one of bureau-heads rather than a government 

 by the people through their representatives in 

 Congress. 



A man who would antagonize a bureau-head 

 in Washington under the old regime (and very 

 little change has been made recently) must be 

 strongly entrenched in his home locality if he 

 doesn't feel the effect of their lash. 



If the decision in the Salt River Valley case 

 illustrates anything of what we may expect from 

 investigations of other projects in the future, those 

 who are attempting to improve conditions may as 

 well throw up their hands. 



The editor of THE IRRIGATION AGE has been a 

 life-long Democrat, and hoped for careful investiga- 

 tion and improvements under this administration. 

 If we are to judge from the Secretary's decision so 

 hastily arrived at, the future holds out no hope. 

 We may as well sit idly by and accept what is 

 handed to us, as was necessary during the Roose- 

 velt-Pinchot regime. 



There is no doubt but that President Wilson 

 would like to see reforms along these lines ; if, how- 

 ever, Secretary Lane does not secure information 



