THE IKRIGATION AGE. 



335 



is trying to build up Montana and other western 

 states, and that he is unalterably against the specu- 

 lator. At a big meeting held at Fairfield, Montana, 

 Secretary Lane stated that if Congress listened to 

 him, it would extend the time of the settlers for 

 paying for their land, and he promised to send a 

 man among them and reappraise some of the land 

 and take certain lands admittedly not suited to irri- 

 gation, out of the project, thus readjusting the as- 

 sessment and cutting a lot of dead weight from the 

 shoulders of the people who are settled on the land. 

 Secretary Lane is going about this in the right way 

 and by getting in close touch with the settler, can 

 learn more about actual conditions than he could 

 obtain through a correspondence extending over 

 many months. It is hoped that his visit will re- 

 sult in much good to the settlers throughout the 

 western country. 



We are presenting in this issue an 

 Revive article by Mr. Edward F. Bohm, 



National member of the Executive and Con- 



Irrigation gressional Committee of the Na- 



Congress tional Irrigation Congress, on the 



subject of reviving the Congress 

 which failed to meet this year owing to the inability 

 of the citizens of Phoenix, Arizona, to provide funds 

 for the entertainment of that body. Mr. Bohm, 

 who has been active in irrigation work for many 

 years and who is the author of The Carey Act 

 Manual, also the author of papers on Irrigation and 

 Finance, has taken an active part in many of the 

 recent congresses and is fully competent to judge 

 of the possibilities for good in the meetings of that 

 body. It has been stated frequently that western- 

 ers are not favorable to suggestions by people of 

 the middle western states, but Mr. Bohm has seen 

 a great deal more of western conditions than thou- 

 sands of people who have spent their lifetime west 

 of the 100th meridian. He has spent practically all 

 of eight years in continuous study and travel, both 

 as a government official and as a representative of 

 THE AGE and in a private capacity, and has accom- 

 plished what few others could have done. He has 

 abstracted irrigation and land laws of the 17 arid 

 land states and has written several works on these 

 subjects; consequently, when he contributes articles 

 to these columns he is entitled at least to fair con- 

 sideration by our thousands of readers in the west. 

 Mr. Bohm will prepare for us for use in our October 

 issue a general criticism of the conditions existing 

 in some of the western states where companies have 

 been organized and land developed under Carey 

 Act, district and federal supervision. He will 

 tell something about the conditions as they actually 

 exist in the state of Idaho, where many abuses have 



been permitted and where there is opportunity for 

 great improvement in the line of irrigration devel- 

 opment. 



His article, which will appear in our October 

 number, will be well worth reading. 



According to the biennial report of 

 Will the State Engineer of Wyoming, 



Investigate 2,127 permits were issued in 1911 

 Irrigation and 1912 which provides for the irri- 



Projects. gation of 557,254 acres of land at an 



estimated cost of $12,706,612. To 

 reach this land it will be necessary to construct 

 3,349 miles of canal. The estimated average cost of 

 reclaiming this land is therefore about $22.80 per 

 acre, or an increase of more than $10.00 per acre 

 over the cost for preceding years. It will be learned 

 from' this statement that large development is 

 likely to go on in the State of Wyoming during the 

 coming several years, and it may not be out of 

 place to suggest that the State Board of Control 

 should look carefully to the development, under the 

 various permits which have been issued. Many 

 stories come to us concerning affairs in Wyoming, 

 which are to say the least, surprising. THE IRRI- 

 GATION AGE, after receipt of many complaints 

 from people who have been misled in the purchase 

 of land in that State, started an investigation of 

 affairs and beginning with this, our September 

 number, we present the views of one of those who 

 invested money in the State of Wyoming, and who 

 is at present sorry that he did so.* It is our inten- 

 tion to study carefully all of the various projects 

 under way in Wyoming as well as some of those 

 that are well established, and present facts concern- 

 ing their development and method of handling peo- 

 ple who have purchased land from the various 

 organizations operating under Wyoming's laws. 



THE IRRIGATION AGE will also present facts 

 concerning the development of projects in other 

 western states, notably Idaho. Many abuses have 

 been permitted under the laws of that state as 

 well as the state of Wyoming, and it was decided 

 after due consideration, to secure the services of 

 two able men, one for each state, who would pre- 

 sent all of the facts to our readers so that they 

 would be able to judge intelligently in any future 

 transaction, in either one of these states. It 

 must not be understood that we will confine our 

 investigation to these states alone, as it is our in- 

 tention to cover all of the various projects 

 against which complaints have been lodged, and 

 where the settlers have not been given a square 

 deal. We will also attempt to show how eastern 

 money has been solicited in the sale of bonds on 



*The communication referred to will appear in our issue for 

 October. Editor. 



