368 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



the Reclamation Officials should build a dam to sup- 

 ply lands farther up stream for new settlers and 

 take away the water from farmers who are already 

 established is one of the questions which will no 

 doubt be brought out and discussed thoroughly in 

 any claim that may be brought before the Federal 

 Government. 



Perhaps the matter may be- adjusted without 

 suit if it is brought to the attention of the proper 

 auhorities. It is barely possible that Secretary 

 Lane can correct the conditions after having studied 

 it carefully, but this subject should have been un- 

 derstood clearly by the Reclamation Officials prior 

 to the time that the Pathfinder Dam was built. 

 They should have understood from former experi- 

 ence that this would be the natural result of the 

 construction of this dam and some arrangement 

 should have been made for the protection of the 

 farmers who had received water continuously in 

 previous years and who are now without it. What 

 explanation Director Newell may make concerning 

 this situation is a question ; we will be very glad in- 

 deed to hear his side of it and publish whatever 

 statement may come down from him or his pub- 

 licity director, C. J. Blanchard. 



In an article entitled "Hope Long 

 Peculiar Deferred" in this issue, the writer 



Conditions . presents some interesting facts con- 

 in cerning the relations of the Wyo- 

 Wyoming ming Central Irrigation Company 

 and officials of the State of Wyo- 

 ming, but evidently for the sake of brevity, fails to 

 discuss matters of importance to every citizen of 

 that State. 



It is evident that the statement that "certain 

 large interests in Wyoming have apparently op- 

 posed development as inimical to those interests'" 

 i^ too modest an expression in other words, is in- 

 definite and therefore in a sense unjust; it may be 

 well to call for a showing of hands by a reversion 

 to the cattle, sheep and wool interests in Wyoming. 

 This industry is extensive and is dominated by a 

 comparatively small number of citizens possessing 

 capital and apparently unlimited political influence. 



Some of these men apparently use their power 

 and influence openly or quietly and by lukewarm- 

 ness (possibly a stronger word would express it 

 better) to retard the development of the best por- 

 tions of the State. 



They take the attitude that free range and pas- 

 ture should be preferred to productive farms, al- 

 though any competent judge knows that a given 

 area efficiently cultivated will support several times 

 the number of people, yield many times the number 



of sheep, cattle or sacks of wool, and pay many 

 times the taxes that the free range system is turn- 

 ing into the State. Not all of those identified with 

 these interests are so blind as to wish to delay the 

 growth and prosperity of the State, but a cursory 

 view of the situation shows that a number of the 

 leading citizens, who are strong financially and po- 

 litically, take that attitude. 



In discussing this article, it may be well to call 

 attention to the fact that when the Wyoming Cen- 

 tral Irrigation Company was released from its con- 

 tract with the Sate, had assigned to the State Land 

 Board its water rights, rights of way and reservoir 

 easements, the State, presumably for the sake of a 

 hoped for quicker development of this project, and 

 the consequent advancement of the State as a 

 whole, ignored the personal contracts for water 

 made at the solicitation and upon representations 

 of recognized agents of the State, between many 

 settlers and the Wyoming Central Irrigation Com- 

 pany. 



The State Land Board has now contracted with 

 a new company to carry through the original 

 project, but has evidently ignored a clause in the 

 Constitution that provides that private property 

 shall not be taken for public use without due com- 

 pensation, in other words, it has virtually set those 

 contracts aside and allows the new contractor to 

 charge and collect from the homesteaders prices 

 for water from five to twenty dollars an acre more 

 than the homesteaders hold contracts for; this after 

 collecting, by State and County taxes on real estate 

 and improvements for years at an excessive valua- 

 tion on unproductive property and a constant drag 

 upon the owners, would appear unjust to say the 

 least. 



It should be understood that the new owners 

 or contractors are not responsible for this condi- 

 tion and all property holders should hasten and en- 

 courage the development of the project. 



By proper development this taxable property 

 should show a valuation of many millions within 

 ten years and at the same time open up a great 

 field for the sale of- agricultural implements of all 

 kinds. 



One feature of the new deal is of advantage to 

 the settlers, viz., that the new contractors will con- 

 struct ditches to each legal sub-division instead of 

 the old plan of delivering water to within three 

 miles of each claim. This relieves the land owner 

 from the expense of digging a ditch from one to 

 three miles long, to bring water to his land. This 

 provision is required by the Carey Act and practice 

 is thus made uniform. We will discuss the attitude 

 of the cattle and sheep in a future issue. 



