102 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



tivation. In all the great agricultural colleges, and 

 in the innumerable county agricultural schools that 

 are springing up, especially in the middle west, 

 teaching centers around the conservation of soil 

 properties chiefly. In other words there seems now 

 to be a general recognition of the fact that in the 

 future agricultural development means intensive 

 and scientific cultivation rather than increase in 

 acreage. 



This attitude of the country toward agriculture 

 means more to those of us who are interested chiefly 

 in irrigation than at first appears. It means among 

 other things that irrigation having passed the spec- 

 ulative and promotive stage, is now to have the 

 opportunity to make good. Because of the failure 

 of several unworthy ventures, there has been a feel- 

 ing among those away from the irrigated sections 

 that there was something unreal and uncertain 

 about a good many big irrigation enterprises, and 

 the high values placed upon irrigated properties 

 seemed unreasonable. But with land in the Illinois 

 corn belt selling at $250 an acre and many dairy 

 farms in Southern Wisconsin bringing $200 an acre, 

 it is made clear to the average mind that land is 

 land, if it can raise big crops. 



There never has been a time when western irri- 

 gated lands, connected with reliable irrigation proj- 

 ects, could attract the attention of well-to-do and 

 intelligent farmers in non-irrigated sections as effect- 

 ively as they can now. The more men study in- 

 tensive farming and soil possibilities the more 

 clearly will they see that in the irrigated sections of 

 this country these have been brought to their high- 

 est perfection. 



So far as the western members of 

 Can Lane Congress are concerned, it looks as 



Swing if they are almost unanimously in 



Enough favor of extending the payments for 



Votes water on the Federal irrigation proj- 



ects so as to cover a period of 

 twenty years. Senator Wesley L. Jones, one of 

 the real leaders of the Republican minority in the 

 senate, declares in an interview in this issue of the 

 AGE that he thinks such a bill can be passed, if 

 Secretary of the Interior Lane and the Congres- 

 sional committees can agree upon some measure. 



The votes of the west will not, however, pass 

 this bill, so important to the water users a bill 

 which if drawn in a fair and equitable manner as- 

 sures almost to a certainty the success of the indi- 

 vidual farmers and of the great projects, in which 

 more than $100,000,000 of government^ funds have 

 already been invested. It is, therefore, up to Secre- 

 tary Lane and the administration leaders to swing 

 enough votes to pass this bill. Will Mr. Lane do 



this? Will he offer arguments sufficiently convinc- 

 ing to induce the President to whip enough Eastern 

 and Southern Democrats into line to pass a bill 

 such as the settlers want? This will be no easy 

 task, for in Washington today, the east and the 

 south are aligned against the west. Witness the 

 tariff bill. Upon careful analysis it is asserted that 

 eighty percent of the products of Xew Jersey are 

 still to be found on the dutiable list, whereas but 

 nine percent of the products of Arizona and twelve 

 percent of those of Nevada are so favored. 



But no matter how hard the task, we do not 

 believe Mr. Lane will falter. We believe he will 

 staunchly and vigorously demand that justice be 

 done to the Federal Water Users, and despite some 

 ill-advised plans he is now advocating in the Smith 

 bill, that he will win the relief measures for them. 

 With the aid of such men as Senator Jones of the 

 opposition party he should not fail. 



Secretary Lane has already shown a far greater 

 interest than some of his predecessors in the human 

 side of this vast problem. He has shown strong 

 inclinations to aid the settlers in every way pos- 

 sible and has already done so in many ways. He is 

 a western man ; he knows the difficulties of pioneer- 

 ing and his word should carry unusual weight with 

 Congress. 



And he has the backing and well wishes of 

 every Federal Water User in this fight. 



THE IRRIGATION- AGE has battled 

 Federal fearlessly for years for justice for 



Water the fanners on the Government irri- 



Users' gation projects. It has made some 



Department bitter enemies in high places in the 



Reclamation Service because it has 

 dared to tell the truth and because it has vigorously 

 demanded competent men to supervise and handle 

 this great work. THE AGE intends to continue this 

 policy with even more vigor. In the January issue 

 of THE AGE we presented to our readers a depart- 

 ment devoted exclusively to the interests of the 

 Federal Water Users. This department is edited by 

 George J. Scharschug, who for many years has 

 been a close student of Federal reclamation matters. 

 As a newspaper correspondent Mr. Scharschug has 

 traveled over the West from end to end, visiting 

 every Government project at least once, thus gain- 

 ing at first hand knowledge of those matters of 

 which he writes. He is already widely known as a 

 writer on these topics, his articles having appeared 

 in various magazines and newspapers. He was also 

 formerly editor of the Country Land Department of 

 the Chicago Record-Herald. Mr. Scharschug has 

 been placed in charge of this department with but 

 one admonition tell the truth. We are confident 



