112 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



PRESS AGENT STILL BUSY 



The press agent of the Reclamation Service is 

 still a very busy young man, despite the "business re- 

 organization" of the service by Secretary of the In- 

 terior Lane. Either he has opened a "boiler plate" 

 factory and furnishes free cuts, or he is so high 

 class that he can induce editors to print his head- 

 lines, as well as his cuts and reading matter. Such 

 a press agent would be worth $1,000 a week to any 

 big circus. In the Milwaukee News, the Akron, 

 Ohio, Beacon-Journal and many other papers in the 

 east there has appeared recently a large cut of the 

 Reclamation Commission, under these headlines in 

 healthy, black type : 



New Reclamation Commission, Composed of 

 Experts, Makes Good; Settlers Who Were 

 Dissatisfied Complain No More 



Beneath the cut are the names of Secretary Lane 

 and the members of the commission. Then this state- 

 ment : 



The new commission which presides over the reclama- 

 tion service in place of a single administrative officer has 

 so revolutionized and improved that branch of the inter- 

 ior department that serious complaints are comparatively 

 few. The commission is composed of F. H. Newell, di- 

 rector of the reclamation service; A. P. Davis, chief en- 

 gineer; William A. Ryan, comptroller; Will R. King, chief 

 counsel, and I. D. O'Donnell, supervisor of irrigation. 



What part of the bill for this kind of publicity 

 are you paying, Mr. Federal Water User? 



THE $50,000,000 BILL 



Debate in Senate Indicates How the Wind Blows 



During the debate on the Alaska railroad bill. 

 Senator Borah of Idaho introduced an amendment 

 to the measure providing for the issuance of $50,- 

 000,000 worth of Reclamation Certificates. These 

 certificates were to be of the same nature as the 

 issue of $20,000,000 obtained from Congress by the 

 late Senator Thomas H. Carter, and recently al- 

 lotted to the various Government irrigation proj- 

 ects. Senator Borah urged that the money derived 

 from the sale of the proposed $50,000,000 issue be 

 used in inaugurating new irrigation projects. A 

 few days later, Senator Borah withdrew his amend- 

 ment, fearing it would imperil the entire Alaska bill. 

 The amendment, however, served a purpose, in that 

 it showed by the debate upon it something of how 

 the senate feels toward the Federal Water Users. 



Western senators of all three parties expressed 

 themselves as favorable to relief measures for the 

 Water Users. Senator Gallinger, a Republican, was 

 the only Eastern senator who spoke on the bill, and 

 he, too, expressed sympathy and desire to aid the 

 Water Users. The only expressions from Southern 

 senators could hardly be called kindly, v. 



Senator Borah also has his $50,000,000 certifi- 

 cate plan before the senate in the form of a bill, and 

 hopes to get it out of committee. W'hile its pass- 

 age at this session of Congress hardly seems prob- 



able, Senator Wesley L. Jones, of Washington, be- 

 lieves other legislative relief for the Government 

 irrigators may be obtained. He is particularly 

 anxious to see the twenty-year water payment bill 

 passed, providing a measure satisfactory to the 

 Water Users can be obtained. 



Senator Jones has served for years on the Sen- 

 ate Committee on Irrigation and Reclamation of 

 Arid Lands. Since the death of Senator Thomas H. 

 Carter of Montana, he has become recognized as 

 probably the best informed man in either house of 

 Congress on irrigation matters. He is a thorough 

 student of this subject, besides being a practical 

 irrigator his home being at North Yakima, Wash., 

 where one of the big Government projects is lo- 

 located. Senator Jones has made several trips over 

 the Government projects, meeting the Water Users, 

 and learning the conditions with which they have 

 to cope. He therefore is in position to play an im- 

 portant part in the irrigation legislation of the pres- 

 ent session. 



"The Secretary of the Interior is especially in- 

 terested just now in securing legislation extending 

 the time for payment for the use of water," said 

 Senator Jones. "He believes that it will be best 

 probably to spread these payments over a period of 

 twenty instead of ten years, and also provide either 

 that no payments should be made for four or five 

 years, or if any are made that they shall be small. 

 I think this is very important and necessary legis- 

 lation. 



"Every project that has been put in has cost 

 about twice what it was estimated it would cost. 

 And the cost has been far greater than was thought 

 when the bill was passed and the limit was placed 

 at ten years. 



"I think twenty-year payments would be wise, 

 and that this would practically insure the success 

 of the various projects. 



"The Department of the Interior and the Con- 

 gressional committees are trying to agree upon a 

 bill along these lines, and if it is agreed upon I be- 

 lieve that we can pass it. 



"Another important proposition is the securing 

 of more money, not only for the projects that are 

 now under way, but to be used in taking up new 

 projects. Whether we will be able to get such legis- 

 lation is a different question. The matter of econ- 

 omy and the size of the appropriation will, of course, 

 have its influence upon the present Congress. An 

 election comes off this fall and it will be the desire 

 to keep appropriations down as low as possible. 

 Especially will this be the desire of the administra- 

 tion. The appropriations are going to be large, 

 anyway, and thus refute the charges of extrava- 

 gance that they have made heretofore against the 

 Republicans, and therefore new propositions like 

 this will have a rocky road to travel." 



PROJECT CITY GETS PARK 



Montrose, Colo., in the heart of the Llncom- 

 pahgre project, is to have a large public park. The 

 lower house of Congress has already passed a bill, 

 authorizing the grant of about 160 acres of land for 

 the park, and the bill is well on its way in the senate. 

 The proposed park is a beautiful piece of mountain 

 land, too rough for agriculture. 



