THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



137 



on these projects are God's own. It is worth while 

 to associate with them. 



Once the Czar-like reign of the Reclamation bu- 

 reacracy is removed, once the settlers know just what 

 their water is going to cost them and how much land 

 they are to be permitted to retain, once the Water 

 Users are permitted to run their own farms and their 

 own projects and to derive the benefits from their 

 pioneering, which was the original intent of the Rec- 

 lamation Act, there will be no more pleasant and sat- 

 isfactory place to live in these old United States than 

 on a government project. When these reforms are 

 obtained, a man will have to look a long ways to find 

 more lucrative or delightful employment than will 

 be found on the Federal project farms. 



You Water Users will not suffer by using, the' 

 truth as your weapon to break the chains which now 

 bind you. And you know, as does the IRRIGATION 

 AGE, you can't carry these chains much longer, how- 

 ever painful may be the truth to Reclamation Officials. 

 So once more we say: 



Watch out for the back-firing! 



Supervisor of Irrigation I. D. 

 Landlordism O'Donnell is quoted in a dispatch 

 and the from Newell, S. D., on the Belle 



Federal Fourche project, as stating that the 



Projects laws governing occupancy of land 



under the Federal Reclamation proj- 

 ects will be changed so as to conform somewhat to 

 the Irish landlord laws. We don't profess to know 

 a whole lot about landlords in Ireland or the laws 

 under which they operate, but our idea has always 

 been that a man went out into the desert and at- 

 tempted to create a home for himself and his family 

 in order to get away from landlords. We believe 

 that the men and women with strength and cour- 

 age enough to homestead on a government irriga- 

 tion project are also strong enough to boss them- 

 selves and are anxious to get rid of even dear, 

 kindly old Uncle Sam as a landlord as soon as pos- 

 sible. The intent of the reclamation law of 1902 

 is very plain in providing for the ultimate inde- 

 pendence of the Federal project settlers and for 

 their control of the projects. Is it need of salaries 

 or lack of confidence in the settlers most virile of 

 all Americans that brings forth these landlord 

 legislative plans and other paternalistic dreams? 



The conference of Western governors 

 and others interested in irrigation 

 which Secretary Lane has called to 

 meet in Denver April 9 should be 

 fraught with big results for Reclama- 

 tion in the West. Mr. Lane is father- 

 ing a big idea and a most patriotic one in suggesting 



Be Sure 

 to Attend 

 Lane's 

 Conference 



this meeting. The IRRIGATION AGE commends Secre- 

 tary Lane for conceiving this plan. Practically all the 

 Carey Act projects are on financial rocks. So are 

 many privately constructed projects. New irrigation 

 work is practically at a standstill. These conditions 

 mean suffering to millions out on the projects and 

 loss, and perhaps equal suffering to many of the bond 

 holders. The National and state governments should 

 act immediately to give irrigation securities stability, 

 to restore confidence in irrigation project building and 

 to provide funds to complete abandoned projects and 

 to construct new ones. There will be little monetary 

 profit for Federal or state government in this work, 

 no doubt, but vast profits to the National government 

 and to the states will result from the added values 

 to the lands, once they are brought under intensive 

 cultivation, and from the growth in population. The 

 costly experience gained in Federal Reclamation will 

 prove of value in this new work, and the mistakes 

 made in the past offer no honest or valid argument 

 against tackling this new and bigger job. Every 

 arid state governor and as many delegates from 

 these states as possible should attend this con- 

 ference. 



Abel Ady writes to us from Washington that 

 Secretary Lane is anxious and ready to give the Fed- 

 eral Water Users everything they want, so far as Con- 

 gress will permit. We have a great deal of respect 

 for Mr. Ady's judgment and hope all he says proves 

 true. Mr. Lane has the administration behind him, 

 and the Administration can get from Congress almost 

 anything it wants, as has been proven by the tariff 

 and currency bills. We trust, therefore, that Mr. 

 Lane's bashfulness or reluctance to ask favors will 

 not prove greater than his generosity. 



Forty million dollars or thereabouts, the cost of 

 mistakes and incompetency, are involved in the Rec- 

 lamation Extension legislation now before Congress. 

 On all other government works, such expenses are 

 charged off the books, or the parties responsible for 

 the losses are made to suffer. Why not do the same 

 with the Reclamation projects instead of trying by 

 subterfuge to make innocent settlers pay for these 

 mistakes ? 



A large part of "Official Washington" is still try- 

 ing to solve the big mystery: "Who inspired Sec- 

 retary Lane to write his now famous letter to Water 

 Users?" 



It has been suggested that some of our best little 

 Reclamation officials might be indicted for running 

 a confidence game. 



"We have just begun to fight." 



