166 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



thing but discrediting these politicians in the sight 

 of all honest men/' 



In writing that paragraph, Col. Roosevelt, we 

 want to say to you that you have done every Water 

 User on the Federal reclamation projects a grave 

 injustice. You have done these people, many of 

 whom have been your most ardent friends and sup- 

 porters, and nearly all of whom have admired you, 

 a wrong, which you can right only by public 

 apology. You have deliberately insulted some of 

 the most patriotic citizens in the United States. It 

 is only due to them that you should apologize, and 

 do so immediately. 



"Repudiation." 



That is a word never heard upon the Federal 

 projects except when F. H. Newell, whom you laud 

 so highly, or some of his subordinates, speak. It is 

 a word which these pay-rollers like to bandy about 

 in the committee rooms of Congress. They do it 

 to serve their own selfish ends. 



The settlers on the Federal projects never have 

 thought of repudiation of their honest obligations 

 to the United States Government. They have no 

 intention of trying to repudiate these obligations. 

 In fact, they most bitterly resent the slightest hint 

 of such action, and, in the past, have in many 

 instances accepted unfair Water Charges, rather 

 than give any one a chance to say that they had 

 any thought of repudiating their debt to the Govern- 

 ment. 



Apologize, Col. Roosevelt. Give these men and 

 women a "square deal." 



"I'll confess that if Secretary Lane 

 The died or left office before he has time 



Twenty to put his bill into effect, the Fed- 



Year eral Water Users would be worse 



Bill off than they are now." 



These are the words of a man 

 who has studied the Twenty- Year Reclamation Ex- 

 tension bill closely, who was in Washington during 

 part of the time when it was being framed, and who 

 is earnestly urging its passage. It is a pitiful com- 

 mentary on this legislation for the relief of the Fed- 

 eral Water Users. Worse still, it is true. 



The bill is so drawn that it is susceptible to 

 numerous and various constructions. Five secre- 

 taries of the interior have already put five separate 

 constructions on the original Reclamation Act of 

 1902, and law officers of the Government have added 

 at least four more. Underground legislation in the 

 shape of jokers in Indian irrigation bills have robbed 

 the original act of many of the benefits it was ex- 

 pected to bestow. Indefinite laws have been one 



of the most serious obstacles with which the settlers 

 on the Federal irrigation projects have had to deal. 

 It is time the powers-that-be recognized this and 

 made the laws simple, straightforward, and devoid 

 of subterfuge. As long as men more shrewd as 

 politicians than skilled as engineers, who feel they 

 have tracks to cover, are in at least partial control 

 of the Reclamation Service, complicated, indefinite 

 laws will probably be the order. 



Our best information from Washington is that 

 there was an agreement entered into among mem- 

 bers of both houses of Congress to avoid substantial 

 amendment of the bill. The passage of the bill in 

 the senate seemed to bear out our information. 

 The Secretary of the Interior is said to have been 

 a party to this agreement, and he has approved the 

 measure. President Wilson has also let it be known 

 that he favors the bill as it now stands. 



Under these conditions there is not anything 

 for the Federal Water Users to do but to accept the 

 bill, enjoy the benefits of the extension of pay- 

 ments and trust to Providence that they will escape 

 injury from the dynamite in the measure. 



THE IRRIGATION AGE believes sincerely that Sec- 

 retary Lane wants to help the settlers, but we also 

 believe he has been most badly advised. If he is 

 able to carry out his plans and intentions, he may 

 greatly alleviate the conditions of the Water Users. 

 We hope so. We want to see him do all he has 

 promised to do. We want to see him visit the proj- 

 ects again, and meet more of the settlers. We want 

 his investigations to be much more thorough than 

 those on his previous trips. We believe he will 

 then change some of his present views and plans 

 and adopt a much broader policy toward the Water 

 Users. 



The Water Users, in turn, should not stop with 

 the passage by Congress of the extension bill. There 

 are many other reforms which they have demanded, 

 and to which they are entitled. Some of these must 

 be obtained from Congress. Others must come 

 from the Secretary of the Interior and his Reclama- 

 tion Commission. Keep after these reforms. Clean 

 up the Reclamation tangle. Oust the incompetents 

 and the barnacles. Obliterate the bureaucracy, 

 whose war cry is, "Rule or ruin." Get the projects 

 on a clean, business basis. Settle for all time and 

 in a just manner the size of the farms and their 

 cost. Accomplish these things, and perhaps a few 

 others, and life on a Federal project will be really 

 worth while. 



These things can be accomplished by increasing 

 the membership and financial strength of the Na- 

 tional Federation of Water Users' Association. It 

 is the Water Users' best weapon. 



