THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



MYSTERIOUS LOBBY FIGHTS THE 20-YEAR BILL 



President Agrees to Help Bill; Another Vote June 15 



' : . 



"Just Spuds." 



WESTERN 

 congress- 

 men are confi- 

 dent the bill ex- 

 tending the 

 water payments 

 on the Federal 

 Reel am ation 

 projects to 

 cover a period 

 of twenty years 

 will pass at this 

 session of Con- 

 gress. 



They are 

 not discouraged 

 by their failure 

 in their first at- 

 tempt to put 

 it to a vote. 

 Neither are 

 they disheart- 

 ened by their 

 lack of success in trying to induce the Democratic 

 caucus to place the measure on the "must be 

 passed" list. 



President Wilson's aid was sought. He prom- 

 ised Congressman Taylor of Colorado, and others, 

 that he would urge the House leaders to force the 

 bill to passage. Speaker Clark was induced to place 

 the bill on the "suspension calendar" for Monday, 

 June 15. 



Under the rules of this calendar, it will require 

 a two-thirds majority to pass. The introduction of 

 amendments to the measure is not allowed. This 

 means a fight, as Representative Borland of Mis- 

 souri, is determined that the bill shall not pass un- 

 less it contains a clause providing for the submis- 

 sion of annual estimates of expenditures to Con- 

 gress. He also demands the elimination of Sec- 

 tion 14. 



The opposition to unanimous consent for action 

 on the bill caused grave fears for its success in the 

 hearts of some of the officials of the Interior De- 

 partment and Reclamation Service, who are anxious 

 to see the bill passed. Hurried calls for aid were 

 sent out. Many organizations in the West were 

 also aroused to immediate action by the opposi- 



This forty-acre field of potatoes near Carbondale, Colo., 

 averaged close to 500 bushels per acre. 



tion displayed 

 toward the bill. 

 Congress is 

 once more be- 

 ing bombarded 

 with insistent 

 pleas for favor- 

 able action on 

 the measure. 



A very 

 strong and 

 somewhat mys- 

 terious influence 

 is reported to 

 be at work in 

 the House to 

 cause the de- 

 feat or abandon- 

 m e n t of the 

 bill. The exact 

 cause of this 

 has not yet been 

 uncovered. 



From one source comes word that the opposi- 

 tion is being fostered by big land holders on the 

 Federal projects. The bill is considered far more 

 drastic than the original Reclamation Act in the 

 powers it confers upon the Secretary of the Interior 

 for the removal of the speculative element in the 

 projects and the cutting down of all individual hold- 

 ings to the farm units designated for the projects. 

 Members of the House seem determined that 

 the court jurisdiction amendment, known as Sec- 

 tion 16, which was added in the Senate, shall be 

 eliminated. Led by O. E. Farnham, of Newell, S. 

 D., secretary of the National Federation of \Vater 

 Users' Associations, the settlers on many of the 

 projects have been making an active fight for this 

 section. The campaign has been carried to all parts 

 of the nation, and many promises of aid have been 

 received. The Water Users generally feel that they 

 should have some means by which they can ask 

 the protection of the courts without resorting to the 

 subterfuge of starting such suits as will force the 

 government to intervene. 



The House irrigation committee eliminated the 

 section on the plea of the Reclamation Service. A. 

 R. Honnold, local attornev for the Service at Den- 



(Ahove halftone from D. & R. G. R. R. photograph.) 



