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THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



manner fair and equitable to his government and to 

 himself. If an equitable adjustment is reached it 

 can only be accomplished by united action of the 

 Water Users, forgetting individual interests and 

 working patriotically for the good of all. 



THE IRRIGATION AGE urges the officers of the 

 National Federation of Water Users to call a meet- 

 ing of delegates from all the projects to meet in 

 some Western city, centrally located, within the 

 next month to consider thoroughly the revaluation 

 problem. The problem should be studied from 

 every angle at this meeting. Policies, which will 

 protect the interests of the Water Users as well as 

 the government should be adopted. United action 

 in following these policies in all the projects should 

 be pledged. 



Every Water Users' association should take 

 immediate steps to do its share toward financing the 

 work of the National Federation. It cannot do any- 

 thing without funds. 



Unless the Water Users present a united front 

 it is doubtful if they can obtain a fair or satisfac- 

 tory revaluation of their projects. Not because the 

 United States government is grasping; not because 

 Secretary Lane does not want to be fair, but be- 

 cause the old bureaucracy in the Reclamation Serv- 

 ice will have one member of each revaluation board 

 and this bureaucracy is determined to stay on the 

 government pay roll at any cost. It can only do 

 so by covering up its mistakes, its extravagance, its 

 foolish experiments, its ill-smelling work by mak- 

 ing the settlers pay the bills. 



If revaluations are agreed upon, which result 

 in charging off at least $30,000,000 from the costs 

 of the projects, as they now stand on the govern- 

 ment books, the Reclamation Service bureaucrats 

 know Congress will probe their work to its very 

 vitals. They know Congress will clean house from 

 top to bottom and that many if not all of them will 

 be turned out. 



Better every one of them lose their jobs and go 

 to the poor house than that any W r ater User be 

 forced to pay one dollar which cannot be charged 

 justly against him. 



Absolutely fair revaluations revaluations made 

 by boards which will go to the very bottom and 

 sift each expenditure in minutest detail will re- 

 sult, THE IRRIGATION AGE believes, in charging off 

 at least $30,000,000, which the settlers otherwise 

 must pay. If a fair revaluation results in charging 

 off only one dollar, it is worth working for because 

 once it is made, every Water User will be satisfied 

 and contented with his financial relations with his 

 government. 



If the National Federation officers call this 



meeting, which THE IRRIGATION AGE again most 

 earnestly urges them to do, steps should also be 

 taken to obtain from 1 Congress further relief meas- 

 ures for the settlers. The twenty-year bill covers 

 but a very small part of the reforms and relief 

 needed to make the federal projects the ideal spots 

 in which to live which they should be and which 

 the men who helped originate and embellish the 

 legislation under which the projects were begun 

 hoped they would be. 



Congress will grant this further relief if the 

 Water Users go to Washington united. They can 

 only do this through their National Federation of 

 Water Users' Associations. Rally, Water Users! 

 Concentrate your fire. Make the Federation a thor- 

 oughly substantial institution. Finance it so it can 

 work for you 365 days in the year. 



"I am firmly convinced that the 

 The Farmer country school in its work should 

 and the represent and reflect the industrial 



School- life of the community and that the 



Teacher teacher should be so trained that he 



can serve in a very large and help- 

 ful way, not merely the school interests of his com- 

 munity, but the industrial and agricultural interests 

 of his community as well." 



State Superintendent of Public Instruction W. 

 F. Doughty, of Texas, uses the above words in a 

 letter urging all country school teachers to attend 

 the state and county farmers' institutes. The school 

 teacher is something more than just a salaried em- 

 ploye. He is a servant of the public, charged with 

 a most sacred duty. He can best perform his duty 

 if he is in thorough touch with the parents of the 

 children whom he must instruct, and if he has the 

 interests of the citizens of the community in which 

 he works at heart. 



It may mean giving up some of his vacation 

 days to attend the farmers' meetings, but if he really 

 wants to succeed in his work he will find these days 

 well spent. He will learn much of the industrial 

 conditions and needs of his state. Better still, he 

 will do much toward bringing about closer co-opera- 

 tion between the farmers and the country schools, 

 a most desirable condition in every rural com- 

 munity. 



The North Platte Valley Water Users' Associa- 

 tion has offered ten cents a head for all pocket 

 gophers trapped within the project. The gopher 

 situation is quite a serious one on this project. 



Australia plans to spend $25,000,000 to open 

 the Murray river to 'navigation and to construct an 

 irrigation system that will develop 1,500,000 acres 

 of land. 



