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THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



removed if the settlers are made to pay only for 

 that work on the projects which represents real 

 value to them and to the projects. It is generally 

 figured that fair revaluations will cut $40,000,000 

 off the present charges which the settlers face. 

 Perhaps Secretary Lane wants to let some other 

 administration do this charging off. Of course, the 

 Wilson administration is not to blame for all these 

 valueless expenditures, but the issue is there. It 

 concerns thousands of the best citizens of this na- 

 tion, and it should be met squarely and promptly 

 and without regard to politics. 



Users, as revealed by THE IRRIGATION AGE, became 

 so severe that the political and bureaucratic bul- 

 warks of Xewell had to give way, and Secretary 

 Lane acted. It was the best thing he has done in 

 the interests of the Federal Water Users and for 

 Federal irrigation. 



If Col. Roosevelt and Gifford Pin- 

 Certain chot are trying to create another 

 Persons "Ballinger-Pinchot" affair over the 

 May Bump removal of F. H. Newell as Director 

 Their Heads of the United States Reclamation 

 Service, .they are toying with fire, 

 which may burn them very deeply before they get 

 through. 



Letters by Col. Roosevelt and Pinchot, com- 

 menting on the removal of Newell, were given to 

 the press recently and there are other indications 

 that Newell's friends are intent on at least trying 

 to make a political issue out of the Newell removal 

 by Secretary of the Interior Lane. That even so 

 egotistic a person as Pinchot should hope to restore 

 Newell seems almost impossible. 



Despite Col. Roosevelt's professions of friend- 

 ship for Newell, we doubt very much whether he 

 was fully informed of Newell's acts and of the feel- 

 ings of the settlers on the Federal projects when 

 he consented to the use of his name in connection 

 with the Newell publicity. 



And if he persists in aiding this unholy cause, 

 he is going to bump his head against a very thick 

 stone wall of solid facts. 



Newell's removal was due largely, we believe, 

 to his inability to cope with the human problems 

 on the Federal projects, and to his intense unpopu- 

 larity among the settlers. 



Had his work as an engineer been the cause 

 for his ousting, this should have occurred many 

 years ago. Back in 1904 THE IRRIGATION AGE called 

 attention repeatedly to his engineering, and in 1905 

 the publisher of THE AGE submitted to Secretary 

 of the Interior Hitchcock a statement concerning 

 his acts. For some reason, never revealed, no action 

 was taken on this statement, nor upon subsequent 

 charges made concerning his work. 



Secretary Lane was supplied with a wealth of 

 facts about Newell engineering at his conference 

 with Water Users in Washington in May, 1913. 

 Still he failed to act, as had his predecessors. 



Finally the storm of feeling among the Water 



"The influence of the war upon our 

 A Sermon world-wide trade will naturally re- 

 By a Great quire a curtailment of production for 

 Business 1915. Although our prospects -in the 



Man United States are good, yet with for- 



eign arteries of commerce, of manu- 

 facture and of finance temporarily obstructed, it is 

 inevitable that our sales, as a whole, will be di- 

 minished for the coming year how much we can- 

 not now tell. For this reason extra effort must be 

 made, during the coming twelve months, by every 

 employe from the executive officers down to the 

 office boys, to secure the most efficient operation 

 of each department with the least possible expense. 

 Increased efficiency and the strictest economy must 

 be our watchword for 1915. Let each one feel that 

 the eyes of the whole organization are upon him 

 to hold him responsible for errors that can be 

 avoided; to congratulate and honor him for the suc- 

 cess he helps to secure. Let us give attention to 

 the common duties before us the question of 

 punctuality in meeting our appointments and the 

 disposition of our time so as to get the most out 

 of it. 



"The fact that we are moving amid troublous 

 times need not lessen our expectation of a good 

 outcome for this year. The outlook, in this coun- 

 try, is by no means discouraging. The farmers are 

 prosperous, and from all sides come reports of in- 

 creased grain acreage. Our foodstuffs are in de- 

 mand abroad. At home the new Federal Reserve 

 system will lubricate the wheels of commerce, 

 which should be turning with increasing steadiness 

 and swiftness as the spring advances. Unless some 

 condition arises which is not now visible this 

 foundation is a favorable one on which to build a 

 good domestic business for 1915." 



The above words are those of the head of one 

 of the greatest corporations in this nation. The 

 excerpt is from a remarkable communication to the 

 employes of the International Harvester Company, 

 which was written by Cyrus H. McCormick. 



\Ye reprint the excerpt because there is much 

 in it of real value to every reader of Tin-: IRRIGATION 

 AGE. First, there is that note of optimism which 

 the big men of the nation are seeking to instill 

 throughout the country optimism which is neces- 

 sary if we are to enjoy our full meed of prosperity, 

 \vhich certainly must come. Second, there is the 



