THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



119 



WAR HALTS $100,000,000 BOND PLAN, SAYS LANE 



A metal-lath cement plastered silo in Southwest Texas. Courtesy Santa Fe Railway. 



OECRETARY 

 O of the Inte- 

 rior Lane will 

 not press, for 

 the present at 

 least, his sug- 

 gestion to Con- 

 gress that $100,- 

 000,000 in honds 

 be issued to 

 raise funds to 

 reclaim arid 

 lands of the 

 West. This vast 

 fund, according 

 to plans out- 

 lined previously 

 by the Secretary 

 and for which 

 bills are now be- 

 fore Congress, 

 was to be used 

 to augment the 

 present Recla- 

 mation fund, 

 thus permitting 



completion of projects now under way; to finish 

 projects partially constructed by other interests, 

 and to build new irrigation systems pronounced 

 feasible but for which private capital is not 

 available. 



The proposed bond issue was favored through- 

 out the West, not only because it meant develop- 

 ment for the arid states, but because of the work it 

 would furnish to vast armies of unemployed. For 

 the latter reason, the plan was also beginning to 

 find substantial favor in the East. Administration 

 demands for economy are believed to have put 

 brakes on the plan, although the Secretary blames 

 the war. He says in his annual report to the Presi- 

 dent and Congress : 



"It had been my hope at this time to lay before 

 you a plan or plans for the greater extension of the 

 work of reclaiming the arid West. Some of these 

 States richest in possibilities, which without doubt 

 will in the future maintain dense population, must 

 await the day of further irrigation. It is a misfor- 

 tune to them that war has come upon Europe and 

 closed the sources of those streams which reach 

 even into the farthermost and most arid parts of 

 America. In conjunction with the governors of the 

 Western States there has been formed an interstate 

 irrigation commission. This body contains men of 

 sagacity and high purpose, who have at heart the 

 developing of a practicable plan of financing other 

 great reclamation projects, to be constructed, per- 

 haps, by the co-operative effort of the States with 

 the Federal Government. Such plans, however, are 

 not for this day." 



To ths'settlers on the Federal projects the most 

 important statement in the Secretary's report is his 

 declaration that he has reduced the ratio of general 



expenses of the 

 R e c 1 a mation 

 Service from an 

 average of 9 per 

 cent during the 

 preceding three 

 years to less 

 than 6 per cent 

 during the cal- 

 endar y ear of 

 1914. ' In dis- 

 cussing the Rec- 

 lamation Serv- 

 ice, the Secre- 

 tary says fur- 

 ther: 



"In the 12 

 years which 

 have elapsed 

 since the pas- 

 sage of the act, 

 large projects 

 of water stor- 

 age, diversion, 

 and develop- 

 ment have been 



initiated, the principal works constructed, and water 

 brought out to an extent sufficient to supply over 

 1,300,000 acres of land. The foundations thus laid 

 and the works thus built are planned with a view 

 to expansion to double this area, and it is possible 

 with relatively little additional cost to extend or 

 complete the details of construction until nearly 

 3,000,000 acres have been supplied with water. 



"That a certain degree of success has been at- 

 tained under the act is indicated by the fact that 

 during 1913 the crop production on the areas al- 

 ready supplied with water exceeded $15,700,000, 

 and also by the further fact that during the spring 

 of 1914 additional areas of heretofore untilled land 

 were being subdued and brought into productive 

 condition. This return of $15,700,000 was received 

 from over 16,000 farms from which the crop pro- 

 duction was valued at an average of $24.50 per acre. 

 "It should be borne in mind, however, that the 

 total crop production of the year 1913 was bur- 

 dened with charges due the reclamation fund for 

 the fiscal year, amounting to nearly 16 per cent ; 

 that is to say, of the $15,700,000 produced over 

 $2,500,000 was due to the United States under the 

 terms of the reclamation law. The accrued charges 

 for 1913 include water rentals on land as to which 

 no construction charges had been assessed and also 

 charges against land not under cultivation. 



"The better knowledge of the opportunities and 

 limitations of irrigation development, especially as 

 brought out by a thorough study of actual crop pro- 

 duction, has led to an appreciation of the fact that 

 the average man on new land and under new con- 

 ditions cannot develop the land, support his family, 

 and at the same time return the cost of the water in 

 as short a period as that previously estimated. 



