THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



53 



IRRIGATION BONDS WILL HAVE STATE AND 

 NATION BACK OF THEM 



There is apparent all over the east and middle 

 west where capital has been sought for irrigation 

 projects in the past, a decided improvement in the 

 market for irrigation bonds. We quote in this 

 article from various sources to show how universal 

 is the determination to place states and nation back 

 of the bonds, to put a ban on wild-catters, on bogus 

 project promoters and to squeeze the water out of 

 irrigation stock. 



The Boise, Idaho, Statesman, in its issue of 

 January 2 has this to say on the subject : 



"No more projects will be opened in this state 

 before the irrigation system is completed and the 

 water is ready for the settler to turn onto his land. 

 That is the policy that was adopted by the land 

 board in 1915. If it had been adopted eight years 

 ago Idaho would not have suffered some of the 

 humiliation it was forced to through the incompe- 

 tency of engineers and unscrupulous methods of 

 promoters who besmirched the good name of the 

 state to advance their schemes. When at its height 

 three years ago this state proudly boasted of $100,- 

 000,000 invested in irrigation projects. No other 

 state in the union had done so much under the terms 

 of the Carey Act. The past year has seen little de- 

 velopment in irrigation matters aside from the 

 crowning engineering feat of the Reclamation Serv- 

 ice in the erection of the great Arrowrock dam, the 

 highest in the world. 



"Indeed, the year has been confined to reno- 

 vating some of the projects that have not been a 

 success, and a special commission created by the 

 last legislature and appointed by Governor Alex- 

 ander has been on the job investigating projects. 

 Some of the reports this committee made were not 

 pleasing to those back of the projects. The sup- 

 porters of the commission claim, however, that it 

 did its duty. It recommended that the acreage in 

 the Twin Falls-Salmon River project be cut down 

 because of the water shortage. It urged that cau- 

 tion be exercised in relation to the Twin Falls- 

 North Side project, that the company be required 

 to enlarge its canals, that it be cut down by aban- 

 doning the Clover Creek segregation. It recom- 

 mended that the acreage in the Twin Falls-Oakley 

 project be reduced to 24,300 owing to the shortage 

 of water. With relation to the West End-Twin 

 Falls project it urged that suit be instituted against 

 the promoters to recover on the company's bond. 

 The state took over the King Hill project and the 

 Big Lost River project was sold to the Utah Con- 

 struction Company of Ogden." 



J. A. Keating, one of the most prominent finan- 

 ciers of the Northwest, in discussing "The Funda- 

 mentals of a Bond Issue" before the Oregon Irriga- 

 tion Congress said, among other things : 



"The machinery which has been created to 

 finance the paving of streets in cities, can also be 

 used to finance irrigation projects; first, because the 

 people of the state are accustomed to this device 

 and will, I believe, approve its use for other pur- 



poses, and, second, because such securities can be 

 sold readily. 



"Investors and underwriting houses are accus- 

 tomed to buying municipal bonds, and they will 

 be receptive to bonds similar to the City and State 

 bonds, issued for irrigation purposes." 



Mr. Keating declared that he believed that the 

 voters of Oregon will freely support a measure pro- 

 viding for the development of a financial plan for 

 irrigation development such as he outlined. 



A. L. Mills, president of the First National 

 Bank of Portland, put himself squarely and em- 

 phatically on record in an address before the Ore- 

 gon Irrigation Congress banquet in favor of the 

 state issuing irrigation and drainage bonds to the 

 extent of at least two per cent of its assessed valua- 

 tion of $900,000,000, which would be $18,000,000. 



The state should not merely guarantee the 

 bonds of irrigation districts, but should be the 

 primal debtor itself, the speaker said. 



He declared that the bonds would be bought 

 "like wildfire." The 'state could recoup itself from 

 the owners of the land in payments extending over 

 a long term of years and would lose nothing, but 

 would get the money at four per cent or possibly 

 less. Oregon's credit, Mr. Mills said, is first class, 

 as it has no public debt now. 



Mr. Mills said that if the state undertook to 

 issue such bonds they should be taken out of poli- 

 tics. He suggested the appointment of a commis- 

 sion, three by the granges, three by the commercial 

 organizations, and three by the bankers of the 

 state, these nine to get together and name three 

 others to be appointed by the governor. 



This commission, he said, should have compe- 

 tent engineers, and every project should be thor- 

 oughly investigated before being undertaken. He 

 asserted that Portland citizens would be glad to 

 care for their share of the burden, even though 

 they pay a third of the taxes, as "the head has> 

 grown faster than the body." 



"The renovation of irrigation projects has re- 

 sulted in a check being put to the downward course 

 of irrigation bonds, and it is believed, now that the 

 period of evolution is over and the projects have 

 been placed on a proper basis, money will seek in- 

 vestment in the bonds." 



The Portland Oregonian, in a recent issue, dis- 

 cusses the change in irrigation economics in the 

 following optimistic strain : 



"Men in charge of the finances of irrigation 

 projects can calculate more closely what total in- 

 vestment will be needed, how fast land will be 

 occupied, how rapidly returns will come in and at 

 what pace they will grow. The government has 

 taken out of the field the largest and most costly 

 projects and has left those which are handled more 

 easily in all respects. Many farmers have become 

 familiar with the science of irrigation and are more 

 ready to undertake its application. The ground 

 has been cleared by much costly work, which was 



