OCR Text |
Show ATTEMPTS OH" THE FUND. The reclamation fund, amounting now to upwnrds of thirty, million dollars, dol-lars, Is a sore temptation to those members of Congress from the East who have Itching palms. This fund was created by act of Congress. It Is derived from the sales of public lands in the arid States, and Us purpose Is to reclaim available lands by the application applica-tion of water to them. In pursuance of this purpose, extensive works are in progress In various parts of the country, coun-try, notably at Minidoka, Idaho; Milk River, Arizona; Carson, Nevada; Salt Hlve-r, Arizona; and a considerable work Is about to be entered upon to utilize tho waters of Strawberry Creek, Utah. The hope is that the money received re-ceived from the sale of desirable lands may be made to bring into use the lands not naturally available for farming; farm-ing; and there can be no doubt of the wisdom of the law. nor of Its eminently practical and beneficial workings. But the Eastern man who has envious en-vious and greedy eyes wants some of that money. In his view, It Is political "pork," to be had as spoils. This Is a most depraved and perverted view, but unfortunately some can take no other view of a public fund. Accordingly, one member some time ago .attempted to grab a million dollars of this fund to drain swamp lands In his State. If he could have moved his swamps to cover some of our sun-scorched mesas, the move would have been useful, and In line with the purpose of the fund; but as that was out of the question. It was an attempt to exactly reverse the purpose pur-pose of the reclamation fund. Another member, Representative John II. Small of North Carolina, moves to take? three million dollars from this fund, to drain the Great Dismal Swamp of Virginia und North Carolina. And no doubt other like raids will be planned from time to time on the fund, every one of which will have to be beaten, for at present all the money In It Is needed , i for the purposes specified in the law of Us creation. But there Is a great and necessary work to be dono In draining the swamp lands of the country. That, however, Ib a wholly different question, and should be covered In a law framed fitly to meet the case. If tho States in which these swamp lands lie, wish, either singly, In groups, or In masp, to recover from the general fund sufficient of the money -their people have In the past paid In for public lands In those Suites, to vise for this drnlnage work, on like terms as the money Is used for reclamation purposes for arid lands, the arid belt would make no objection; but It does object to having Its irrigation irriga-tion fund filched almost before It ha.s begun to receive any benefit from It. But In any event, It Is only the States which had, by the Government lands within their boundaries, contributed to the National treasury, that would have any claim in this direction for the use of public funds. Neither North Carolina Caro-lina nor Virginia is In. this class. Each of these States reserved its public lands to itself upon coming Into the Union, and consequently has no separate sepa-rate equity in any money derived by the Nation from the sale of any of Its lands. No doubt, a great deal of money mon-ey could be made by the drainage of the Great Dismal Swamp, and also of other great swamps; and it Is probable that company capital could be accumulated accumu-lated to do the work, provided the States in which they lie would give a free hand. But the attempt to filch from the reclamation fund for this purpose pur-pose Is at once Inequitable and indefensible inde-fensible on any ground of public right. |