Show I 1 colorado reclamation willbe immense for Us at the recent loa angeles convention 0 the league of the southwest an organization for the development of the great southwestern part 0 the united states particularly the reclamation la of the deserts of the colorado basin F A Sel berling president ot the goodyear tire rubber company of california was one 0 the chief speakers dwelling on the importance of the trade and commerce of the southwest the goodyear president enthusiastically endorsed the league s project of building a system of large storage reservoirs throughout the colorado river basin to store up the flood waters of the colorado and its tribu baries to meet the water demands of a great irrigation plan which has tor its object the reclamation of millions of acres of land As a striking example of the possibilities bili ties of transforming this vast arid region now producing no other crops than greasewood creosote bush mesquite cactus etc to a great producing area capable of furnishing millions of dollars worth of food products and almost unlimited horse power mr called attention to the wonderful development of the salt river valley in arizona where the extensive cotton plantations of bis company are located the wonderful development 0 the salt river valley he said since the building of the roosevelt dam is indicative of can be done on a much greater scale with the colorado river country the roosevelt dam was finished by the U S government in 1911 at a total cost of before this great project was built the people of that valley wera struggling along on the products of a few thousand unwilling acrea the application of this great system of irrigation to the valley produced immediate results today the val ley has acres tinder irrigation cultivated by more than individual farmers who last year raised crops valued la excess of of which about one half was cotton at present values the acres of the salt river valley ara worth approximately more than ten times the cost of the roosevelt dam which made their reclamation possible in 1916 goodyear acquired approximately acres of desert land outside of this project on which we have since developed our own irrigation system we financed grow ars erected gins established oil mills and purchased the cotton crop from the growers from a production ot bales in 1912 the growing of cotton has advanced to a production of bales in 1919 with an outlook tor bales or 1920 the possibilities of the entire colorado river basin are of course r joany times greater than those of the I 1 bait river valley it Is estimated that the project now being considered will cost approximately but I 1 have been assured by eminent engineers that the scheme Is entirely feasible no matter what it costs the returns will yield millions ot profit to the great southwest i and nation and beyond the estimate of monetary value will be the social and political welfare bf thousands of workers who will establish themselves in the sections that irrigation will open up in all my life I 1 have had be faro me no creative work that so appealed to my imagination as this wonderful reclamation of land and control of the colorado the cost is prodigious and the energy and cooperative spirit required are great but the results to be achieved are greater than all greater than can be put in words today and it oart t be lone |