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Show TO MAKE THE DESERT BLOSSOM IS THE RDSE Secretary of National Irrigation Congress Con-gress Has Scheme That Will Benefit Home seekers. Spokane, Wash Arthur Hooker, secretary of the board of control of the National Irrigation congress, will present a resolution for approval by that organization at its seventeenth session In Spokane. August 9 to 14, memorializing congress to issue 3 per renit gold bonds, running 100 years, to the amount of $5,000,000,000, or as much thereof as may be necessary, neces-sary, for the following specific purposes: pur-poses: One billion dollars for drainage of overflowed and swamp lands, thus reclaiming re-claiming an area equal to 100,000 square miles. One billion dollars for the reclamation reclama-tion by irrigation of to. 000, 000 acres of arid and semi-arid lands, now partly part-ly or wholly waste. One billion dollars to construct and improve deep waterways, to develop thousands of miles of territory now without adequate transportation facilities. facili-ties. One billion dollars for good roads and national highways, for the lack of which the loss to the farm area of the United States is approximately 8500,000,000 annually. One billion dollars for forest protection, protec-tion, reforestation and conservation of the forest resources, thus assuring timber and lumber supplies for centuries cen-turies to come. "Five billions of dollars is an enormous enor-mous sum, but it is no more than Is actually required to carry out the gigantic scheme in developing miU lions of acres of lands in various-parts various-parts of the United States now absolutely abso-lutely worthless," said- Mr. Hooker in explaining the plan. "Congress will not be asked to appropriate a penny. The returns from the improvements would pay off the boaids. The government govern-ment would simply act as a banker, as it does now for the various irrigation irriga-tion projects. The bond issue would provide ample funds as required to carry out the work in the several divisions, divi-sions, at the same time giving the best possible collateral to those investing in-vesting in these securities." |