OCR Text |
Show RECLAIM ARID LANDS. Hoppful Tilling for Western States and Territories. Washington, D. C Senator Warren before lv.ng for his home in Wyoming, Wyom-ing, spKing of the work of the National Na-tional Republican Convention, said: "The platform adopted by the convention con-vention conv;ys to tie people of my state, and of every Western state and territory, the most hopeful tiding3 given them for many years. This i3 contained in the declaration that. 'In further pursuance of the constant policy pol-icy of the Republican party to provide pro-vide free hemes on the public domain, we recommend adequate mtional legislation leg-islation to reclaim the arid lands of the United Stales, reserving control of the distribution of water for irrigation irriga-tion to the respective states and territories.' ter-ritories.' "The fact that the Republican party puts no idle words in its platforms and redeems every premise it makes to the fullest degree is appreciated in the West, and -with the positive declaration declara-tion that the party is committed to reclamation of the arid lands of th9 country, all doubts that this will be done, and done srecdily, are removed. " "Had I had .such a declaration to back me up at tha close of the 56th Congress, when I attempted to secure an appropriation for the' building of storage reservoirs in the West, success suc-cess would have been assured. With such a declaration now a plank in tha platfrbm of the Republican party, sue- cess is in sight., and I confidently d?-lieve d?-lieve that before the 50th Congress closes, it will provide means for the inauguration of a system of reclamation reclama-tion of our arid lands which will da as much for the arid West as the adoption of the Homestead Law did for the great Middle West country. . "The Republican party ha3 already . taken the preliminary steps in the work of reclaiming the aril lands of the West, and what it has done Is of such practical and useful nature tnat a srstantial foundation is already established es-tablished upon which the work of reclamation rec-lamation can be continued and be made of lasting material benefit to the West. The first definite action taken towards reclamation of arid lands by the government was secured by the Republican party, in 1896, when by the provisions of the River ana Harbor Act, under a section which I had the honor to present, an appropriation appro-priation of $5,000 was made 'for examination ex-amination of sites and report upon the practicability and desirability of constructing con-structing reservoirs and other hydraulic hy-draulic works necessary for the storage stor-age and utilization of water, to prevent pre-vent floods and overflows, erosion of river banks, and breaks of levees, and to reinforce the flow of streams during drought and low water seasons, at least one site each, in the states of Wyoming and Colorado.' , ! "The examination thus provided for was made by Capt. H. N. Chittenden, Corps of Engineers, and this report made by him showed mo3t convincingly convinc-ingly the practicability, utility, and economy of land reclamation by means of storage reservoirs to be built at government expense. The report of Capt. Chittenden is regarded as the most valuable contribution of information infor-mation obtainable upon this subject, and is in so great demand that the 56th Congress has directed that 3,000 additional copies be printed. "The next practical step 'in the direction di-rection of arid land reclamation was taken in the 5."th Congress when by provisions of the Agricultural Appro- priation Bill, appiopriations of $10,000 and $35,000 .were provided to make a series of investigations by experts in practical irrigation. V'nese investigations investiga-tions were placed in cnarge of Prof. Elwood Mead of Wyoming, recognized as the leading authority on irrigation problems in America. The present Congress has increased the amount for this year's investigations under Prof. Mead to $50,000, and the scope of his work has been enlarged to cover many new irrigation experiments experi-ments and problems. , "In addition to these investigations, Congress has encouraged and sustained sus-tained by liberal appropriation tha work of stream measurements and investigation in-vestigation of water resources of th9 country, conducted by the United States Geological Survey. "The Republican party, as 1 have said, never makes a promise it doe3 not fulfill, and I confidently anticipate that at a very early day, the practical work of irrigation investigations under un-der Prof. Mead, the collection of data of water resources by the Geological Survey, and the location and survey of storage reservoir sites in Wyoming and Colorado by Capt. Chittenden, will be followed by the erection by the government, on the headwaters of our principal Western rivers, of storage stor-age reservoirs which will serve to reclaim re-claim millions of acres of land now arid and useless, and transform them into productive farms and homes. The increase in value of land as soon as it is reclaimed and is insured a permanent perma-nent water supply is enormous; and with the waters of our Western rivers, riv-ers, now running to waste, fully utilized, util-ized, the growth that will come to tha West will be almost beyond comprehension." |