the states of California, Oregon, and Nevada, and the territories of Washington, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, Arizona, New Mexico, and Dakota. The act provided for the sale, at $1.25 per acre, of not more than 640 acres of desert lands to any person who had filed a declaration of intention to become a citizen, upon condition that he irrigate the lands, three years being allowed him for this purpose. "Desert lands" were defined by the act to be "all lands, exclusive of timber lands and mineral lands which will not, without irrigation, produce some agricultural crop."

In 1891 (sec. 2, act of March 3, 1891, 26 Stat. L., 1095), the desert land act was extended to the state of Colorado and was modified to permit two or more persons to "associate together in the construction of canals and ditches for irrigating and reclaiming" their tracts under a joint plan. The provision for proof of irrigation was, however, made much more severe, it being required that the entryman expend, in each of the three years allowed for reclamation, not less than one dollar per acre "in the necessary irrigation and cultivation thereof, by means of main canals and branch ditches and in permanent improvements upon the land, and in the purchase of water rights for the irrigation of the same." In addition, proof of the cultivation of one-eighth of the land within the three year period was required.

In the same act there was for the first time extended to irrigation works a policy which had long before been adopted with reference to roads and railroads through the public lands. By sections 18 to 21 of the act there was granted "to any canal or ditch company formed for the purpose of irrigation," and to any individual or association of individuals constructing canals, ditches or reservoirs for that purpose, "the right of way through the public lands and reservations of the United States... to the extent of the ground occupied by the water of the reservoir and of the canal and its laterals, and fifty feet on each side of the marginal limits thereof; also the right to take from the public lands adjacent to the line of the canal or

ditch, material, earth and stone, necessary for the construction of such canal or ditch."

In 1901, by act of February 15 (31 Stat. L., 790), the grant of rights of way over the public lands for water works was extended so as to include the conveyance of water for almost every purpose. The Secretary of the Interior was empowered "to permit the use of rights of way through the public lands, forest and other reservations" and through certain national parks, "for canals, ditches, pipes and pipe lines, flumes, tunnels, or other water conduits, and for water plants, dams, and reservoirs used to promote irrigation or mining or quarrying, or the manufacturing or cutting of timber or lumber,1 or the supplying of water for domestic, public, or any other beneficial uses."

Reclamation of the Public Lands by the States, 1894 to Date. Within a few years after the passage of the act of 1891, which may be regarded as the most important single enactment relative to the reclamation of the public lands by private enterprise, provision was made by Congress for reclamation by public land states. By section 4 of the sundry civil appropriation act of August 18, 1894 (28 Stat. L., 422), commonly known as the Carey Act, the government offered to contract with any of the states containing arid lands, binding itself "to donate, grant and patent to the State free of cost for survey or price such desert lands, not exceeding one million acres in each State, as the State may cause to be irrigated, reclaimed, occupied, and not less than twenty acres of each one hundred and sixty acre tract cultivated by actual settlers, within ten years next after the passage of this act."

Two years later, by act of June 11, 1896 (29 Stat. L., 434), the scope of the act was extended by providing that patents should issue to a state for any particular tract of land re

'Rights of way for canals and reservoirs for "the business of mining or quarrying or of cutting timber and manufacturing lumber" had already been granted by the act of January 21, 1895 (28 Stat. L., 635).

claimed under the act "when an ample supply of water is actually furnished in a substantial ditch or canal or by artesian. wells or reservoirs, without regard to settlement or cultivation." 1

On March 3, 1901 (31 Stat. L., 1188), Congress extended the terms of this law, which had been limited to ten years from the date of its original passage, so that it should remain in continued operation, allowing ten years for the reclamation of each body of land segregated thereunder.

In the eight years which elapsed between the enactment of the Carey Act and that of the Reclamation Act, but seven of the states covered by the Carey Act took any steps to take advantage of its provisions. Out of the total area of 7,000,000 acres open to them for filing, these states had made application for less than 1,200,000 acres. Only four of the states had, however, filed their applications in approved form, their applications covering less than 600,000 acres, and of these only one state, Wyoming, had filed proper proofs of reclamation, as required by the law, as to any of the land applied for; so that the 11,321 acres patented to that state. constituted the whole of the net results of the Carey Act during the first eight years of its operation.

In the twenty-three years from the passage of the act to June 30, 1917, ten states in all made applications under the act, but of these only six filed proofs of reclamation resulting in patent. To these a total of slightly more than 800,000 acres was patented, and of this over 520,000 acres were patented to Idaho, and over 150,000 to Wyoming. Of the remaining 130,727 acres, 62,718 were patented to Oregon, 30,683 to Montana, 25,814 to Utah, and 11,511 to Colorado.

It thus appears that but few of the states have taken extensive action to obtain the benefits contemplated by the Carey

By this act also the states were authorized to create a lien against all lands reclaimed "for the actual cost and necessary expenses of reclamation and reasonable interest thereon from the date of reclamation until disposed of to actual settlers," such lien to be "valid on and against the separate legal subdivisions of land reclaimed."

Act. During the last ten years little activity has been displayed in the construction of reclamation works under this act, because of the fact that most of these projects have been financially unprofitable to the investors.

In 1912, a committee was appointed by the Secretary of the Interior to report upon the historical and current conditions of Carey Act projects. The report, rendered under date of February 15, 1913,1 states that much actual development has been accomplished. The failure to accomplish still more is attributed by the report to improper administration of the act by the states and improper management by the promoters of the several projects. In particular the report criticizes the segregation of lands for long periods of time at the request of promoters, the segregation of lands having insufficient water supply, the underestimation of the cost of irrigation works, carelessness and inefficiency, and in some cases dishonesty on the part of state officials in their supervision of the work of construction, improper methods of disposing of the lands, resulting in their appropriation by speculators rather than actual settlers, and the imposition of unduly burdensome water rates. The report concludes:

The chief obstacle in the way of Carey Act projects at present is a general lack of confidence on account of past failures, resulting in inability to secure financial backing. When a market for Carey Act bonds is found, it is generally at a price to the developing company of 80 to 85, thus making the cost of money to the company at the rate of 7 per cent or more on the basis of a 6 per cent bond, and in addition requiring the redemption payment for the bond to be from 20 to 25 per cent greater than the original proceeds. The cost of colonization, which is a surprisingly large item in undertakings of this character; the cost of administration during a period of 20 years more or less, from the beginning of construction until the last deferred payments have been made by settlers; the cost for interest for the period of investigation and con'This report was prepared by Herman Stabler, of the U. S. Geological Survey, P. R. Dudley, of the Land Office, and F. W. Hanna, of the U. S. Reclamation Service, and was printed as Senate Document No. 1097, 62d Congress, 3d Session.

struction and until the interest on settlers' notes is sufficient. to offset the bond interest; and a profit, even though small, for the developing company and the people who have taken the risks of the development, increase the cost of the land to the settler, under even the best projects of this character, to an amount in the neighborhood of twice the actual construction cost.

It is evidently not possible under any scheme of financing and development to remove all of these items of cost from irrigated land. Under the Government projects of the Reclamation Service the items of interest and profit have been eliminated, but the costs of colonization and administration remain, in addition to the actual costs of construction. It has been suggested that the same items could be reduced under the Carey Act by the States lending their credit to the projects. and supervising their development in such manner as to assure successful development under reasonable conditions.

Movement for National Construction of Reclamation Works, 1878-1902. During the whole of the period covered by the legislation outlined in the preceding sections for the development of the arid lands by private enterprise and by state action, there had been carried on, by members of Congress, by officials of the government, and by private citizens, individually and in associations, a movement for the more direct treatment of the problem of reclamation by the national government through the actual construction by it of reclamation works on a large scale.

Among the earliest and most notable of those who took this view was Major John Wesley Powell, who had made an extensive study of the relatively unknown west, his exploration of the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River being particularly notable. His "Report on the land of the arid region of the United States with a more detailed account of the land of Utah, with maps," published in 1878, attracted general attention. Particularly noteworthy was his discussion of the methods to be employed for the redemption of the arid region. He stated that there were involved "engineering problems requiring for their solution the greatest skill. . . . To a great