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About The Oregon daily journal. (Portland, Or.) 1902-1972 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 31, 1922)
C-.::c:; :u:.day ;cLV.:;Aiy iciLAixuiDAYiioaG,; czci::ii:zn ci, 1 JLfi IRRIGATED LAND OPENS BV FARM N ' ; LIFE PROSPECTS Ovef Million of Former Dry Acres Have Been Put . Under " Cultivation in Recent Years. Oregon Irrigation Progress Area Irrigable, between 2,000, 000 and 4,000,000 acres. ' r ' :" - Area Irrigated, about 1,500,000 acres. ; v . . .Irrigation projects number 68. - Lands' requiring ', reclamation by water are found ln Eastern two-thirds of - Oregron, from the Columbia, river on the north , to the California line on1 the south. There are also irrigation proj ects in "RogueClliver -galley pt Southern Oregon . and proposals for summer irrigation., in parts 'of the Willamette valley.- , 1 ON FIVE OF STATE'S 68 IRRIGATION PROJECTS U-, . ; -- - ; - - r : :: r ':. ', mi I,", nr'-r-i r " " """" I ... - - , ... - ' . s , . ' I , Irrigation, that magic that unlocks the desert to bloom and . bounty,' .baa played, and is playing, a' vitally V portant part In th development of Ore . gon. It has converted hundreds of . thousands of seres' or sage brush plains into producing fields, orchards and - farms, and, in the next few years to come, will raise those totals many fold. It has transmuted the bare existence ' of the "dry farmer"- into the comfort and prosperity of the irrigationist and - ras made certain the continual produc tion of dormant and fickle acres that needed nothing but the touch of mois ture to make them actively and con tinuously fertile. It is the key that : has partially unlocked and in time . will entirely unlock the boundless - prosperity of the-great Eastern, Cen tral and Southern Oregon districts to make them the garden and the orchard places of the state and the Northwest. IKBIGATIOir HIST O BY . ? The real history of irrigation in Ore . r' gon began: to be written in 1901 with ' the acceptance by the Oregon legisla ' tare of the provisions of - the federal Carey act. Prior to that ...time as far back as 1830 there had , been small lr rigated tracts brought into productivity here and there by. individual effort, and expenditure,, but no organized move- vnent for irrigation development had ! been attempted, or was possible. The Carey act, in its general terms, ... granted to each, of several designated - semi-arid states, of which Oregon was classed as one, a total of. 1,000,000 acres of governnSent land for the pur- poses of irrigation development; ' The method of this development was , left to the discretion of the state, which - could, following the policy of the United - States reclamation act, -conduct its " own reclamation and development work as the federal government does, through state financing, or, as Oregon decided to do, enter into contracts with private ' corporations for the irrigation of the , lands selected by it. and the sale of these lands to' settlera V MATILIiA IS FIBST The D. C. Brownell project In Uma tilla county was the first of the Carey ' act projects to be undertaken in the state. It was completed and is now one of the highly productive Irrigated 1 sections of the state. The Deschutes Reclamation & Irrigation; company - project near Bend was the second proj ect, and it has, been completed. Both . were commenced in 1901. The federal reclamation act was ' passed by congress in 1902,' and 'the - geological survey, . which was at first - given the administration of the act, at - ence sent forces of engineers into the . state to survey and estimate the con struction . cost of all projects which might be deemed feasible. The work ,: of this department was separate and - distinct from the Carey act projects. - In 1905' the first state water code was . enacted: by the legislativre. It provid ed for the appointment of a state en- gineer to administer the law and speci fied that , the governor- should ap point an engineer that might be rec ; emmended for the position by the dl ' rector of the geological survey..- John H. Lewis, who was at that time sta ', tioned in Eastern Oregon in charge of reclamation survey work, was recom- . mended for the position, and was ap : pointed by' Governor Chamberlain. - Since ., that time about half of the Carey act lands have been filed upon - : and are in various stages of irrigation . development. ' ; YHBEE BAS FAMED " Oregon's irrigation development may : well be divided into different eras, the - first, the Carey act era, covering the period from lsoi to 1915. - During this time many Carey act projects were, initiated, and ' many of them, fell by the wayside. This was , -a . - I , i . of the engineers and. the conseauent low estimated cost'oT irrigation' per acre. This resulted in financial dlf fi : . culties both' for the companies and the settlers who Went - upon the land. brought about reorganizations, . dlssen- - sion and trouble, but at the same time advanced the cause of irrigation n, VO negngiDie cegree, - The state water code was enacted in 1909, the drainage district act in 1915 ; and the irrigation district act in 1917 Theee laws enacted subsequent to sim- ilar laws of other states, were made to -profit by the experience of those other . sxatea i-v -- . : The irrigation district act empowered contiguous land owners to band them eeivea together in quasi-municipal cor porations, with the power to finance their Irrigation development by the is- suanee and sale of irrigation district bonds. ' ' . In 1917 also the irrigation securi- ties commission was created, providing . that the attorney generals super in ten . dent of banks and state engineer, act ing as that commission,' could investi : gate any irrigation district making ap plication tor sucn examination, and. In their discretion, recommend to the sec- - - retary of state the' certification of the bonds of the district. This certifica tion makes these bonds legal Invest- ; ments for, trust funds and savings - bank. . . - . . - rarTEBBST GT7AB.VSTEED In 1919 an amendment to the consti tution was 'proposed and later ratified ; by the people, provwing lor tne guaran tee by the state of the -interest on ir rigation district bonds for a period, of -not to exceed five years from the is suance of the bonds. The administra- ' tlon of the provisions of this amend ment was entrusted to the securities commission. . , , - . -' As a ' result of . all this . legislation Oregon - irrigation - dietriet- securities have been brought up to the standard of recognised Investment securities and irrigation development of, . large ' scope nas - been - xmancea ana is in . course of completion.' ' , Oregon's Irrigation, development . .has . . been hampered ' by its mistreatment by the reclamation service as regards "I the ' appropriation of federal reclama- land values as fixed by the owners of these lands. These values, in many cases have been held so high that when the Irrigation-construction cost per acre and the annual - water charge were added to them, the totals colud not be capitalised from the . earnings of the settler. This baa caused alow sales and failure to carry the load by some cf those who have purchased, thus, by reaction, throwing an . everheavy bur den on . the remaining : settlers of , the district. ' Irrigationlsts are coming to realise that reasonable land costs and a sys tematic settlement program by which every , acre would be brought under the ownership and active personal op eration of small holders go hand in hand for the prosperity of any district. As a result much attention by those Interested in Irrigation ' development is being given to this phase of the work. .The state has an estimated total of 1.150,000 ' acres Of irrigated land at - this time, meaning land ; upon which the water has already been or Is ready to. be turned. It to estimated that the total area of Irrigable - land runs between three and four million acres. There - are less than 1,000.000 acres in well organized districts that have not yet been reclaimed. - ..-..--There are CS irrigation districts in the- state in various stages of develop ment, ranging from those In the course of organisation and financing to those that , have been completed: and turned over to the land owners for full opera tion. ,'- " ; . . -s ' - : ' The largest Irrigation district in the state ia the John Day irrigation district with 285.000 acres. The second Is the Jefferson water conservancy district of 106.964 acres, neither of which has progressed far ..towards the construc tion stage. ,.-.:.s.v..;;3,..-";;---v.v..'i-;;-, .In the .financing of these districts, from figures compiled In January, 1922, there baa been a total of S19.494.000 cf bonds voted. Of this total $7,755,600 has been certified by the i securities commission. Of that amount 97,752. 500 has had the interest gnaraateed by the state .for various periods rang ing up to five yeara These figures, with the lapse of a year, have doubtless been Increased to some extent, but they serve to show the magnitude of the ir rigation development that has been un dertaken in the state up to the present tune. ' Number of Vessels Docked Shows Gain - ' - "- ' ' Vessels berthing at the four munic ipal terminals during the dock commis sion's fiscal year, which ends November SO, were CS per cent more than during the preceding fiscal year. At terminal No. 1. 294 vessela docked - in- 1922.. as compared with 179 In 1821. At termi nal No. 2 the comparative figures are 141 and 100 ; at terminal No. the fig ures are 10 and 2, and terminal , No. 4. 294 and 1(5. At all the municipal terminals in. 1922, ' 729 - vessels were docked and In 1921 - the number was 447. . : i , , ' ' J-l 4- UiL.uiinuuii.'.inmii S?" ..O'-' . i" f . J Industrial Financing OUR BUSINESS is that of finkne ing and aiding in the development of , industrial enterprises. If your business has reached the point ' where additional expansion capital is required, it will be to your interest to submit the details for our consideration. Our facilities enable . us to render prompt and efficient service in financing high class, meri torious manufacturing or business enterprises.' - Industrial Investment : v Company, Inc. Suite 641 Morgan Building Portland, Oregon Percy M. Johnses, Pres. B. T. Wood,' T lee-Pre a. W. H. Ckarcam, SeeyTreas. 9 f . - J ,v - i I" s (1) North cnnal damC Ontral Oregon irrigation Tiroject; (2) Ochoco reeervoir, PrineviUe; (S) Thompson vaney storage dam; Silver late, project; (4) Willow creek pumping plant, Warm Springs pro ject, near Vale; (5) 'Diversion dam, Jordan valley project. , ; . . . tion funds for Oregon projects. Mil lions of money bas been contributed in Oregon funds to the reclamatiin fund of which proportionately N- buf -very sma'li part' has come back for 'improve ment work here. ; t v, . . O&EGOX IS BEJLDT " -'It. has-been, the, persistent, policy ol the- reclamation service to spend this money in the construction of irrigation projects in other; and older irrigation statea This practice has delayed fed eral irrigation development - la Ore gon, bnt "the." time: undoubtedly will come when, 'theee outside projects com pleted. the attention of the federaf de partment will.be turned to Oregon and the many projects declared feasible by government engineers ;wiil .be under taken and carried to completion.; . Oregon, is now ready, so far as the law is concerned.' for the -completion "of its vast . Irrigation program. The- ad judication of - Its water, rights Jby the state water board practically has been completed, the Deschutes -being the only large stream in. -tha.- state -where the various conflicting rights to the use of the water have not been definitely measured and determined., 1: ' ' Ample legal -machinery has been pro vided for- the 'formation and financing of irrigation projects. Bonds of irri gation ' districts; soundly and properly financed, meet with a reasonably ready market. - y The major problem that new confronts the Irrigation program W that of set tlement, and this, in many .instances perhaps, has been and is being ham pered by the speculative element in the APARTMENTS New brick apartment 'house, strictly modern, electric .ranges, etc. No lease. Choice location, West Side. Price only $55,000. Terms can be arranged. yon areAn the market to buy or exchange : your properties, for good income .bearing property, it will pay yon to give me a call. D. B. 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