Bismarck Daily Tribune

IRRIGATION BILL.

The representatives of western states in congress have agreed on an irrigation bill. The bill provides that the receipts from the sale of public lands in the arid and semi-arid states and territories shall constitute an arid land reclamation fund, to be used for the construction by the national government of storage reservoirs and irrigation works, and that the lands so brought under irrigation shall be sold in small farms to actual settlers under the homestead act, each farm not to exceed eighty acres. The settlers are to have five years to reclaim their lands, and on final proof pay $5 per acre. The moneys thus received are turned back into the fund to be immediately used over again under the direction of the secretary of the interior. The irrigation works are ultimately turned over to the settlers, except the reservoirs, which are reserved as public works. Existing settlers having a sufficient water supply can secure water rights on the same terms. Beneficial use is made the basis of the measure, and the limit of the right to use water is provided.