1909 [The White House, Washington.] BEVERLY, MASS., August 10, 1909. MY DEAR MR. SECRETARY: It is very difficult for me to express an opinion on the situation which you describe in your letter. I am not very much surprised, because the enthusiasm with which this Reclamation Service was entered upon was almost certain to lead into enterprises which were in advance of the possibility of profitable returns. All I can say to you is that you must put the brakes down until Congress shall meet, and then we will present the situation to Congress exactly as it is and make such recommendations as you believe ought to be made in regard to it. We must be very accurate in our statements as to the conditions that exist, because our motives may be misconstrued, as they have already been, and we shall encounter bitter criticism and judgment from those who are left in an embarrassed condition. I hope that you will join me at Seattle in September, or at some earlier point in my itinerary, and that we can talk this matter out then. Meantime you will have been to the Spokane convention, and I think it might be well for you to make the clear statement of fact in respect to the matter which you have made to me. Sincerely, yours, Hon. R. A. BALLINGER, WM. H. TAFT. Secretary of the Interior. 3651 [Extract from annual report of Secretary Ballinger for year ending June 30, 1909.] RECLAMATION SERVICE. The act approved June 17, 1902, known as the reclamation act, clothes the Secretary of the Interior with a broad discretion in the construction of irrigation works and the disbursement of the reclamation fund, into which fund had been paid, up to and including June 30, 1908, the total sum of $50,661,549.27, and the net investment from which in reclamation works on June 30, 1909, amounted to the sum of $45,757,918.94. The cash receipts from water-right charges to June 30, 1909, were: Building charges, $299,841.22; operation and maintenance charges, $70,825.88; total, $370,667.10. Because of the magnitude of the work and the desirability of making plans far in advance, it has been found necessary to make estimates of the amounts that will become available before the actual receipts can be known. The estimated total receipts in the fund to June 30, 1909, are $58,582,140.66. Upon this basis and estimated receipts which will become available before December 31, 1910, $5,528,050 have been allotted for reclamation purposes to December 31, 1910. The discretion imposed by the act also carries with it commensurate responsibilities and obligations, which my predecessors have carried out with the utmost fidelity to the public good. Some of the most important elements of conservation of the natural resources of the public domain lie within the purview of this statute, the dormant power of stream and flood being conserved for the transformation of the desert into vast tillable areas. As the law fixes the responsibility for the success of these investments peculiarly upon the Secretary of the Interior, I have felt it incumbent upon me to visit during the last four months as many of the government undertakings as possible, and to determine upon the ground what, if any, changes in administration were demanded to secure the highest results, and also to learn the views and the needs of the settlers who are ultimately to pay for these works. The Reclamation Service has been subjected to much unjust and to some just criticism. The work in the earlier stages of its existence being of a pioneer or experimental nature, room was left for the imagination of the unfair or uninformed critic. Generally speaking, the character of construction of dams, gates, drops, canals, etc., has been of a high type of modern practical utility. The precaution and pains exercised in giving extraordinary strength and durability to structures and to uniformity in canals and ditches has led some to claim that an unfair burden is 3652 thereby imposed upon the lands irrigated, without a resultant benefit. Whatever merit there may be in this contention will doubtless not exist in the future work of the service. The department has been unfortunate in the selection of some projects, considering water supply, soil, and climatic conditions, and in some instances projects having practically no public lands have been undertaken, which are within the domain of private enterprise rather than that of the Government. I wish to assert my disapproval of irrigation projects undertaken by the Government where irrigation is to be accomplished by pumping with steam plants at high lifts, since the burden of operation and maintenance is usually too great for the average farmer. The time may come when such methods may be feasible. 2021 DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, SECRETARY'S OFFICE, Washington, D. C., December 4, 1909. MY DEAR MR. NEWELL: I hand you herewith a memorandum and diagram covering proposed changes in the method of handling the affairs of the Reclamation Service. I have given considerable study to this subject and am convinced that the scheme here outlined will be productive of a more satisfactory and efficient administration of the service. Of course, you will see that the details have not been fully worked out, but these can be developed in the most advantageous manner through conference. You will please consult with Mr. Arthur Davis, and I will be ready to confer with both of you in the next two or three days regarding the installation of this plan and will advise you when I am able to take it up. I am anxious to make as rapid progress with it as possible and to secure thereby such working relations with all branches of the service as will promote mutual confidence and a high degree of efficiency. Very truly, yours, R. A. BALLINGER, Secretary. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, THE PRESENT ORGANIZATION OF THE RECLAMATION SERVICE. While under the terms of the reclamation act the Secretary of the Interior is immediately and personally responsible for all operations under the act, the present organization vests, in a large measure, the administration and construction in the director. He is now authorized to execute all contracts not exceeding one thousand dollars and all contracts for the execution of building and engineering work under plans outlined in statements and estimates previously approved by the Secretary without referring such contracts to the Secretary for consideration or approval. 2. He is authorized to examine and approve all accounts of fiscal officers and creditors submitted for direct settlement in the Treasury. 3. He is authorized to correspond directly with the accounting officers of the Treasury and with the heads of bureaus of the Interior and other departments respecting the execution of work outlined and approve statements and estimates and all other matters which do not involve questions of general policy. 4. He is authorized to perform any and all acts necessary to carry into effect operations authorized by statements and estimates previously approved by the Secretary. He is, under existing practice, required to submit to the Secretary for approval proposed reclamation projects for construction and allotment of funds therefor. 2. To submit to the Secretary quarterly statements and estimates showing work done and work contemplated for ensuing quarter and estimated amount required therefor. 3. To submit to the Secretary all matters of general policy and all legal matters requiring the consideration of the Assistant Attorney-General. Under this method, as will be perceived, a very large discretion is given to the Director of the Reclamation Bureau, with the result that heretofore that officer has been the real power and alone possessed of full and accurate knowledge as to the status of pending and contemplated work and the conditions and circumstances surrounding the same. As at present organized, no reclamation matter of any kind reaches the Secretary of the Interior except through the director. A rough outline of the present organization is shown on the accompanying diagram. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, PROPOSED ORGANIZATION OF THE RECLAMATION SERVICE. As the Secretary of the Interior is made by law directly responsible for the administration of the reclamation act, it is proposed to change the method of administration by dividing the service into three branches: 1. Law. In charge of a chief law officer, attached directly to the Secretary's office; 2. Construction. In charge of a consulting engineer, attached directly to the Secretary's office; and 3. The Reclamation Bureau.-In charge of the director and dealing under the supervision of the Secretary with matters of examinations and surveys, settlement of lands, information, and experimental farming on projects, and accounting and finance. The attached diagram shows roughly the proposed plan of reorganization and the principal officers thereunder. Under the proposed plan the organization would be: 1. Law. Chief law officer in the Secretary's office and assistants, and local or reclamation district attorneys, who would be either officers in the continuous employ of the Reclamation Service, with headquarters at a central point within each district, or reputable local firms selected at a central point in said district and paid a per diem for the time actually employed in rendering legal services to the field force of the reclamation district. These attorneys would be responsible to the chief law officer. 2024 2. The construction branch would consist of the consulting engineer in the Secretary's office, accountable directly to the Secretary, a chief engineer, whose work would be largely confined to the field, and five or six supervising engineers in charge of the reclamation districts, to whom would be given direct supervision over the local engineers engaged in work on the various projects, and who would be held responsible for the work in their respective districts. Plans, contracts, and all matters relating to construction would come directly from the chief engineer or supervising engineers in the field to the Secretary and be immediately passed upon by the consulting engineer and chief law officer in the Secretary's office. 3. The Director of the Reclamation Bureau would be in charge of a bureau with three principal divisions: Examination of surveys, which would deal with all preliminary examinations and reconnoissances of projects and proposed projects, with soil surveys and with the surveys subdividing the irrigated lands into farm units, which division would have a suitable office force and a field force. The Division of Settlement of Lands with a suitable office force and such field assistants as might be necessary-information, settlement of lands, and experimental farming on projects. Division of Accounting and Finance, which would deal with accounting and fiscal matters both in the office and in the field, and would be composed of an office and a field force. [See illustration on page 1286.[ 1944 [From Seattle Post-Intelligencer, February 28, 1909.] DOUBT LAND LAW'S CONSTITUTIONALITY SUIT IS PLANNED TO DETERMINE STATUS OF RECLAMATION ACT PRIVATE PROJECTS HURT-FEDERAL IRRIGATION WORK ENCROACHES UPON SCHEMES OF INDIVIDUAL FIRMS. WASHINGTON, February 24 (special).-Clouds have been gathering about the federal Reclamation Service, and if a storm breaks it will be largely the fault of the officers of that service. The metaphor may not be entirely apt or appropriate, but the fact is that Director Newell and some of his subordinates have stored up a lot of trouble for them selves, or signs fail. The most that is likely to happen is that an organized 1945 movement which is now on foot will result in a suit to test the constitutionality of the federal reclamation act, and the least that can be expected is that the new Secretary of the Interior, who is to take the helm on March 5, will feel the necessity of looking over the Reclamation Service with an inquisitive eye without very much delay. The signs which point toward a suit to test the constitutionality of the reclamation act may prove to be misleading, but there is much quiet talk about it, and the persons who are talking about it have the means to fight the issue to a conclusion. Also they profess to have the disposition to do so. It may seem surprising that an action of this kind should be begun seven years after the national irrigation law was placed on the statute books, and after a large number of extensive works have been inaugurated or completed by the Federal Government under that law, but there are reasons why this contingency has not become imminent until this time. 2025 Reorganization Reclamation Service proposed by Secretary Ballinger December 4, 1909. "It is understood that there is an organization about consummated of the different private irrigation companies throughout the West, formed for the sole purpose of testing the constitutionality of the national reclamation act, and opposing the oppression of the Reclamation Service practiced upon the different private projects. It is the opinion of some of the foremost lawyers in the West that the reclamation act is wholly unconstitutional." PRIVATE FIRMS HIT. The principal reason is that a number of private irrigation companies have been only recently encroached upon by the carrying out of federal projects, and the claims asserted by the Federal Government in connection with the appropriation of waters have been gradually driving some of the private companies to the wall. Here is a statement which was prepared by a responsible person for the information of readers of the Post-Intelligencer: |