The $5 Billion Plan to Remake the Arid West
At the National Irrigation Congress in Spokane, Interior Secretary Ballinger and Chief Forester Pinchot squared off over whether public bonds or private capital should reclaim the West.
Spokane, Wash., Aug. 11. — Today witnessed the biggest session of the 17th National Irrigation Congress, which convened Monday, when Secretary of the Interior Ballinger spoke on "The Attitude of the Government Toward the Reclamation of the West." A statement made by Ballinger in Seattle that he did not believe in the government's taking up any projects as long as private capital was willing to enter the field was the subject of much discussion. Chief Forester Pinchot will debate with Secretary Ballinger on reclamation policies, as also will Director Newell of the reclamation service. Secretary Hooker, of the board of control, today introduced a resolution memorializing Congress to issue $5,000,000,000 bonds for reclamation work. This gigantic scheme is: One billion dollars for draining overflowed and swamp lands, thus reclaiming 100,000 square miles; one billion dollars for the reclamation by irrigation of 40,000,000 acres of land now wholly or partly wasted; one billion dollars to construct and improve deep waterways; one billion dollars for good roads and national highways; one billion dollars for forest protection, reforestation and conservation of forest resources. The plan is to persuade Congress to issue gold bonds, bearing 2 or 3 per cent and running 100 years, to the amount of $5,000,000,000 for those specific purposes.
“A statement made by Ballinger in Seattle that he did not believe in the government's taking up any projects as long as private capital was willing to enter the field was the subject of much discussion.”
In 1909, the fight was over whether Washington should finance reclamation or let private capital take the lead—a debate that still shapes how the West's water and public lands are managed. The congress's $5 billion bond proposal was staggering for its time, but the underlying question of who pays for big infrastructure remains familiar.
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