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Show -7- By the proposed system of irrigation the temperature will be reduced so as to make it habitable for man, and affording him a soil and field for labor which will yield an ample return for his industry and wealth to the General Government. Your committee, therefore, report the accompanying bill as a substitute for House bill 1153, and recommend that it do pass. Appendix A. [House Report No. 87, Thirty-seventh Congress, second session.] Mr. Chrisfield, from the Committee on the Public Lands, made the following report, to accompany H. R. No. 417: The desert character of this country proceeds not from the natural barrenness of the soil, but simply from aridity. In many parts of it the soil is of the very best quality, being composed of alluvial earths, marl, and shells: and whenever it has been tested, under favorable circumstances, it has proved fertile and productive. It needs only water. * * * All the evidence before the committee goes to show that if this country can be sufficiently irrigated it will become productive. And when its surface is clothed with verdure its now drifting sand will become fixed, and we may venture the opinion that its excessive heats will be moderated and its climate become pleasant and healthful to man. In its present condition this country is of no use either to this Government or the State of California. On the contrary, it is a positive injury to both. Over this plain lies the shorter and most direct route from the Pacific coast to Fort Yuma, the districts of the Gila and Arizona, and |