Irrigation and Education. II

Irrigation and Education By Prof. O. W. Israelsen, of the Utah Agricultural College.

II. Purpose To be "first in right" because "first in time" is today insuf- ficient security for the prospective . irrigator or for the young man who is seeking an education. At the outset a definite Pur- pose must also be clearly decided upon. The western public, through its various state governments, grants rights to the use of water for irrigation, only upon a spe- cific statement by the applicant of the Purpose for which the water is to be used. He must say whether he expects to irrigate a farm, develop a mine, generate electricity, supply water for his farm animals, or furnish a community with drinking water, before he is given any claim to the water for which he makes application. Accurate determination of rights to water which have become vested through use in the years gone by, is also based on the Purpose for which such waters have been used. A man living near the mouth of a canyon may have used water during the last twenty years to run a flour mill, but this does not entile him to now use the water in irrigation for the pro- duction of wheat. As in irrigation policies, so it is in educational development. The individual who expects to obtain a right to the respect and support of his fellows without giving evidence that in every thought and movement he has a definite Purpose, is very likely to meet early disappointment. It is no longer sufficient to just be studying. To succeed educationally the young man of today must study to become master of one field of endeavor, whether it be law, medicine, engineering or agriculture. Daily the world is determining what each man has done that gives him a right

to claim a pro rata share of its Progress, financial, educational and spiritual; and he who has gone through a purposeless past is seldom affirmed in his claim of a vested right to a given part of the results of the world's advancement. Adherence to Pur- pose is a basic element which contributes very largely to suc- cessful careers in life. Lack of definiteness in Purpose is equiv- alent to lack of Progress in embryo. But, as much as depends on Priority and on Purpose, the first two of the five P's, simply starting early and adhering to Purpose will, of themselves, completely solve neither the irri- gation nor the education problems of today. The importance of choosing a proper Place and of keeping it will be considered next.