Imperial Valley press., December 14, 1907, Image 1

About Imperial Valley press. (El Centro, Calif.) 1907-current

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Imperial Valley Press.
VOL. VII
RECLAMATION SERVICE
MAY GET IMPERIAL VALLEY
Deal Between Government and Harriman
For Sale of C. D. Co. Probably Consum
mated. Railroad Anxious to Unload and
Get Money Back. Effect Upon Settlers'
Rights and Interests.
Negotiations of vital interest to
Imperial Valley are going on in
Washington between the govern
ment and the Southern Pacific
ami between the United States
and Mexico. A treaty with Mex
ico relating to control of the Col
orado riyer and the use of its
waters has been drawn and will
be submitted to the Senate, and
Mr. Harriman is trying to- come
to terms v with the government
for the sale of the California De
velopment company.
The text of the proposed treaty
has not been- made public, but it
is reported -that its provisions in
clude cancellation of the \C. ,D.
; Co's concession for headworks
; and canals «in Mexican territory;
'- assumption by the United States
of responsibility ijor damages
I caused by the break of the Colo
rado; the United States to take
I charge of controlling /works on
| the river and to have Ihe right to
construct and maintain canals in
Mexican, territory. It is also re
ported persistently that negotia
tions for the purchase by the
United States of a part or the
whole of Lower California were
conducted by Secretary Root, but
alienation of territory being for
bidden by the constitution of
Mexico, it is doubtful that j any
such proposition has been made
officially.
However, the Mexican constitu
tion is not quite like the laws of
the Medes and Persian^; it has
been nullified in one particular to
the distinct benefit of the coun
try, and that the . same influence
which set aside one provision
may be powerful enough to vir
tually' abrogate another is not
inconceivable. If the ruling class
in Mexico favors the sale of Low
er California to the United States,
such a deal is not made impossi
% ble by any constitutional bar.
The report of negotiations to that
end is not absolutely incredible.
i It may be assumed confidently
I that the rights and interests of
settlers in Imperial Valley will
not.be affected injuriously by
i any treaty with Mexico. The
' United States will have due re
!gard to the welfare of its own
*! citizens in any arrangement it
[may make with a foreign power.
Negotiations between the gov
, ernment and Mr. Harriman are
( of more immediate importance.
| When President Roosevelt* called
on Mr. Harriman to close the
Colorado break and save Imperial
Valley from permanent , inunda
tion, he promised that Jie would
ask Congress to pay the cost . of
work after the date of his request
to the railroad. The President
did not encourage 1 the Southern
Pacific to^hope that he would ad
vise Congress to repay the large
Official Paper of Imperial County
EL CENTRO, CALIFORNIA, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 14, 1907.
sums previously loaned by the
railroad to the C. D. 'Co. or spent
for its own protection.
The Southern Pacific's ad
jvances to the C. D. Co., for
which it holds the property of
the company as security, its ex
penses in moving tracks out of
the way of Sal ton Sea, and the
cost of building dams and levees
on the Colorado are said to ag
gregate $2,500,000; Presumably
Mr. Harriman would like to get
all that money back and unload
the irrigation system, and he
would be pleased if the govern
ment would pay him the f u\V
amount and relieve him of all
responsibility for the continued
good behavior of the Colorado.
Here the Reclamation Service
comes into the story. According
to a Washington dispatch to the
Los Angeles Times, the govern
ment, through the Reclamation
Service, declines to pay Harriman
$2,500,000, though it is known
that negotiations are still on, and
that Harriman is anxious to sell
the property, and that the Recla
mation Service officials are also
anxious to gain control of the
Imperial Valley irrigation enter
prise.
The Reclamation Service has
found the Yuma project too cost
ly for tlie area of land reclaimable
in Arizona under the Lagiina
dam, and it desires to attach Im
perial Valley to the project in or
der to distribute the cost. Offici
als of the service contend that
the Imperial Valley system should
be supplied by a main canal from
Laguna dam instead of from
headworks in Mexico. Whether
or not their plan is 'feasible is a
question for engineers.
Whether or not Imperial Valley
should pay any part of the cost
of the Laguna dam and the { ex
pense of a new main canal is a
question to be considered care
fully by the people of Imperial
county. That there would be
distinct advantage to the valley
in substitution of * government
control for the present manage
ment of the system is generally
believed, but the settlers of Im
perial county are not inclined to
assent to the Reclamation Service
programme until they know ex
actly what it means and what
the cost will be. Moreover they
will contend strenuously for rec
ognition and strict regard for the
rights they have acquired in land
and water.
Owners of stock in mutual wat
er companies have rights which
cannot be taken from them by
the Reclamation Service and it
is doubtful that any share of the
cost of the Yuma project could
be charged against them or plac
ed upon any land legally entered
in Imperial Valley without their
consent. The mutual companies
have contracts with the C. D. Co.
for water and the C. D. Co's suc
cessor, whether it be the govern
ment or a corporatipn, must abide
by its terms. No act of the gov
ernment impairing the obligation
of a contract could stand.
Until the purposes and plans of
the Reclamation Service and the
particulars of the deal between
Mr. Harriman and the govern
ment are made known in full,
judgment on the, whole question
must be suspended. There are
reasons for believing that the
deal is virtually consummated.
The Times dispatch says: "It is
believed by those in a position to
know that within a comparative
ly short time the California De
velopment company and all the
Harriman interests in the irriga
tion system will be taken over by
the United States government
under some kind of an equitable
arrangement which will give the
railroad interests a fair return
for their outlay and will place the
Reclamation Service in a position
where it can utilize and control
the American share of the Colo
rado River, subject to the terms
of the ratified Mexican concession
made to the California Develop
ment company."
, The terms of the concession are
that sufficient water for irriga
tion shall be supplied to lands on
the Mexican side, not exceeding
half of the quantity diverted
from the Colora.do. So long as
the headworks and canal in Mex
ican territory are used, the C. D.
Co. or its successor >in interest
must supply water to owners of
Mexican land.
LABORERS IN A PLIGHT
Canal Contractors Reduce Wages and
Try to Withhold Money.
Last Wednesday the contract
ors, who are building canals for
the C. D. Co. west of New River
and getting paid with money ad
vanced freely by the people of
Imperial Valley through, the mu
tual water companies, announced
a reduction of wages to $1.50 a
day and between 200 and 300
men promptly quit the job and
demanded the wages due them.
The contractors gave to them
checks payable on January 20,
and arbitrarily and illegally
stamped them "not negotiable."
The men went to Calexico and
were unable to cash their checks
or to get money with which to
buy food. i They announced that
they were going to eat, money or
no money, and as .they were
nearly 300 strong it looked as if
they would make good at the ex
pense of the residents of Calexico.
District^ Attorney v Eshelman
was notified of the state of af
fairs and went to Calexico to in
vestigate. He found that the
men had good cause to feel ag
grieved and he convinced the
contractors that their action was
illegal as well as unjust. An ar
rangement by which the men ob
tained money for immediate
needs was effected and the checks
were made payable immediately
on presentation in Los Angeles. ,
The action of the contractors
in reducing wages and bringing ,
about suspension of work imme- j
diately after money had been ad- «
vanced to enable them to earn a
bonus needs to be explained. j
IMPERIAL COUNTY FAIR
OUTGROWTH OF COLT SHOW
Steps Taken Toward t Organizing Agricul
tural Association. Cotton Sample Sent to
Los Angeles < Encourages Projectors of
Cotton Mill. Quality Pronounced Su
perb by Expert.
The remarkable success of the
horse show held at El Centro last
week by the Imperial Valley
Stockbreeders' Association has
given impetus to the movement
for the organization of an Imper
ial Copnty Agricultural Associa
tion to hold an annual county fair.
Pteliminary work is being done
and as soon as a general plan of
organization can be formulated, a
meeting of all interested will be
called to discuss the project.
Messrs. Wilsie, Clark and Van |
Horn, the committee in charge
of the first colt show held in the
valley, showed what could be
done with a very little money
and a great deal of energy intel
ligently applied. , At a cost of
less than $100 'in money, they
brought out more than 125 head
of fine horses for exhibition, de
monstrated . that Imperial Valley
is an ideal stock country, and
-held a successful Farmers' Insti
tute. The results accomplished
by them were worth to the coun
ty ten times the cost. To them
and to the public spirited citizens
who provided the funds out of
their private purses, the people
of the valley should and do feel
grateful.
When the agricultural associa
tion is organized, the colt show
will expand into a general county
fair for the exhibition of all the
products of the valley, continu
ing for two or three days and
funds will be available for prizes
and purses as inducements to
farmers to enter their finest stock
and, make the best possible dis
play of their products.
The value of exhibitions of
products was proved by the re
sults of E. E. • Forrester's enter
prise in gathering a few speci
mens, showing them in town and
then shipping the whole exhibit
to the Los Angeles chamber of
commerce. An Alabama cotton
manufacturer is promoting a
scheme to build a cotton mill in
Los Angeles, and the Los An
geles Times says:
Cotton growing in California is
likely to furnish the raw product
for the mill. Successful experi-
ments in the Imperial Valley
point this way. Only yesterday
there was received at the Cham
ber of Commerce a giant cotton
plant, nearly six feet tall, liter
ally covered with snowy white
bolls. And they said this was
only a "volunteer." What the
"regulars" will do when they
get busy, can only be imagined.
It was to see this plant that
the Alabama man called with his
friends at the chamber. He said
it was beyond anything he had
ever seen in the cotton fields of
the South, where the plants are
so small that the negro pickers
nearly break their backs in gath
ering the crop.
If the California cotton is to
grow on trees like the one on ex
hibition here, the pickers will
have to use ladders.
This wonderful sample, said to
be only a sample of what the Im
perial country can produce, is a
good deal like a Christmas tree
covered with snow, so heavily 'it
is laden with fluffy white cotton.
It came with a big collection of
other wonders from the El Cen
tro Chamber of Commerce.
"If that is a sample of the cot
ton production we can expect j in
Southern California," said the
manufacturer, ' 'we shall not have
to bring any raw product, from
the Southern States. The (quali
ty is superb; all we shall need is
quantity." ->
Of the other products sent
from El Centro to the Chamber
of Commerce, the Times says:. .
One vine was brought in that
bore eighty pounds of sweet po
tatoes. One of these spuds alone
weighs twenty-five pounds, while
others run down the scale to ten
and five pounds, some of the
smallest weighing one pound.
In the collection are fine speci
mens of table grapes— the second
and third crop for one year.
There are watermelons, canta
loupes, pears, pomegranates, egg
plant, sugar cane, string beans
and oranges. Alfalfa seven feet
fall, Kaffir corn that would make
the original Kaffir flush with en
vy. And so on and on.
But the cotton plant and its
possibilities are the main feat
ures of the show. . ;
DOWN WE GO
Ahkoond of Swat Reduces Imperial
County to the Forty-third Class
Another formidable looking
document has been " handed to
the officials of Imperial ; ' County.
Resident, Citizen, Voter, Tax
payer, Water Superintendent
and Grand Panjandrum, L. F.
Farnsworth , serves formal, vol
uminous, vociferous and polysyl
labic notice that he has reduced
Imperial County from the 36th
to the 43d class and the salaries
of all county officers in propor
tion; that he declares the action
of the Board of Supervisors, fix
ing the class of the county, void
and of no effect; that the Audi
tor and Treasurer contumacious
ly threaten to continue their
nefarious practice of issuing and
cashing salary warrants as if
they were officers of a thirty
sixth degree county; and that
unless Imperial County desists
immediately from pretending
to be a county of the thirty-sixth
class it will incur his extreme
displeasure, law suits and other
discomforts.
A proclamation by Lewis the
Light, notifying Judge Cole that
the law of gravitation has been
repealed and that hereafter all
loose articles shall fall up to the
moon, is expected and will re
ceive the attention to which it is
entitled.
NO. 36