Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1885-03-11
PTS shat run BIZ the land, o. IN

wster IL, the rivers shii run by the land, Of IN
riparian owners"
Pictures n beautiful as chromcs hase t4eu
drawn here of the advantages and the diss5
were used for irrigation. aud II they wcrr uS,d
ohy Dy the riparian ownes These pictures
may may De all very well, but there are two
Whit w. every picture Notwithstanding
VIZ" may be said on the other
SIDE what arc the facts which meet MS here N.
~! me iactS IRE that in the early history OF
! the country there came among rS many mey AZ
enterprise, who dared 10 20 ONT aud S,at IL,
GOD DOMAIN. some place TO erect a home and
rear their children. Some sought the rinrs
aa'u otiSiS Setlieo on the banks OF the rivers in
ti'e oucotic regions. Sir, shall il ever be said
That the pioneer who. in the early DAYS of Tsii
iorUia settled upon the bank of some beautiful
EFer, am looking hack ut The ACt OF Congress-
Of IN saw that by the provisions of maj Ss. ~
WAS entitled L. the right to the use of the water
OF the stream, from lis bank tn IFS center. ana
N Goni9lnilly TO- law applied 70 the Government
OF the aited STATES TO purchase the lsnd and
after having performed every requirement ~
| the Jaw and every function Of an honest citizen
IA cue purchase OF those lands. and received
from me Government OF The United States under
| the sanction OF Its great seal, the title which
NesteG MN WIN All the rights and all the prop
~! "HIg4i n! oouS can &c possessed of in the
| l'ltdS ana water appurtcnaut thereto And who
| thereafter. With many years of patient honest
| toll perhaps became endowed with wealth and
| 1e ana his children aud his childrells
| there founded and erected -Shuu we saw
| ;hat nGW, because the times and circumstances
| nave changed. that some one else may come in
! and take possession of the water and divert il
! rom the river and upon the deserts and waste
! places. aud Jhat what the pioneer obfoiurd
! snail be taken from him, aud his home shall
| become dcSOlate and his land desert and
| somebody else $ desert shall he made to bloom
! iud blossom like the rose Sir | trust not IT.
! SIT. the !lch mines Of our sister State have
! Yielded up their silver and gold and have en-
nf ts.lfI I'M ,,,F.
| dwell IN the great city by the sea whcr, The
/ great mass OF their wealth is there stored and If
| the mines from which il was wont to flow have
almost ceased to give forth that stream of wealth
! any longer and II their wealth is seeking other
ieldS OF investment because OF these things and
! because, IN pursuance Of that great desider
| atum-moTe wcalth-by laws which have
| been enacted by Congress of the United States
allowing desert; lands to be sold for one dollar
| an acre: and II in pursuance of this law large
| tracts OF desert lands have been purchased and
| the water is nov sought TO be taken from ita
channels and caused TO flow over the desert
land to make il fertile and arabic, and thereby
increase the wealth of him who has been Tor
tnnate IN purchasing IT, shall we, because of all
these things, rs stated on this floor bow down
; 10 something like popular Juror and say that
yhat when has always been the law shall b. the
law no longer, ana that he who has obtained a
right Which Is, perhaps, as dear to hip as every
drop OF blood III his veins shall be COIlDplIpii
to give It UP, under So-callcd forms of law for a
mere prlce hNed by an appraiser appointed per
haps by some partisan Judge. ana who shall say
your LAND or water-right is only worth 50 much
and VIII tender you the coin and you can desert
your nome and go away, ana some Urlcr man
snail take the water and put it on his land
Shall these things be trust net.
o SKI tn they Gis speak r of digging wells Who
that wells may be dug and that cattle may be
driven to the well. We have heard before that
you could lead horse TO the water bur we
have rs often heard You could not make him
drink. Where is the application of the well
system here Who ought 10 dig the wells?
Is II he who mas purchased from the
Government OF the United States the land which
lies on The banks f stream, and who by rea-
son OF tho rights he has acquired there has no
need o! well is he the man to whom we shall
say. go and dig awell. and drive your cattle
10 IL or into IT," think if we should say who
is 10 dig "a well, we might say to those Gentle.
men who desire 70 make the desert bloom like
the rose, 20 and pursue the system which IL
pursued IN other portions of the civilized world,
ana gig your wells i'll the desert rs many feet
deep as you please, until the water spOutS forth
and makes you the river which you 50 much dc
sire"
Is i. not better that he who owns the desert
and needs it, should dig the we'll there and pay
MS money for digging the WELL than il would
be for US % dig well, who do not need any, |
think thai question OF digging wells is on the
other han d. Let those dig wells who need them
Sir, who Is opposed to irrigatiou2 l have been
here for a little over sixty days, and have yet
TO hear senator on this floor, and the first clti-
zen of the State, who is opposed TO irrigation
and 1t Cannot be truhfuliy charged ON us here,
on any ono who seeks to perpetuate the law Of
the land, that he is opposed to irrigation For
one am IN favor OF it, and of any irrigation
scheme which Will respect the nights OF those
who have them vested, and which will give to
those who have them not all that can he given
TO them, without trcading on the rights Of
Others. But We have seen tit to differ with those
who advocate these bills and we cannot see in
them all that is claimed for them. We have
certain Convention, and therefore they
are good and holy and they have
almost said to us that we were scarcely
worthy to unlatch the shoes of the gentlemen
who did this great and glorious work. am in
favor of doing anything that can be done to dis
tribute the waters OF this State-thOSe waters to
which no man has, under the laws of the land
obtained Il vested right in the Use Of As to OBJ
tanning property in the water itself, no one con
tends that that can be done, but the right to the
use OF the water Is as sacred as the right 20 any
Sir, if there is any responsibility attaching TO
anybody tor the delay III this kind and charaC-
ter OF legislation, so far as ] am concerned, ]
fear not to take that Portion OF the responsibility
which may attach to me. l have mace no record
in this body which am not willing to stand by
endeavored 10 have these bills considered n
the committee to which they were Ielega l.
and they were referred back to this house d
placed on .l'r files of this senate. The evidence
IS conclusive from the votes which have been
passed BY this body for and against the amend
ments offered, that there was u sufficient MAORI
ty in this body to have passed those bills into
Law whether they were good or bad Now, with
'HIS EeCoTu ana history OF the character oil inc
proposed legislation let it so before the people
Of this State. For one, I do not propose at this
lime after the limit fixed by the Constitution for
ibis session has expired, TO vote to suspend the
rules, aud take up oct of order bills which could
have been taken up in their regular order, pro
vidcd the proper procedure had been followed.
Let the responsibility rest where it properly be-
ongs For one, am willing to share my pOr-
ion of 1t. On this question naught shall actuate
ne but desire to perform the functions Of
legislator under the oath which | have taken
lerer and in accordance with my ability and
With the law of the land, and having done that
shall and do content myself
Mr.. Reddy-l think the Senator made q mis-
axe would like TO call his attention to. about
he land being purchased at IS cents an acre.
lie has to pay 81 IS. Twenty-Five cents per
ere is paid down, and then within three years
10 has TO pay the additional dollar.
The motion was then lost by the following
ote:
Ayes-Beauvais, Del Vale, Filcher. Foster.
iurlburt, johnson OF San BernardinO, Johnson
I Sonoma, Knight, Lowe, Lynch, MAILER Nc
lure, Paimier, Parkinson Perry, Reddy, Reu-
er, Spencer of Stanislaus. Vrooman, Whitney,
fright.
Noes-Baldwin, Boone, Chandler, Cox, Creish-
IN, Cross, Days, belong. Dougherty, Druum,
ely Kellogg. Langford, Sake, Spencer Of
apa, Taylor. Wallis