Arizona weekly enterprise., 1889-09-07
ARID LANDS COMMITTEE.
Interview With Brewster Cameron

 committees of the several counties, which county committees would be re- quested to send on the data which had | been collected.
 q stated very frankly to Senator | Stewart that if the committee made | but one stop in Arizona, they should in my opinion, stop at Phenix. They | could study the question of irrigation to greater advantage there than else where ill the territory, as the area of land reclaimed and the number of ca nals in operation in the Salt river val ley would furnish valuable object les sons.
 "I then said, But Senator, the peo- pie of Arizona will be deeply .disap- pointed, if the committee makes but one stop in our territory. Four of the southern counties Senator, have spent between 5000 and $2000 each to gather the facts necessary to prepare a synopsis of the history of irrigation and its results in Arizona, from the earliest times to the present date. Now, after having spent months of labor and thousands of dollars in gathering data for your committee, we would all feel badly to be thus ignored, es- pecially in view of the fact that Arizo- na has more arid lands which can be reclaimed than any other state or ter ritory in the union.'
 Senator Stewart then replied that the committee, in view of these facts, would stop for short time both at Yuma and Tucson, provided the S. P Company would give them special train, so that they would not be de- tained whole day at each place.
 q communicated these facts to Chas. R. Drake and $. M. Franklin, and we all went to see the officers of the Southern Pacific. We were refer red to Col. Fred Crocker, who receiv- ed us courteously, and attentiyely list ened to what we had to say. Colonel Crocker then replied that he appreci- ated the importance of the work of the Senate Committee to the people of Arizona, and that he would, upon the request of the committee, give them a special train to enable them to stop wherever they pleased. We were all delighted with the kind feelings which Col. Crocker entertains for the people of Arizona and with his readiness to do everything in his power to comply with the wishes of our citizens in this important matter.
 "My only disappointment was in not being able to get any promise from Senator Stewart to visit Florence and the reservoir site near that city. There was no one i'll San Francisco to repre- sent the citizens of Pinal county be- fore the Senate committee, for which reason 1 pressed the committee to visit Florence. 1 never saw the Buttes, but l am sure that point is, all things considered, the best natural site for a reservoir in Arizona. l so advised the committee, and urged them sever al times to visit that site, but the sub sequent illness of Senator Reagan, in San Francisco, which is attributed in part to q fatiguing journey overland to Lake Tahoe, in Nevada, ended all hope of inducing the committee to leave the railroad again."
 "Mr Cameron, did you get the i'm pression from anything which the Sen ate committee said, that the govern ment will build reservoirs to reclaim its arid lands?"
 "Not at all. The impression I got is this, that the government will only make a comprehensive system of sur veys, showing all irrigable lands, all natural sites for reservoirs, the cost oi their construction Approximately , the quantity of water they will i'm pound and the amount of land which can be reclaimed by the construction ol each of such reservoirs, the site oi which is surveyed. The average an nual rainfall within the catchment area of each reservoir will be carefully ascertained, to avoid error in estimat- ing the number of acres which can be reclaimed. The impression of the com mittee seems to be that there will be no lack of private capital to construct the irrigating works necessary to re- claim all of the lands in the arid re- gion which can be brought under cul- tivation by the storage of water, if the government furnishes authentic sur
 veys of the natural sites for water stor age, the projected lines of the main canals, etc. In this opinion the peo pie of Arizona will doubtless concur "If private capital is to build the re servoirs and canals, what object has the government in withdrawing tn,
 lands"
 "The object of the government is t'
 prevent just such calamities to Ari zona in future as recently happened tt San Diego county, California. Som eastern capitalists butt reservoi
 there, which held six billions of gallon
 of water, at a cost of $225,000 Tn lands whereabouts were valueless be fore the reservoir was built As sool
 as it was completed the land rose il , value to $500 per acre. The court : decided that the men who built tn reservoir must pay in damages for tn land covered by the water the valu of the surrounding land, after reclamf ton had been made. The damages T costs, etc., approximated $200,00( a This was more than the owners of tn l dam could pay and the flood gate t were opened and five billion gallon of water ran unused into San Dieg e bay, uncovering the desert lands witt ' in the basin of the reservoir, for whic > said damages were allowed.
 r "The Senate Committee now wisel d proposes to urge the earliest possibl g survey and withdrawal from settl,
 ment all public lands within the basin
 of all natural reservoirs. The lanC ), below, which can be reclaimed by tn e water stored in such proposed rese r, voirs is to be left open to settlemer ,; by homestead only. The withdrawi T. of these outside lands from desert el e try, etc., was great mistake as y seems to me"
 n The Republican convention of Washington Territory nominated e g Governor E. P. Ferry, of Seattle, fC