The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1893-02-04
WATERS OF THE STATE.
VIII Kennedy Says Under the Con-
stitution They Are the
Commemorative.
Under a Decision OF the Supreme
Court the Question q
Vital One.
Water Commission Com
mentsd Upon.

In An opinion delivered by the supreme
court Of the United States . couple o
months ago. in the case Of the state of Iii
nois against the Illinois Central railroad
the court said that ''ths state can no mor'
abdiests It's trust over property in whiol
ths whole people are interested, like navi
gable waters and land under them. SO as Il
leave them entirely under the control o
private parties, than il can abdicats it
power In the naturalization Of the govern
mont and tho preservation of the peace"
The constitution Of Montana declared
that all the waters Of the state shall be hsls
TO be q public use. A dedication which
practically means that the whole people arr
interssted in the waters Of the state. anC
the decision of the supreme court IL . warn.
ing to the state that il IL abdioatei
for tho present the trust thus re.
posed in IT, il will at som
time be Obliged to recover that trust at
great cost. 1t 10 also a warning TO private
parties that whatever any legislature may
do toward abdioatinR the trust Of the state
in tho interest Of suoh private parties. such
acts will not be sustained by the supreme
court of the land. but that the rights of the
whole people will be maintained.
Thus the water question becomes . vital
issue in Montana, aud one which the pres
emit legislators must consider II they would
do justice to themselves and to the people.
II the state cannot abdloase it's trust in
this matter, then the care and development
of the water mast be a state enterprise. and
Ala Ak;. l. Ak> -;~Ack -ollo, - .uk~$o~
Aiatsd by the experience OF other states.
Consistent with this idea IL the Huffman
bill providing for = state water commission
now before the Legislature, and while that
bill, like most bills coming before the legis-
latu1s, may need some amendments. it
forms q most excellent base upon which an
efficient and satisfactory superstruoture
can be erected.
That 1t Is necessary for the state to be in
charge Of all irrigation works is proven BY
the experience of California in the Wright
law. That law enables the people of a COM
munity to organize An irrigation district,
arrange for the construction of tho neoes-
sary bitches, reservoirs and other works, and
TO issue bonds for their construction, the
bonds being based on the works and on the
lands irrigated. But these districts are
authority in the powers which collect tolls
and taxes. the engineers employed to lay
out the wo, ks are local engineers and may
perform thsir duties without consideration
Of the possibilities OF irrigation in the
whole section, and other local poiRts inter.
fere with the sale of the bonds offered &c
such an extent as to seriously interfere will
the anticipated benefits of the Law, though
unquestionably that law 10 better than *
permit private corporations TO control th'
waters.
The system proposed in Mr.. Hufnan'l
bill provides for the division of the state
into two municipalities. but places the con.
troll of thoss municipalities in the hands
of the state, so that the system beoome'
substantially a state enterprise. The bonda
Of tho separate municipalities are issusd
only on the majority vote OF the people Of
voted, the bonds are secured, like all mu-
nicipal bonds, upon all the property of the
municipality, while the interest and Ok
psnses are provided for by a tax upon al
the property Of the Municipality. Thus
the bonds become q perfectly safe invest
rnent, and the difficulty which she district,
provided for by the Wright law labor under
will not prevail here.
1t ia objected that this will add greatly tc
tho taxes Of the people for the benefit Of
less than the whole number, but this objeo-
ton 10 msgnifsd by thinking only of the
thoroughly develop the entire irriqatinQ
possibilities of the state. As a matter OF
fast the tax for expenses of commission
and interest on an issue Of bonds AMOUNT
ing to $500. 600 for each department would
not be five cents on each hundred dollars
a large increase in the taxable property il
the respective districts. which would prob
ably moro than compensate for this osten-
sible increase. and taxes would almost
surely be decreased instead OF increased
within a year or two after the establish.
vnArt nf thu n n M w iauinn Ad1nN -, fhto
the bill may be amended SO that when the
water tolls produce a surplus, this surplus
shall be transferred to the general fund OF
the state. and ultimately these water tolls
will pay all the expenses of the state, a con.
dition of affairs which would be eminently
proper, for by this means would each citizen
got his share in the water created and be-
longing to all.
1t has been objected that the state would
establish great water works and that then
II would find no purchasers for the water,
Int this objsotion is not sound. The re-
port Of the Uniteh States officer having the
question Of irrigation under consideration
shows that in 1891 there were I7,CS6. O34
acres under ditch, and of these vety nearly
one-half were under cultivation. This re-
port also proves the ptophesy heretofore
made that we're tho water under state con.
troll. the lands would be rapidly settlee
upon by people who wanted TO build honel
for themselves. That report shows that il
California, where the water is under tn,
control Of the people. of 4,500,OOO acre
under ditch 3, 5O,00O acres are In cultiva
ton, while in Wyoming, where ia no publ
control, there are 3.U3l. 4S4 acres uude
ditch and but 1s5. 600 acres under @cultiva
ton, and i'll Colorado, where the state gay
large bodies Of lands to private corpora
rions for building oanals anu bitches. ther
are 1907 $50 acres under ditch and bu
!. 500. 600 acres under cultivation. So il |
throughout all the irriRxble states, and thi
comparison clearly illustrates the difficult
with which lands under bitches owned b
private corporations are settled as com
pared with bitches controlled by the public
Even where people are doing we'll unde
private control and owning the wats
rights themselves, they prefer public con
troll where there ia the slightest assutanc
Of careful management. In an address OF
Irrigation in California" delivered bsfor
the state board of srsds Of Califol
MIA, OF Jan. 10, 1888. by b. M. lie
long, secretary of the state boRrd Of hort
culture, the speaker said: ''Communitie
with amlls and we'll secured water rights
owning paying and we'll improved farm
and orchards, have organized under tn
provisions of the Wright Law to avail then
selves of it's benefits in working as a nm
in6tkad of ga indiyidnnlsb Tho ,usstin