El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1897-06-03

I have received from the department
of Justice, | shall take steps to procure
an injunction if necessary to prevent
, the cons rIction Of a dam in the Il
= Grande river, by the Rio Grande
Dam and Irrigation company
at Il point c 'lled Il ephant Butte, about
l25 miles above Ell PasO. 1t is held by
the war department. that the Rio
Grade is navigable stream up to
Ri PasJ, and has b en- recognized by
congress to be navigable water at Ell
PasO, and upon this ground it is decid-
ed that the erection of the dam was il
legal. The river and harbor act of
} 1890 prohibited The creation of any OBJ
structiOn not affirmatively authorized
by law: to the navi9able capacity of
any waters in respect to which the
United States had jurisdiction. and
made it penal Offense 10 so obstruct
such water, and provided that such OBJ
struct;one might be removed or pre-
| vented by injunction. 1t is alleged
that this company proposes to irrig ate
all lands that could be reached from
the dam and reservoir which it pro-
| posed to construct at this point, and
that it proposes to use al the water in
the river,an prevent its natural flow,
and that this would obstruct aud inter-
fere with navigation of the river be-
How.
Il am instructed to communicate
with the company, and if it proceeds |
TO construct this dam. to take such pro- |
c6edlngS in court may be ne eeSSary |
to prevent it 1t will BE- entirely i'm
proper for me to express my opinion as
to whether this action on the part of |
the government is proper or i'll advised.
AT lie asst, it Ia one of those questions
that it would be well TO have the courts
settle. l may add that the status of
the Rio Grande in respect to the right
a Of fS !
to its mouth, raises many interesting
qus StiOns. The people in this part OF
the country have bsen complaining for
many years that, although they had a
priority of right in the use of the wa
ter of the Rio Grande, the people of Col
OradO have taken SO much water out of
the Rio Grande by d ans and bitches as
to seriously reduce the amount of water
av alla bic for the people of New Mex
leo, and to cause the stream to go dry
in the summer time where it was never
known to do so before. If ahis matter
Is brought into the courts, it may lead
TO some interesting decisions on this
question, and it may prove beneficial
Also in directing attention to the inter
state questions [ have just mentioned.
WANTS a MAN OF WAR SENT UP THE
NAVIGABLE.
The war depar tment ought to satisfy
= |
Rio Grande above Ell PaSO. The water 0
n the river is about as high now as it
,ver gets, and by the time first class
nan of war could be brought up the
liver to Ell PasO the river will be as
zig b as it ever has been or ever will
'e Let the Iowa be ordered up the +
Rio Grande at once, should the effort
e crowned with success, the expenses
1 the trip could be easily paid by
the battle ship, mOored to Il
he dock at Ell Paso. or riding at
nchOr on the billowy sur ace of the o
reat river. TO the wondering natives =
: a dollar a head. Such al exhibition
hould draw Il bigger crowd than :,
'arnum' 5 circus and the name of the ID
Ripper who brought the ship up to FL
'aso safely would go laundering down
ne corridors of time ages after Noah =
lail have been fOrgotten.-Silver City
agile. =