El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1897-07-28
Irrigation Amendment Features.

so. but even in west Texas it will be a
local option measure aud the burden
will rest only On those portions OF that
part of West Texas where the p eople OF
the locality to be affected vote the tax
on themselves. To illustrate, should
the owners of rural land in Mitchell
county, coated along the Colorado
river, desire to vote Il tax on their own
lands for the purpose of constructing
dams, storage reservoirs and canals, In
order 20 irriglte their land, the amend
ment permits them to do this, and to
issue bonds not eXcee ding fifteen dol
lars per acre, TO rest as lien only on the
lands for the benefit of which the irri-
CATION works have been or may be
constructed. a tax is levied aud COL
lected annually to pay the intert st and
create a sinking fund to discharge the
bonds, but it is collected on the basis
of an equal amount per acre from all
the irrigable land entitled to water
from the syst m of irrigation works
constructed. If n man owns one thous-
and acres of lard on the rive, and
only one hundred acres o. it can be
irrigated he pays taxes only for the
one hundred acres People own ng
town lots, ard those owning lands too
high or rough to get the water on can
not vote the tax, or have any voice in
the mans cement of the irrigation
works. but the business will be con-
trolled by The people who pay the tax.
A after the works are constructed,
there will be for time some lands that
are not ready for cultivation, and hence
| IL is provided in the amendment that
| the cost of the distribution of wafer,
shall be paid only by the farmers usic g
| the same, and in proportion to the
amount used. In other words, If one
| farmer is growing alfalfa and uses on
his land twice as much water as his
neighbor who is growing sugar beets,
the alfalfa man will have to pay twice
as much for his water as the sugar
1 beet man. But in case of shortage OF
| water, each man is entitled and shall
| receive his pro rata part on the basis
| of irri ga BILE land owned by him.
| The attorney general and comptrol-
Ter of the state are required, before
any bonds can become valid, to care
fully examine into the facts, and if
they find that the law has been fully
complied with, they are required to
register the bonds and certify to their
validity.
| To avoid the expense of a special
session OF the legislature, the amend
/ meut provides that, until otherwise
provided by law, the governor of the
state, the commissioner of the general
land office and the attorney general
| shall constitute board, and make
such rules and regulations as may be
necessary to put the amer dment into
immediate practical operation the
amendment merely furnishes a basis
| for the people to organize locally in
| West Texas, and vote a local tax on
| their irri gable lands: before the dis
| trio can be organized the board will
have to make rules providing for the
manner of organization, and for many
other details that could not be incor-
porated into the amendment itself, but
the rules can be superseded by laws
enacted by the legislature.
| While the amendment, if adopted,
will affect only West Texas, yet the
| amendment itself must be voted on by
the people of the whole state. The
vote of the people throughout the state
merely determines the question, shall
the people of West Texas be given the
right to organize in That section OF the
| state irrigation districts and have au-
thority to vote tax on themselves to
/ pay for the cost? The exact language
| of the proposed amendment as to the
territory TO be affected is as follows:
| at shall be lawful for the land owners
of certain portions of Texas, as herein
| after provided to organize with
within that section OF Texas which lies
| west, northwest and southwest of the
i
Parker, Hood, Somervell, Bosque,
Coryell, Bell, Williamson, Travis,
Hays, Caldwell, Gonzales, Dewitt,
Goliad, Victoria and Calhoun, irriga-
| ton districts without regard to county
| lines"
| WEST TEXAS.
1t is now a well known fact that in
| West Texas agriculture aud hOrticul-
ture is very uncertain and equally I'M
L f.. irriu Tpara Is a
Sufficient rainfall, If evenly distributed
to produce crop, but the rains fall not
only with great irregularity but the
| floods come, to be followed by long
periods of drought. In nearly every
county in West Texas, by a system of
dams or reservoirs to conserve the
storm waters fifty thousand acres or
| more can be irrigated.
The climate, altitude and sunshine
of West Texas, would enable the farm
ers cultivating the valleys Of that Sec
ton with irrigation to raise class of
prod ucts, such as sugar beets, alfalfa,
Irish potatoes, etc , not produced in
the present farming belt of Texas.
The highlands would be used for graz
ing cattle on: but so soon as the forage
crops are grown in abun dance, the
grade of cattle will be rapidly imprOv-
ed and the pasture country viii be di-
vided into many holdiogs of few
Thousand of ranchmen and their fam
lilies. Then, too, the millions of acres
of now practically worthless school
lands, will pass to the Own ership of the
landless people from everywhere SEEK
ing homes. 1t reeds merely u sugges-
ton for the thought, what a happy
change this would be for West Texas,
what roft it would bring to the
public scnool fund, what joy to the
children of this and future generations,
what relief TO the over burdeued tax
payers of Central and Eastern Texas.
To appreciate the uneven burden of
taxation, resting upon different por-
tions of Texas, one needs OILY to com
pare the tax rolls of Mitchell and Ellis
counties. There is more than two
thirds of the state in the condition of
Mitchell county, tie values never to
increase unless through the aid of ir-
rlgation. Even at the low rate of val
uation. lands in West Texas. when the
owners are d b to utilize them at all,
produce only four cents an acre annual
~, just eight per cent interest upon a