El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1897-11-05

recommend to congress in one OF his
messages, that the necessary authority
be given and appropriation be made.
At that tina 1t was mOdeStiy est mated
by it's projectors that 1T would only cost
a million collars or so and it as argu-
ed by i ) projectors, and adopted by
the president, that it ought 20 BE- built
in order 10 compensate O d Mexico and
her citizens FIR water Wnich had been
diverted from the RIO Graude in
Colorado and New Mexico, by which
diversions such MeXjcans in Mexico
have been deprived of water formerly
enjoyed by them. Cor gress decided
against the scheme. The projectors
then devised the present plan which,
though not known in all its details, en-
braces the pressing of large claims for
damages agaiuS st the United States for
this deprivation of water for purposes
OF irrigation. The exact amount OF
these claims is not known. II is cur
rentiy reported in Ell Psso that they
run up into the millions, ten millions
being frequently named as the amount,
although this sum is also reported to
embra- c other damages, claims for
which have long been pending. A
part of the scheme was that, after
making a strong demand for the pay
ment o. these claims, the Mexican gov
provided the United States could a2ree
10 build the dam a. Ell Paso and give
one-Ihird of the water to ctiZ5ns of
Mexico for use upon the land formerly
cultivated by tn IN, and one-third for
use on the American side, and tn at
this should be accomplished by m a S
of treaty and that after this treaty
had been &C ,Ompli5hed and the liablll-
| ty had been fixed upon the Z u ted
! l..
gress for an appropriation. aud not
| until then. The scheme took with our
secretary of state, Mr.. Olney, and upon
| a hint, timely q yea, all OF the Mex
cans who claimed they had suffered
| from the l0ss OF water TO" irri cation
| purposes, went before the authorities
OF the city of Juarez and made proofs
| of their loss, which we're duly filed as
| 81 aims against the United States. The
secretary of state hen called upon the
| secretary of war to ascertain the
amount which the dam would cost and
the latter designated Colonel Arson
Mills, retired army offic who has
| for many years had a soft job as the
head Of the boundary survey commits
sion of the United States for delim ma
| ing the boundary between the United
States and Mexico. Colonel Mills is
given tue credit for being the head
| promoter Vi bDe SCuGH6 HI vi DtluA
| heavily interests as an owner Of real
| estate in Ell Paso and vicinity. So far
| the scheme was working smooth
| enough. The Mexican government
| also detailed engineers to assist Colo
1el Mills in gathering this data and
many thousands of doll srs were spent
| in experiments which tinally resulted
| 10 joint report to their respective
governments on the part OF these gen
II
and could be completed for something
ike the modest sum of $4,000. 600. Col
onel Mills thereupon weat to Washing
Ton, as the he ad of the prom )ting force
Of the schemers, and has remained
here until very recently, urging upon
the various departments the advisable
iiy OF the measure: in the meantime it
is an open secret in Ell Paso that the
real estate which is to b. benefited on
she Mexican side of the river has been
largely eobbled up by The Mex
AN contingent OF the promCt-
ers. while various citizens of Ell
Paso, interested in the promotion,
ave quietly gathered in the very
ground upon whicl the immense reser-
voir is to be built preparatory to col
Getting large claims from the govern
nent when the land is taken.
In the meantime, and about in 1889,
some citizens of New Mexico and Texas
organized the Rio Grarde Dam & Irri-
cation company Tor the purpose of
building "a large reservoir, the largest
N the world, at Elephant Butte in the
bed Of the Rio GSande, just west OF En-
gle, intending to store water therein
Turing the flood and non-irrigatiIg
season and let the same down the
stream to the company's canals and the
private bitches of hers during tue
time the river is dry, generally from
June until Septem ber. For several
years this company could only secure
sufficient funds 20 prosecute the sur
veys necessary to determine the prln-
cipal features of the plan and the prob
able cost of carrying the same out. Ia
the early spring of 1896 this company
applied 10 the secretary of the interior
for an approval of its selected re- s=r-
voir site at Elephant Butte, I'll ny in
his office the proofs and maps required
by law. Under the act of congress of
1891, section Is, chapter SOL, this com
pany by filing maps Designating the
location OF this reservoir and proofs of
its corporate character, with an appli
cation that the same be set aside to 1t
for such purpO-e had right to have
the secretary app owe these maps, in
so far as the public domain covered
thereby was concerned, and his APPROX
al carries with it the right to construct
the reservoir within five years ther eAf
ter. Secretary Smith approved these
maps just as he has approved maps for
dozens of other reservoirs in the Rio
Grande. The following is the law I'M
der which this right was acquired.
Section IS, chapter Sol, acts OF 1891 |
THAT the right of-way through the
public lands and res srvatlons Of the |
United States is hereby granted to any
caual or ditch company formed for the |
purpose of irrigation and duly organic |
ed under the laws of any state or terri |
tory, which shall have filed, or may |
hereafter file, with the secretary of the |
copy of its articles of incor-
poration, ana due proofs of its organi- |
zation under the same, 10 the extent of |
the ground occupied by the water of
the reservoir aud of the Can Il and its
4terals, aud 30 feet on each side of the |
limits thereof.
Section 10, THAT any canal or ditch
company desiring to secure the benefits
Of this act shalt, within II mouths after
In q location of ten m les Of IFS canal if |