Albuquerque daily citizen. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1895-1903, 1899-12-13
ELEPHANT BUTTE DAN.
Case Being Tried Before Judge Parker at
Las Cruces.
rARER POINTS IN TIE CASE.

The trial Of the Elephant Butte dam
case Is Ia progress at Las Cruces before
Judge Parker Associated with Judge
Burch In the preparation and presen,s-
ton Of the governments case are the
Hon. ". Il. Childers, United states dis.
trict attorney; Judge Brack, Of FL Psso,
and the Hon. ". p. sutton, former consul
general | n northern Mexico. Associated
with ". A. Hawkins In the presentation
Of the dam company's Cast are Judge
Fall, OF ri Paso. and Judge Newcomb, Of
Las Cruces.
The case being one In equity will not
be tried before . jury. Judge Burch In.
formed the III psso Herald that he ex
poets the trial to last at least the re-
mainder OF this week. He said that
Judge Parker, In order TO get through a.
o ss possible, may hold night sessions
Of the court, In which case II ought to be
finished by Saturday.
"The governments case" said Judge
Burch, 'is not complicated nor will IL
take any great length OF time to present.
The conduct OF the trial will depend
lar gely, however, up0n the defenss. We
cannot tell what may be necessary TO do
10 rebuttal and therefore | cannot give q
definite idea OF the nature Of the trial,
the evide nee TO be offered, the points TO
be established or the length Of time II
will take"
Explanatory OF the case Judge Burch
said: Three points are involved. The
supreme court OF the United States has
asked the court 10 pass upon the Ques-
tion a. to whether the proposition Of the
construction Of the defendants dam and
reservoir and the filing OF the latter
with water will have a tendency TO I'm.
pair the navigable capacity Of the stream
within the limits OF Its present navig-
ability.
THE first point IL, what do the de.
PENDANTS propose to dtp What kind Of
o dam are they going to build and what
will be- the capacity Of their reservoir
"The second point Ia the present limits
Of the streams nsvigsbility. The gov.
eminent takes these TO be from Browns.
VILE TO Bio era Dde City. a distance OF
$50 miles.
third, will the storage Of the pro.
posed quantity OF water , feet injurious
~ the navigability OF the stream be-
I ween these two pointer
These points are to be brought out
by scientific deductions from actual OBJ
servations and measurements at various
government stations from actual obssr-
walton and practical demonstration Of
the navigability OF the stream.
Both oral testimony and dep0slti0ns
will be presented and such records and
documents. historical and other wise, ~
may bear upon the facts In the case"
Asked AZ TO the legal imports nee OF
this case to the government Judge
Burch said: 1.-THE actual point at issue
In this case is not Of any great import
nee to the government. The main
question, that OF the governments con-
troll OF navigsble streams, that Is streams
that are nHvigable for any distance, IL 1t
be but ten mites, has already been set
tied by the supreme court That Ques-
ton IL not at Issue. II has been settled
finally. The present case is rather Of
local Interest than national interest.
THE government IL interested In this
case. however. because Of the bearing 1t
IL may have upon other cases where the
question Of irrigation and navigation
may arise. In other words, II will help
to ID determine what should be the policy
OF the government In matters Of this
kind.
ITO tNe people here the navigability
Of the Rio Grande appears TO be ridicn.
lons. | havs noticed witticisms about its
being navigated by burro trains and the
Ike. That IL all very we'll, but the navi-
gabillty Of thu stream IL u fact, and thu
protection Of the stream IL Of great i'm
pOrtsncs TO the government. The use OF
The stream by Gen. Taylor In carrying
On his operations IN the war with Mex
leo was OF supreme Importance. Sup
plies for 5000 men were transported by
It. Later II wa OF great Importance to
Cen Sheridan, who with $1,000 men
used 1t as u base OF operations to prevent
q French monarchy from being estab
llshed In Mexico Thus In at least two
events IL has been OF Importance 10 u, In
our relations with oar ~ne!ghbor. once
against her and once for her benei
'This case IL peculiar In that the Rio
Grande Ia q boundary stream and q
frontier stream. There are other bound
sry streams that are navigable and OF
course under government control, but in
those cases there Is ITO question OF irri-
CATION. or the waters being taken from
them for any purpose to an extent would
be likely to Impair their navigability
There are other streams In this great,
arid southwest that are naylgable
streams. that IL nayigable in the mean.
ing Of the law, from which water Is or
may be taken for irrigation or other
purposes, but they are not boundary
streams. These are, OF course, under
government control. by the supreme
court decision. There is no question a.
TO that In this case. II Is a mere ques.
ton Of fact IA to what exists now and
how the proposed dam will affect the
stream.