Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1899-12-13
ELEPHANT BUTTE DAM CASE.
Now Up for Hearing Before Judge Parker
at Las Cruces.

al Las UFuCeS,
The Elephant Butte dam injunctio
| case came up for hearing yesterday be
fore Judge Frank W. Parker at La
Cruces. The court will hear testimon
TO determine, as directed by the su
preme court of the United States
| whether a reservoir and dam at Ele
| phant Butte, on the Rio Grande, in Do
ma Ana county, would interfere wit
the navigation of the Rio Grande at it
| lower extremity. A. decision in the af
| tirmative would result in a permanen
| injunction of the interference to the eX
| tent that would be caused. The leadin
| counsel for the government is Marsdel
C. Burch, of Grand Rapids, Mich He
| assisted by Hon. w. B. Childers, Unite'
| States district attorney for New MeXl
co; Judge Brack, of Ell Paso, and Hon
w. P. Sutton, former consal general il
Mexico. Associated with w A. Haw
kins in the presentation of the dan
company's case are Judge Fall ant
Judge Newcomb, of Las Cruces, anC
obIllL L ldIhllll, u FL doO.
The government yesterday afternoon
submitted testimony by a steamboa
captain to the effect that though priol
to 1896 boats of heavy tonnage ran as
far up the river as Camargo, Mex, the
river became so shallow that only one
boat of 100 tons is now operated. 1t was
held by several witnesses that the pro
posed dam would make navigation i'm
possible.
Judge Burch says for the govern
ment: Three points are involved. The
supreme court of the United States has
asked this court to pass upon the ques-
tion as to whether the proposition OF
the construction of the defendants dam
and reservoir and the filling of the lat
ter with water will have a tendency to
impair the navigable capacity Of the
navigability,
THE first point is, What do the de-
PENDANTS propose to do? What kind of
dam are they going to build, and
W HdC W III De VIC Capacity VI llltll ltG-
ervor?
The second point is: What are the
present limits of the streams naviga-
bility? The government takes these to
be from Brownsville to Rio Grande
City, the distance of $50 miles.
Third: Will the storage of the pro-
posed quantity of water affect inju-
riously the navigabiity of the stream
between these two points?
These points are to be brought out
by deductions from actual observations
and measurements at various govern
ment stations.
Both oral testimony and dispositions
documents, historical and otherwise, as
may bear upon the facts in the case"
Asked as to the. legal Importance of
the case to the government, Judge
in this case is not of any great impor~
tance to the government. The main
question, that Of the governments con-
troll of navigable streams-that is,
tance, if it be but ten miles, has al
ready been settled by the supreme court.
That question is not at issue. 1t has
been settled finally. The present case
interest.
THE government is interested in this
case, however because of the bearing 1t
may have upon other cases, where the
may arise. In other words, it will help
to determine what should be the policy
of the government in matters Of this
kind.
ITO the people here, the navigability
of the Rio Grande appears to be ridicu-
lous. have noticed witticisms about its
being navigated by burro trains and the
like. That is all very WELL but the nav
liability Of the stream is fact, and
the protection of the stream Is of great
Importance to the government. This is
proved by historical facts. The use Of
the stream by General Taylor in carry
ing his operations in the war with Mex
leo was of supreme Importance. Sup
plies for 5000 men were transported by
it. Later it was of great Importance to
General Sheridan, who, with 10000 men,
used it as base of operations to pre-
vent French monarchy from being es-
tablished in Mexico"
Everybody must realize that this
question: is an exceedingly important
one. There is no power save the gov
Such exercise of authority
should be sought after by the capital
lists interested in such projects. In this
case, for instance, it would be of the
to have the government supervise the
of it's dam. 1t would COM
pei absolute safety. The building of
dam that will hold water covering an
area 254, 900 acres in extent a foot deep is
a serious matter Should it be faulty in
and break, turning its
pent-up flood loose upon this valley, it
is easy to see the enormous loss of life
and property that would follow. If the
has no authority in the case
there is nothing to prevent the citizens
Of Colorado from taking every drop Of