Arizona republican., 1900-09-01
The sentiment of the meeting was in aicated by general applause.
 THE BOARD OF DECISION.

dicated by general applause.
 THE BOARD OF DECISION. George D. Christy was made secre- tary, and H. NJ. Chapman of the board of trade sought to expedite matters by holding the speakers dawn to ten mir.- ntes. Dr. Ford opposed the suggestion on the ground that man who had given, the subject any thought could not have free expression in ten min Htes. A. c. Mcqueen moved the ap- pointment of a committee of twenty five, ten to be appointed by the chair and fifteen by the house. to receive all plans and report one of them at subsequent meeting. Col. William Christy amended this motion by a pro-. vision that the membership of the com- mitee be made up oC two members, each from the north side canals. two each from the Tempe, M sa, Utah and Consolidated canals, one each from the San Francisco, Highland and Buckeye canals, three from Phoenix. and one each from Tempe, Mesa and Glendale. The mo- tion and the amendment were allowed to go over until the afternoon.
 An address was delivered by Julga Kibbey in which he advocated the tax ing of the products of the mines, amounting annually to $1OO, ,OOO, ,00O the proceeds to be applied in part to the development of irrigation enterprises.
 E. A. Fowler said he had not been q resident of the valley very long. but long enough to have been a sufferer. He arrived here year and a half ago in time to reap the fruits of the drouth. He had no pet plan in mind. but was in favor of any which promised the attainment of the end aimed at, ana when one had been Cnce adopted it should never be abandoned.
 Dave Goldberg. the originator of ca plan which was given prominence in The Republican some weeks ago was called upon and briefly described it to the meeting.
 The following plan was then offered by Captain w. A. Hancock, the only one presented in detail:
 CAPTAIN HANCOcK's PLAN.
 MT. Chairman and gentlemen:-I am going to speak to you as an old resi- dent of She territory. and as one of the oldest residents of the valley.
 The question that has brought us to- gether here today is of vital impor- tance U every resident of the valley. man woman or child
 The question of how We can secure an ample supply of walter for the irrga- tion of this valley has the primest eld- est blessing upon it, the enrichment of Us all and the consequent happiness of all of us-if rich5s can make us hap py.
 The question for us today is, whether cut of the more or less conflicting plans or propositions that have been dis cussed In the local papers and among ourselves We can formulate a plan, some plan or proposition that can be carried through to a successful issue We all know that the average annual flow of water from the vast water sheds or catchment basins of the Verde and Salt rivers. comprising about fifteen thousand square miles. would be ample for the irrigation of more than 275.O00 acres now under cul- tivation in this valley if it could be impOunGed and reserved for our use at such times as it is needed for the irri- gation of the crops in this wonderful valley. I say wonderful, because Is is so in the fullest sense of the term. It is wonderful on account of the rich ness of the soil and its adaptability to the production of the most profitable agricultural crops. IL is wonderrul be- cause it is 90 perfectly adapted to ir- riGaliOn, Many of you will remember that few years ago the senate of the United States appointed a committee to examine and report upon the amount and condition of the arid lands in the United States, and the practi- cability of their reclamation. You will also remember that among that com mittee were some of the most eminent men of the country. That during their visit in this valley Senator Stewart, of Nevada, in a speech on the city hall steps, said that he had seen and ex- amined all the arid region of the Unit ed States and that nowhere in all his travels had he seen such a wonderful valley as this, our valley of the Salt river.
 Following Senator Stewart. Senator Reagan, of Texas, said: "I have vis- ited and examined all the arid regions of the world, and no where on the face of the earth can there be found such another valley as this. So rich in nat ural resources and so perfectly adapt tu Dy nature TOT arIlllcldI lfflSatlOn.
 There are three principal requisites for the success of any irrigation prop Osftion. First. the water shed or catch ment basin that will afford the water Second. the dam site with the requisite storage basin above it. where the water can be impounded and retained until 1t ia required for the irrigation of the the crops. Third. the land ample in quantity and fertile in character for the production of crops sufficient to make it a paying proposition.
 A fourth condition We may say is the necessity for the amount of money re- quired to construct the work. I under take ito say that We have the first threa conditions.
 We have a water shed of fifteen thousand square miles to catch the waters. We have the best reservoir sites on the face of the earth. In which, with the properly constructed dams, we can store the waters, and We have three hundred and fifty thousand a Of baSI- land fooa ,F