El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1900-05-08
FL pASO'S INTEREST IN THE DAM.
NEW MExICO'S PROTEST,
AND A SUGGESTION TO THE
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.

AS 6lre6Oy suggested IN tnc u EhALD'
Q delegation of two or three competent
men should unquestionably be sert by
the chamber of commerce as special
delegates to the territorial mass meet
ing that has been called by Governor
Otero, to meet at Albuquerque May
the fifteenth for the purpose of protest
ing against the passage OF the
Stephens bill. These delegates ought
to be men who could clearly set forth
Ell Paso's position and assure the
natives of the territory that
Ell Paso ia neither antsgonistic nor un-
Further, Ell Paso ought to give her
unqualified promise to New Mexico
that after the international dam is
begun and the tnterr ational question
thus disposed of, our people will give
hearty support to any project for the
relief of the upper valley.
The view that the HERALD has
taken upon the subject of the interna
tion al dam has proved to be the view
of an overwhelming majority of the
people of FL Paso. The HERALD has
to some extent served to crysta1lze pub
lie sentiment on the question, besides
voicing the opinions of many people
who have been doing indepe ndent
thinking In regard to it. Happily the
people of New Mexico are gradually
coming to understand that Ell Paso is
not arrayed against her northern
neighbors and that our people have
no desire to deprive them
of their rights. However,
there are some newspapers which per-
sist in maintaining false position
and creating i'll feeling where none ex-
lists. Among these is the Albuquer-
que Journal Democrat. This paper
has repeatedly asserted that the FL
Paso papers are afraid to discuss the
question. If the editor of the Journal
Democrat had desired to inform him
self he might easily have done so,
since the HERALD has within the past
few months repeatedly discussed this
question and stated Ell Paso's attitude
in the most unequivocsl manner.
New Mexico people do not seem to
realize that the international dam pro-
position is one that concerns the gov
ernments of the United States and |
Mexico, and If Ell Paso is to participate |
in the benefits to be derived from the |
building of the dam, it Is accidental. |
The government claims the right to
prevent the building of the Elephant
Butte dam on two grounds: one, that
the stream, being naviesble, is under |
the jurisdiction of the secretary of |
war; and second, that such an obstruc-
tion as the proposed dam would be in |
of an information al treaty. 1t |
IL absurd to state that the government |
by taking this position denies to itself |
the right to build the proposed dam at
FL Paso. The latter, if built. will be |
built under the provisions OF new |
treaty that will take the place of that
treaty which is the basis of the gov
ernment's present contention.
As already stated the national gov
eminent would not think of creating !
q precedent that might prove very EN-
barrassing, by building expensive ir-
rigation works for the benefit of
Texas town. Only the pressure of the
Mexican claims and, even more potent
than that, the desire OF our govern
meat to treat Mexico with extraor-
binary friendliness, would justify the
great expenditurelproposed Ell Paso's
interest In the settlement OF this inter-
nation al. dispute is Unreasonable, but
her influence, one way or the other, Is
distress sinely small.