Arizona republican., 1902-08-03
WORK IS COM AVENGED Of Securing a Reservoir for
 the Valley. Mass Meeting Yesterday Appoints a Committee to Prepare Plan for Submission to the Secretary of the Interior.

The district courtroom was more than by the water users of the valley and others interested in the matter of the water supply. The convention was called to order at 2 o'clock by J. ". Woclf of Tempe. Dr. J. M. Ford was made chairman and Carl Hayden of Tempe secretary. Chairman Ford made a brief statement of the object of the meeting and MT. B. A. Fowler, the rep resentative of the board of trade at Washington during the winter and spring, was asked to address the con- vention.
 Mr Fowler stated that he had been sent to Washington not exclusively in the interest of irrigation but to do whatever he could for the good of the valley. The measure then uppermost i2 the minds of the people was the statehood bill. He described briefly the course that bill had taken and the pres ent status of it. At the same time there was pending the national irrigation bill. That contained greater possibili- ties for the prosperity of this valley than even the statehood bill did. In the original form Of the bill there was no provision for the application of benefits of national irrigation to lands under private ownership. but MT. Fowler said that there were friends of the Salt River valley on hand and they secured the clause in the bill under which the people of the valley are now trying to secure the government construction or . reservoir.
 The address of MT. Fowler was in the nature of q report of his efforts Much of it has already been published in in | torviews with him since his return q week ago. He paid a tribute to George H. Maxwell for his work in behalf Of the valley, and he dispelled a misun- derstanding that MT. Maxwell had op- | posed the bill. He said that there were some features of the original bill which Mir. Maxwell had attacked, and as d ! result of his attacks the president had called q conference of the friends Of
 the bill and a modification of it re- suited
 | MT. Fowler repeated his regret that | there had been an understanding that
 he had returned from Washington armed with proposition from the de
 partment Of the interior to the people
 of the Salt River valley. The depart | inent had no proposition to submit. There was the law and there was noth- i ing for the people of the valley to do
 but avail themselves of the opportunity
 afforded them by the bill. There was a | diversity of interests here which would
 have tc be adjusted, for the govern
 ment would not deal with the people individually but only as one harmoni- GUS whole. There would be no destruc- ton of vested rights, but the people
 and the canal companies would have tC agree upon their rights. Then an ar | raEgCment would have to be made by which the government would be reim- | burSed within ten years for the cost O the reservoir. Then when a site haC
 been secured the water users of tho valley would be prepared to go to the department with an application for tn. tbenefits of the irrigation law. In general way MT. Fowler said that be
 fore the government would move in th' matter the water would have to b,
 made appurtenant to the land.
 MT. Fowler was followed by MT Heard. who had been in Washington
 previous to and at the time of the pas sage of the bill as the representativ,
 of the water storage commission of tn