Arizona republican., 1902-08-10

half way across which he ought to have foreseen and got out of the way of in the beginning.
 I told you of my having talked with Mr. Leech because l want it under stood that so far as anything l do is concerned it is done right out in the middle Of the road. l am not seeking to carry out here any plan for any body's benefit, and l want everybody, land owner or canal owner and share hCidCr, and the people of Phoenix and all others to appreciate that I hold certain convictions in this matter and that they are the result of a good many years of rather troubled interest in getting this national irrigation movement inaugurated. and 1 believe it is impossible, as l stated to Mir Leech, to ever get the government to build this reservoir unless all inter- ests in and between the reservoir and the land are merged in the land.
 Now. I want you to appreciate that I do not speak this in any sense Of criticism at all, but merely to make this suggestion: The first important thing, it seems to me. in the working out of this problem fs not to undertake to fix a cleavage line between the nat
 
 fixing cleavage line you are fairly creating the very difficulty in the way of construction of this reservoir, that 1 difficulty being the danger of contro- versy between what is natural flow and what is stored flow. In fixing rate, or q proportionate right of each canal | company to the distribution of the nat ural flow and undertaking to fix hard | and fast line under which would be l natural flow, and above which would be reservoir flow or stored water you are intensifying the very controversy you ought, if possible. to wipe out of existence. Now, it does not seem to me necessary at all that such priority | rights as exist in the valley should be | in any way surrendered or interfered ! with. From my point of view, it seems to me that when you build this reser- | voir you create beyond question such | an increased supply that if you do not ! undertake to spread it over too much | land. you will absolutely eliminate all cause of conflict over priority of rights: because there will be enough water 1 flowing, and thus enhanced to under | take as q condition precedent to put your proposition together to bring 1 about an absoluts equalization of these rights, or to surrender any prior rights, 1 he cause the natural conditions that will exist after the reservoir s built will of themselves eliminate that con- | troversy; but the thing to be kept in | mind is that you must shape your | proposition so that the government will | not be involved in any controversy as tn the distribution of the water after | it leaves the reservoir. That is the fundamental principle you must build on. In other words imagine the gov | ernlnent to be an individual; imagine an individual were so situated that he | would get the benefit that the govern | nent will get from the creation of a | prosperous community in this valley | twice the size of the present commu- | nity-I will say I think you could make 1 | li'ee times the size of the present | community if the water that goes to waste were used. The government for all time to come would then have a source of revenue from that commu-