Arizona republican., 1902-08-09
Hear Mir. Maxwell Today.

The address of MT. George H. Max well today will be listened to with great interest. since it is understood that he Will be able to give the people an accurate line on what they will be required to do in order to secure the construction of the Tonto Basin reser- Voir by the government. The secretary of the interior, in deciding for or against this project, will be guided largely, if not altogether, by the advice of the leading officials Of the geological survey, and it is supposed that Mr.
 with these officials as will enable him very accurately to forecast the require ments upon which they may be ex- ] pected to insist.
 | It is needless to say that all prac- tical suggestions coming from MT. Maxwell will receive a most friendly | hearing. The Republican has criticised MT. Maxwell in the past, but it is just as ready frankly to accord praise when deserved. It has criticised him CD be- cause it has seemed that much of the l delay in getting the people of the val | ley together on any plan for storage | during the past three years has been due to the insistence of MT. Maxwell that if the irrigators would only be pa tient the government would build the storage works-and every year of wait ing meant incalculable loss; and CD be- cause the Los Angeles Times has sav- agely and consecutively opposed stor- 1 age for the Salt River valley through private capital, through cooperative effort and ownership by the county, and finally through the provisions of the new federal storage law. The Times with equal hostility has opposed all these plans, and at the same time has been considered the special organ of Mir. MaXwell-it has been generally supposed that he was the author of | many of the editorials on this subject l in the Times. We have been informed recently that MT. Maxwell neither | wrote nor inspired the articles in the Times, of which our citizens have con- plained so much, and that he did not | approve them. This enables The Re publican and the people of the valley generally to welcome MT. Maxwell as an ally in the campaign for storage. His great abilities and influence are recog- nized wherever the irrigation question is discussed. and We trust that any ad- | 1-;oa l,o fo er;t- ha o1a ci,, pie and practical lines.
 | Phoenix and the valley want, and must have. water storage. If the great end can be achieved through construc- tion by the government. it will be the least burdensome of all the methods proposed. The plan appeals to. every citizen who has at heart the public good. and there will be a sincere and of the whole valley to make it a sue cess. Then, in the event of failure, some other measure for relief will be taken up and pressed. But there should 1 be no thought of failure. The govern ment already has in hand double the amount or money required TOT building this dam, and by the end of the year will have nearly as much more. The plans and specifications have been com pleted, and this reservoir is, in fact, the only project available for the inn mediate beginning of construction. The sole question should be, practically, one of assuring the government that the money expended will be recovered within the ten-year period, and if this | assurance cannot be had the valley is not in position to ask the investment of other capital, either in the bonds of the county or the securities of private corporati ton.
 It will be easy to obtain this aSsur
 ance, however. if the task is under
 taken in the right way and free from
 all needless complications, and it is
 upon these points that the advice of
 MT. Maxwell will be of value.