Albuquerque daily citizen. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1895-1903, 1902-02-20

dO a bdN > WOlh oh AZ J" Il haNN NNCm
mended your medicine to several, and shall
always have a good word to say for DIR. Pierce
and his medicine"
DIR. Pierce's Pleasant Pellets cure con-
stipation.
Paso might lay claim to the entire flow
of the Rio Grande and It's %affluents in
New Mexico.
TERRITORY SIMPLY ASKS EQUAL
RIGHTS.
Now. We in New Mexico do not care
how many international dams are
built below our southern boundary, pro-
vided always that we above Ell Paso
are not restricted from impounding
and using for irrigation and mining
purposes the waters of our catchment
area. We do not seek, nor do we de-
sire, to restrain Colorado from appro-
priating the h~eadwaters of the Rio
Grande-waters of her catchment area
and we maintain that we in New
Mexico are equally entitled to the wa
ters of our catchment area.
The Rio Grande is not a n~avigable
river in New Mexico, nor it is naviga-
bic for owe 1,200 miles below our
southern boundary, and conclusive
proof has been submitted in the courts
that even under existing conditions,
without storage dams. our torrential
floods do not reach the head of naviga-
ton in substantial quantities; that is,
in suffi cient amount to improve ma
t~erially the navigable capacity of the
stream. Reports on file with the Geo
logical Survey show that the rivers
tributary to the Rio Grande below Ell
Paso drain an immense area, 10, 900
~ N no ,ni1nc ne rnl "ith n xyn
tershed of 25, 900 square miles above
FL Paso, and that h water supply be-
low Ell Paso, allowing for the larger
drainage area, is proportionately very
much greater than the water supply
above. New Mexico is essentially an
arid country, and it's waterways are all
t%orrential except the lower Pecos,
whereas below Ell Paso many of the
principal Rio Grande continents are
permanent streams that have their
sources in the lofty mountain ranges
of Old Mexico and flow through a coun-
try where exceptionally heavy semi
tropical rains frequently occur during
certain periods of the year.
Prof. Robert T. Hill, of the Geolog-
ical Survey has bee engaged for
nearly fifteen years in making an Off
cial investigation of the basin of the
Rio Grande, and he states in one of his
reports that "the Conchos is the moth
er stream of the Rio Grande and brings
the first permanent water into the
main river"
PLANKS IN PARTY PLATFORMS.
The people of New Mexico now fully
recognize the great Importance of the
issue at stake in the action referred
to. Both the republican ard demo-
cratic parties introduced planks in
their platforms ~deprecating the at
tempt to deprive the land owners of
the Rio Grande Valley above Ell Paso
of their right to impound the flood
waters of the river for the irrigation
of their lands. various public bodies
throughout the territory-boards of
trade, chambers of commerce, CONNER
cial clubs, etc.-have passed resolu-
tions, which have been forwarded to
the department of justice, the secre-
tary of state, and to other authorities,
praying that the proceedings In ques-
ton be dropped or brought to an early
and final hearing. A petition was cir
culated throughout the territory and
signed by our representative men
land owners, merchants. professional
men, farmers, public Off cials, and 9th.
lis" d. iiS tue ithtldl SON ti Iiiitut
not to destroy the farming interest OF
the territory, and year after year Gov.
ernor Otero, in his annual message tC
the secretary of the interior, has de
clared in explicit terms:
The greatest setback New Mexico
has ever had was that resulting from
the stoppage of work on what was ia
miliarly known as Elephant Butte
dam"
Last session of congress, Governor
Otero, in his protest before the senate
committee on foreign relations, speak
ing of the attempt that was then be
ing made to pass a bill prohibiting irri
cation enterprises in New Mexico
said:
I'VE, perforce, bow with submission
to the will of congress-. hut we cannor
find words sufficiently strong will
which to protest against the attemp'
to prohibit the construction of reser
voirs upon our principal stream ant
to deprive our people of the use o
even the limited waters at our hanC
for the purposes of agriculture"
He urged that New MeXico's help
~lessness in the national councils
should be her most potent argumen
for protection
We of New Mexico warmly supper
the admission of Oklahoma and Ar
IONA as states, but we maintain that s.
long as our most valuable asset /
threatened by such bills as those in
troduced year after year in behalf O
the proposed Ell Paso dam Il CLAIM