Arizona republican., 1903-06-04
A Sure Profit, Anyhow.

Before the Tonic Basin dam is fin
ished every shareholder in the Water
Users association will have a chance
to sell his land for twice as much as it
will bring in the market now. That is
to say, rights in the reservoir will at
least double the value of the land irri-
gated from the reservoir. No intelli-
gent rancher in the valley would ques-
ton the soundness of this proposition.
Wen, then what objection can any
body find TO an enterprise which will
double his wealth?
Can it be possible that some men are
not comfortable with the thought that
their neighbors viii reap as much ben
eft from storage as they will? All bust
ness experience goes to show that I'M
fair methods will not pay profit. The
men who prosper least are the men
who are narrowly selfish. In the long
run they are left in the race.
The government offers to this valley
a storage reservoir on terms which any
other community similarly situated
would accept with wild enthusiasm
and without question. The plan where
by the Tonic Basin reservoir can be
obtained is q plan which has had the
critical scrutiny of the government. 1t
is approved by the government in
every detail. The government was
greatly concerned as to two points. Il
was anxious to know that the invest
ment would be safe. and it was anx-
ious to know that the landowner would
be protected. Too much stress cannot
be laid on the fact that one of the
supreme objects of the government in
dealing with the great reclamation
problem is to eliminate the speculator
so far as possible and protect to the
utmost the home builder and the home
owner 1t was a certainty, therefore,
that every objection to the plan of or
ganization of the Water Users asso-
citation would have careful considera-
ton. If there were weak places in the
plan the government was eager to
find them. But it found none. On the
other hand, it did find objections to the
amendments offered by the minority.
Some of these amendments merely ex
pressed in a different way, but not
more clearly, principles which were al
ready embodied in the plan. Others
were seen to be mischievous and dan
gerous and all were rejected because
they were not conducive to the protec
ton of the home owner.
These are facts which every land
owner should consider. Let it be re-
membered that, no matter what inter-
ested individuals say, the most COM
petent talent at the command of the
government has pronounced it abso-
lutely safe for the ranch owners of the
Salt River valley to join the Water
Users association. Competent and
dsinterested authority at Washington
has said that the plan ought not to be
amended, and has advised all the
states and territories to take the plan
as a model. Incompetent or interested
persons presume to offer better advice
than the government can give. If any
rancher believes that his duty to his
family requires him to disregard the
governments advice and follow the
homespun counsel and horseback law
of gentlemen who claim to be wiser
and more benevolent than the govern
ment, there is still a compelling reason
why he should join the Water Users
association, nevertheless. Amy time
after a year from now he can sell his
ranch for double the price it will bring
now. and he can step aside and see the
unsuspecting purchaser get tangled up
with the government. With more
money than he ever hoped to have, he
can see his victim writhe in the
clutches of a rapacious government
maybe. At any rate the assurance OF
the reservoir will have brought him a
fortune, and if he finds, alas, that the
horseback lawyers were unreliable and
that he should have kept his ranch and
trusted the government and the Water
Users association to protect him, he
can at least have the satisfaction OF
laying the blame on his wife.