The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1903-02-18
S0L0NS ASKED
TO LEGISLATE
Water Problems Affecting City
and State Explained.
COMMERCIAL CLUB MEETING
SPEAKERS COVERED DIFFERENT
PHASES OF QUESTION.

The manifold benefits which viii ac,
crue TO the state through the enact
ment Of legislation regulating water
rights and preventing in the future the
intricacies which now exist, and the in
Vulnerable benefits Salt Lake will de
rive from the passage Of the Bamber-
ger waterworks bill, which is now il
the senate. were the themes of discus,
sion at the Commercial club last even
ing
The meeting was called for that es-
pecial purpose. and was presided over
by Joseph Silver. Among those present
We're members of the city council. q
large number of senators and repre-
sentatlves, members of the club and
other citizens interested in irrigation
and the waterWorks bill.
Propositions Ably Presented.
State Engineer Doremus was the first
speaker. He was followed by F. S
Richards and Judge O. w. Powers
Secretary Fisher Harris was the last
10 address the meeting. Each speaker
had a separate line of thought to pre-
sent, and confined himself strictly 10
IOUf
speakers had concluded the entire mat
ter of the two very important PROPOSE
lions to the city and state had been
presented in most interesting, compre-
hensiVe and succinct manner
The fntricacies of water rights was
the theme of the state engineer. He
endeavored to. show that until some
legislation is enacted providing for a
universal distribution of water upon an
arl 7To1@I -.
trouble, and the state will be more or
less retarded in its growth. Engineer
Doremus made the statement that there
are 52.OO0000 acres of land in Utah, and
that only 100000 are under irriga ton.
largely due to the defective irrigation
laws
While he did not impugn the honesty
or integrity of the courts. he said they
were incapable of deciding water rights
questions as they should be, owing to
the limited scope of the judges He
contended that the adjudication of wa
ter rights along one section of a stream
was not equitable, as the determination
or rights above the territory over which
one judge might have jurisdiction
would affect the rights of owners below.
Solutionyef the Problem,
To F. S. Richards was assigned the
topic of a solution of the question. He
said 1t lay IN legislation. The wyoming
laws were cited as an example. That
state was the pioneer in handbag the
question, and while its laws are ad-
miFable, they are defective to a GER
tain extent, and can be and are yearly
being improved upon.
His opinion was that the only way
the rights OF water uses of a certain
stream could be equitabIy determined
ana settled would be by the state en-
Slneer being empowered to make hydro
graphic maps Of the stream, its water
sned, measure its water, and then de-
termine the rights of the many owners
upon that basis. BY taking the flow
OF the strean&as a. whole, from its
source down to the last headgate, the
ainerences could be settled much more
inteiligentIy and much more satisfac-
torlly than they are now a6judicated
by the judges, who only pass upon sec
tions of the stream at one time.
The waterworks Bill.
The merits of the MaterworISs bin
introduced by Senator Bamherger into
the legislatureg at the request of the
commercial -clut5 was gthe theme of
Judge Powers .half-hour talk. He took
up the bill section by section, thor
oughly explaining each before he
passed on to the succeeding one. When
he had concluded his talk those who
We're not familiar with the aims and
OBJECTS of that measure had enjoyed a
rare opportunity OF having them ex-
piafned in a most concise and lucid
manner.
He regretted very much that the
members of the council considered
themselves snubbed by the bill. adding
that such was not the intent. But, he
added, inasmuch as the commission
would benefit the masses as against the
feelings of the few, the feelings of the
latter would have to be sacrificed for
the former
Secretary Fisher Harris concluded by
explaining the right of the Commercial
club to take the interest which il does
in bill which affects the citizens of
Utah from one end to the other, and
why il presumes TO champion the wa
terxorks measure.
Rights of Club Explained.
That necessitated the recounting of
the water scarcity in the city last sum
mer, the taking up of the matter by the
club, the appointment of the commit
tee OF fifty representative citizens, the
work they did and their labors in
drafting bill for legislative enact
ment of which the Bamberger bill is
a redrafting.
He said in conclusion that the resi-
OelI membership Oh the CLUB represents
ighteen-twentieths of the wealth and
business interests of the city, while the
nom resident membership represents
twelve-hundredths of the wealth and
business interests of the entire state.
The secretary also deprecated the
hard feelings which had been engen-
dered between the club and the coun-
by the stand it had taken, but mas
much as the position Of the club was
for the masses as against the few in
dividuals. ne could not see how il
could well be avoided. He cited the
fact that the members of the council
who are opposed to the Waterworks
bill are the only citizens who have ap-
peared before the senate committee on
municipality laws and spoken against
the measure.
Endorsed By z. f. Holmes.
The bill was further endorsed by
President Z. T. Holmes of the club,
who wired from Los Angeles last night
as follows:
LOS Angeles. Cal. Feb. II. 1907
Commercial Club. Salt Lake City: 1
consider 1t of the highest Importance