Arizona republican., 1903-04-26
.f0R TIE RANChER'S
 OWN PROTECTOR
4 "7fioT RIgIltfT' States Plain
 Facts in a Plain Way
It Is Absolutsly Necessary to Hare a Lien on the L nd for Mutual Pre- tection Otherwise Dodgers Will Give Honest Men the Worst of It.
To the Editor Of The Republican:

To the Editor Of The Republicans: Sir From the standpoint of a mem Der of the Water Users' assooiat;on. I l wish to present a view of the question 1; cf the propriety ci imposing g lien ca t-.o lands Of the shareholders, not only t. secure the reimbursement to the gcverrment of the cost Of the reservoir, but fos. tho payment Of asses snerts levied from time to time to carry ca the business of the association.
 As g matter Of self-protecticn I Tor
 ore should insist upon the lien for the assessments. It must be assumed, otherwise the proposition of the gov ornnent should he rcje, ted at once without further consideration, that the propcSed reservoir will inr1Und ap-
 proximately a given ascartIined
 amount Of water, and that the water
 so impounGed and which heretofore
 has run to waste, together with that
 available fl 0m our present sources. will
 be sufficient to properly iIrigate from
 1S0, ,0C9 to .00GG0 acres Of land.
 | If this assumption be justified then
 the question of prior rights to the use
 Of water ty the shareholders ceases to
 be of any considerable importance, and j l speak from the standpoint of the
 prior tighter"
 Y I will he benefited substantially and
 far bs yonI the cost of the proposed
 benefits, but upon one condition only, however, and that is that the whole
 cost Q, the reservoir an1 the canals and cf their continued operation shall
 be e.Ually apportioned amongst and
 paid by all the beneficiarIes.
 l have tlc right to expect that my
 reignbor having joined the eHterpllse
 with nle should ocrtia5e to hear his
 prcportionato part of the expense e it's Inaintenance. If h. fail to do so he doubles my burden and gain nothing
 by way of increased benefit In fact my burGcn by reason of my reighbOl's s failure may pc s1 i"creased that it cannot be borne and l lose all that 1 originally bargainc:l for.
 If to illustrate, there he 200 coo shares held and 50,0G0 or any cCnsid- erabIe number become and remain de- linQuegt, the proportionate cost to the remainder is increased-if there be 50,Cc0 continuously delinquent the cost to me is increased 8 f-3 per cent-and 90 ill proportion, whatever the delin- QCency might be. If I go into this thing | would like to be able to approx- innate in my own mind the probable cost to me. and cannot do so ii I am to be confronted with the possibility of my liabilities being increased, by the delinquency Of my fellow ranchers. i Thc cost of maintenance and opera ticn Of the reservoir and distributing fsystems. if they be nlaiutained and op- | erated ct aH must be paid and that by 1 the shareholders. The greate" tha number among whom that cost is di- viied and by whom it is aetualiy paid, tho les the -ost to each individual [ For every delinquent, who remained delinquent. I would he taxed in addi- tiCn in the precise proportion of his de- , linQuency- so would every other snare hclGcr who pays. Of course if I myself don't intend tc pay. I don't care for t.,@ amount of che assessments.
 What GssuraHcc. then, have !. that by reason 0: thase delinGuencies l may rot be compelled to pay a third more, CT twice Cr three times as much as would fl no delinGuelcics were per mittc5?
 i It may be answered that the com- non honesty of all my fellow share i holders and their sense of moral obli- i Saticn tc my up promptly is a su,ii- , cicnt gyaral:toa-';,ie t'-at taxes my credulity beyond. it's commercial limit and as a practice! man 1 must reject Iit as sufficient security.
 Again it may be answered that if my , ncighl} }1rs are delinquent 1 am pro | tected by g provision that his water he shut eff during his dehnquency-bu I am compeileG to ask how does that relieve me of my inc.oazed burden If he ncVertheicss remains delinquent? AS a plaiu. practical man l confess nlE in ability n sec vory effective security to ne in that. l. is q fact that about 9 Der cen; of lanGs are rernritted iii the aggr, gIte. year after year. to lie idle if thcie be no penalty attat ho6 for if and lt hat o. 8 punishment i.i there in shutting of water from delingli- mt who don't want il anyhow:
 Iut it may |. still furt,l 1T urged illat the delinquent can never have water until he has paid up all deiinGuencies. That is. that at some time or other.