Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1903-02-17

Santa Fe, Feb. 16.-This afternoon
in the house house bill No. 55 was
passed by a unanimous vote after
some discussion. The bill provides for
an assistant secretary for the Terri
tory of New Mexico. The secretry is
authorized to appoint his chief clerk
to the position at salary Of $500
per year, payable out of any territor-
ial funds appropriated for miscella-
neous expenses of the secretary'S Of
flee. The assistant will have to give
a bond to the Territory OF $4,000. The
assistant secretary shall have power,
in the absence of the secretary, to
file all instruments required by the
laws of New Mexico to be flied in the
office of the secretary of New
Mexico and to certify to copies there
of, under his hand and the great seal
of the Territory, with the same force
and effect as if the same had been
file or certified by the sec
retary of the Territory. The chief
clerk now in the secretary's Office is
George B. Fleming Of East Las We
gas.
House bill No. 72, which was also
a special order of the day, was pass
ed by a unanimous vote. This bill
was introduced by Mr.. Baca of Santa
Fe and is feather in his cap on ac-
count of the bill having been introduc-
ed in the two previous legislatures
and failed to pass. Mr.. Baca also pre-
sented the committee on irrigation a
petition signed by over a thousand
persons in Santa Fe for the passage
of the bill. The bill passed, except
section 8, which was amended to read
that the act is not to interfere with
the community bitches in the Rio
Grande valley. The bill in full is as
follows:
An act for the purpose Of adjusting
water rights.
Section L. All rivers and natural
streams of water in this Territory
shall be. and they are declared TO be
public bitches for agricultural power,
mining and domestic purposes.
Section g. That the first settlers
who appropriated to themselves, the
waters of any river or natural stream,
for agricultural, mining or domestic
or other beneficial purposes, shall
have the exclusive right to said wa
ters for such purposes, to the guam
tity actually appropriated to a bene-
fetal purpose, and required by him
or they for such beneficial purpose
or purposes, and such right shall ap-
puritan, and belong to the land or
mineral property for necessities Of
the one originally appropriating the
said waters for the said purposes.
Section 3. 1t shall be unlawful for
any person, association, company or
in this Territory to ap-
the waters of any rivers or
natural streams, for the purpose of
selling, leasing or disposing OF the
same, for personal or individual gain.
or for any consideration whatsoever,
where the same will infringe on the
older acquired rights or in any man.
ner take or appropriate to them
selves, water that is already appro-
priated to beneficial uses, without
the unanimous consent of all persons
having any prior and superior rights
or in any manner take or appropri-
ate TO themselves water tnar is al
ready appropriated to beneficial uses.
without the unanimous consent of all
persons having any prior and superior
rights in the same by virtue of prior
appropriation: or prior right of ap-
of said waters. nor shall
any person, association. company or
corporation at any time, and in any
event have the right to nse or dis
pose of the said waters for any other
han agricultural, power, mineral or
domestic purposes; and it shall be
lsed by said company, corporation or
association only when ii will not re-
suit to injury to any person, who has
! prior right to use the same for the
purpose of agriculture, mineral or do
nestle purposes. 1t shall be unlawful
or any kind of stock to be allowed
% use the waters of such rivers or
streams, that is to say, that no per
ION, owner of stock, sheep, cattle or |
goats, shall use the waters subject
(Continued on Page Two.