The Arizona sentinel., 1903-07-08

the mesa lands. It will convert into a
 veritaele Garden of Eden what is now
 but an arid desert waste. The off, spring in the shape of crops which will
 result from the marriage of water and
 this virgin soil will be so great, so mag nificent as to be beyond conception.
 Before going into this enterprise,
 before deciding to invest our money in
 the building of this canal, we discussed
 the matter very fully with the opera tors and owners of large canal systems, and also got into communication with the government officials who were themselves skilled in irrigation and irrigation projects, and the general cCnsensus of opinion was that the only up-to-date and equitable method from farmers standpoint of operating a large canal was under the cooperative plan; that is, the system under which the government proposes to operate its canals. Our plan of organization and operation has been endorsed by Presi- dent Roosevelt. We also have letters from Mir. Geo. Maxwell, one of the lead l ing authorities on national irriga- tiOn, commenting our plan. On the strength of these opinions we organized under the cooperative system, and are prepared at the end of ten years to hand over the canal to the farmers; that is to say, our plan is to sell him the water rights at comparatively low 1 figures and at the end of ten years to give him the canal. There is only one possible reason why the far mer should refuse to accept this canal, so far as can see, and that is that nearly all the local canals have ex- perienced great difficulty in handling the silt carried by the Colorado river. But, gentlemen, the great difference between the canal we propose to build and the local canals now in. operation lies in the fact that we will have a rock head-gate and also rocky bluff on the other side of the river from our head-gate. The great advantage of this is that the head-gate can never be washed out in case of flood, nor can the river change its course and leave the head-gate high and dry, as has been the case only too often. with the local canals. The chief advantage, however, which the proposed canal has over all other canals yet constructed on the Colorado river, is that, by very clever engineering device, our engineers have succeeded in eliminating entirely the difficulty of handling the silt. I will not go into this question, however, as our vice-president, the leading dredg- ing engineer on the Pacific coast, will explain it in detail.
 At the end of ten years the expense of construction and the chief expense of repairs will all have. been paid, and you will have the canal in such con- dition that you can afford to operate it at much lower cost than we can pos sibly do during the first few years when the expense must necessarily be very heavy. Gentlemen, it too must be ob vioss to you that if we retain control of the canal permanently, as you seem to desire, we would not take it for our health's sake, and you would have to pay much more per acre than if you operated it yourselves. I have heard it stated that the farmer feels that he has not the executive ability to operate and handle the canal. That may be true in it's earlier stages, but when the canal is in perfect working order with out silt to handle, there should be no difficulty.
 "I have heard it suggested, that un- der our contract, we propose to charge interest on the deferred water right payments from the date of signing the contract. This, gentlemen, is incOr- rect. The interest will not begin to run, nor will dollar be asked from you until the canal is constructed and the water is actually ready for delivery at your land, that is to say at the near est point in the canal to your lands, for we do not propose to build the lat erals. If there is any doubt in your minds as to the actual meaning of the contract in regard to the terms or the times when payment is to be made, we are perfectly willing to modify the con- tract or alter it in such manner as will satisfy you that you will not be called upon to pay anything until the water is ready for delivery. Another objection have heard raised, do not think it is substantial objection, is that we require these water rights signed for the purpose of enabling us to raise money to build the canal. Now, gentlemen, if you will look at the case fairly and squarely, 1 think that you will see that, if we had intended to f. nance our canal on the security of these contracts, we would not have given you the easy terms we have. Under these contracts we cannot col lect one dollar until the water is ready for delivery. It must, therefore, be clear to you that there would be cOnsid- erable difficulty in raising any money on the security of a contract which is only good in the event of our complet- ing the canal. No, gentlemen, we require