The Imperial press., 1904-11-26
DIRECTORS MEETING
Water Users' Association official
 Report

whereby t Will tc transferred from pfiVate tu public ownership during the ia-t six weeks than all previous efforts combined.
 President W. P. Holt and Delegate Chas S Lombard were particularly suc,-,--siu boo making arrangements with Thavcr X Rankin. one vd the must prominent law firms in Washington, D C.. to represent the lml-rial Valley Water Users' Association iu its effort tu st-curr public ownership ot the Imperial canal system through the assistance ot the Reclamation Bureau. lt Is under stood the terms are retainer Ice ct e3SJu and contingent t-c ut 0O,uOO acres of water rights in the Republic ot Mexico. Thcsc bO,OJO acres ot Mexican water rights ap to br given tu the Washington attorneys contingent upon public ownership obtaining; not the profits of the water rights entirely but merely ui the lasv chargr, the lmIerlAl Valley Water Users Association tu rr- iaiu the water rentals arising from these 5000 acres ut Mexican water righ,s.
 Thus. II the Washington attorneys succeed iu selling these water sharrs to Mexican land owners 1t will inmcdi- atrly make minimum income ot fifty cents py.r acre, or $25 ,O0 ger anuum to the treasury of the Water Users Asso- citation. and. ii the Mexican land owners us. full four feet of water ler acre. Il will mean au income oi s2.OO per acre to the Imperial Valley Water Users Association, or tl0O.OOO ger annnm.
 Ii will be remembered that Attorney Shirley C. Ward, oi Los Angeles, who until recently has been the attorney for the Imperial Valley Water Users Association, maintained the position that the California Development Co. had mo right io make a base charge Tor these Mexican water rights, and, Tor that matter, the -ame position is taken by ti--Chandler Syndicate. who arc the owners oi several hundred thousand acrrs of Mexican lands. The Otis Chandler Syndicate people say that under their contract they are entitled io water free of base charge but, of course, their lands will b,. subject to the usual rent oi fifty cenis per acre foot per anuum for as many water feet as they may use.
 IL is not our intention iu this article tO question either the claim oi the Oti=-C Chandler Syndicate people or the position which We understand the Cali fornia Development Co. las heretofore taken \ herein it claims that IL has right tO make base charge for the water Our only assertion Is that Attorney =. C. Ward took decided position a few months ago that the Cal iioruia Development Cn. had no right [" make a base charge for its water shares in Mexican territory under the contract as he interpreted t.
 If this position IT. true, then the con- tingrnt f'e to Thayrr & Rankin, coun- s..llor- at law, Washington, D. C., of 5000 acres oi Mexican water rights will amount to very little, in fact 1t will be a bagat.lle.
 Tue question las been raised where these water rights would find a home in Mexican territory unless some arrange meDts are made with the Otis Chandler Syndicate. The Water U-er-' AssOcia- tion, fl the present deal with the Cali forniA Development Co. gO'.s through, will be ihr owner of 5000 acres of Mexican land, and it has an abundance of water e. put on this land. therefore it is seli-eyideui that they would not purchase these water rights from the Washington attorneys; indeed, it is an ot@.n question whether these Mexican water rights would ever have any in- trinsie value whatever, unless some