The Arizona sentinel., 1904-06-15
\ SENSATIONAL TELEGRAM
Which Casts the Colorado Delta Canal Company in the Role of
 Obstructionist in Yuma Valley.
SEC'Y BENNETT DENOUNCES THE
 STORY.

obstructive and disturbing element in the carrying out of the Yuma national ] irrigation project. That is to say. the company proposes to contest the act passed by Congress giving to the recla- nation service prior rights on the Colo rado river to those of private cOmpan- ies. The dispatch in the Union also states "that an attempt will be made to curb the autOcratic powers of the secre- tary of the interior and have the na- tional irrigation policy administered hereafter by commission" There is an intimation also that the special act favoring the reclamation service was showed through sHrreptitiously. while the watch dogs of the private compan- ies were off guard. etc.
 Interviewed regarding the dispatch, Hon. William E. Smythe is quoted as 1 follows:
 Ut is true that congress authorized l the reclamation service to utilize the river for the irrigation of the Yuma reservation and adjacent arid lands and that the latter phrase is sufficiently comprehensive to cover all the terri tory which may be conveniently and economically watered from the dam which is to be built above Yuma. If this happens. while the watchdogs of the private companies were off their guard. as the dispatch states. 1t may be unfortunate for those companies. but certainly the public has'no ground for complaint. Both the Colorado river and the public lands which it con- mands are the property of the United States and congress certainly has a right to deal with them in the manner which it thinks will best subserve the interests of the American people. in cluding the settler who bears the en- tire cost of. the work.
 If congress had granted rights to private companies which 1t denied to the reclamation service there would be good cause for criticism ard complaint. As it is think the public will heartily applaud what congress did. There was no secrecy about this matter at all. The bill was favorably reported by the committees of both houses and received the usual publicity. If it's true signifi- canoe was not appreciated by the watchdogs of private companies, it was certainly understood by the mastiffs and terriers of national irrigation.
 "The Colorado Delta Company is composed of estimable business men, most of whom live in San Francisco. James D. Schuyler, builder of the Sweetwater dam. is it's consulting en- gineer. This company expected to take water from the river some miles above the Laguna dam to be built by the government, and to use 1t upon the very same lands which the government now expects to irrigate, on the Arizona side of the stream. | have talked with the representatives of the company and understood them to admit that they started the enterprise after the nation al irrigation law was enacted, after the interior department had withdrawn the lands from settlement, and even after the engineering parties were in the field. The law was passed on June r., 1902: the lands withdrawn June ?: and the engineering party began work in September. while the Colorado Delta company did not acquire it's interests in Arizona until the latter part of November, 1902. Probably these enter prising gentlemen did not believe the government really meant business. It is true that this company purchased the property of an earlier enterprise, dating back. 1 believe, to 1895. but the company which it acquired was irri- gating no land at the time, nor is the present company doing so today.
 ''The secretary of the interior cer tainly has great power under the na- tional irrigation law. but he exercises this power with the advice of the finest commission that could be created under any law l refer to the board of con- sulting engineers, composed of five of the most competent men who could be found in the United States. Mr. H. N. Savage of this city Is q valued member of the board and his associates are also men of wide experience and proved ca pacity, but long before any project is brought to the attention of the board of consulting engineers it has been subjected to the most careful inve5ti gation by the supervising engineer Of the district in which it Is located and his numerous assistants. Then it must run the gauntlet of the consulting board, then of the chief engineer of the tor of the geological survey. and final ly, of the secretary of the interior. In the case of very big things, like the projects on the Colorado river, it is likely that the president and the cabinet pass upon it also. is certain ly difficult to understand how the ad- ministration of the law could be i'm proved.
 "In conclusion, the matter mentioned in the dispatch should cause no uneasi- ness to those interested on the Cali f0rnia side of the. river. It relates