Arizona silver belt., 1904-08-11
THE TONTO ROAD IMPOSITION

THE TONTO ROAD IMPOSITION
 Indications are not lacking to show that the people of the Salt river valley towns, who, upon the glowing repre- sentations of Engineer Hill and Pro moter B. F. Fowler and few others, of the gi eat benefit to accrue from the building of wagon road from the val lev oyer the mountain to the Tonto damsite. now regret their nasty action in voting S75, ,OO0 bonds to aid in the construction of such thoroughfare. which was to have no grade greater than SIX per cent from Mesa to the dam and be practicable for the hauling of heavy freight over it. We warned the Salt river valley people, while the project was under discussion, that the feasibility of the project had been ex- aggerated and that 1t was sure to be a losing investment for them, but the plausible talk of few interested par ties and boosters prevailed and the bonds were voted.
 The money pledged has already largely been expended in advance of the sale of the bonds, and the road is far from completion yet, and the re- cent rains have developed faulty engl- neering and construction along that portion of the road between the dam and Fish creek hill Quilt under the supervision of geological survey engi- neers) which has been considerably damaged from flood waters, and which will always be subject to the same dan ger during storm periods. That DOT tion of the road, too, is very narrow in places, and has number of short turns, making it impracticable for any thing but small teams.
 The Tempe people seem to realize that they are "up against it" on the Tonto road proposition, and judging from the Tempe News comments, are seekings loop hole through which they can escape the road bonds obligation.
 The News says "In view of reports which are being brought to Tempe, that people from this place have been discriminsted against in favor of ap- plicants from Mesa for work on the road, it is barely possible that the date of resdvertising the bonds may be postponed indefinitely. While expecting but little advantage from the construction of the road, Tempe cheer. fully voted to bear its portion of the cost of construction, and it would be very bad taste, to say the least, should the charge of discrimination prove to be true"
 The road from Mesa to the dam can never be fit for anything but light traf- fic and tourist travel. The farmers around Mesa will find market for their butter, eggs, chickens and garden truck, and the geological engineers will be enabled to drive to and from the metropolis of Phoenix with con- parative ease and comfort. These make up the sum total of the benefits which the Salt river valley people may expect to derive from the Tonto road. Aud while they have obligated them selves to pay S75,0 toward its con- struction, they will also be expected, in the end, to foot the entire bill for road construction, as the irrigation law provides that every dollar expend- ed by the federal government in re- clamation projects must be paid back by landowners who are to be benefited.
 Even with the best wagon road pos sible to be built, the Salt river valley could never control the freighting busi- ness to the dam. Surveyors are now in the field running line for the ex- tension of the railroad from Globe to the dam, and construction work on this extension will soon be under way. Meanwhile all the machinery and con- material to be used at the dam is going forward by teams from Globe.
 Last year there was an increase of