The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1905-01-25
ut is urged that the immigrants, the

abide the result of the states investi.
CATION and will not be contested in the
courts. Only those that are in doubt.
The water rights that are claimed, but
do not exist, the speculative filings and
holdings will be contested, @ill be in lit
igation and it will be hard to sell some
such speculative prospects until they
are actually defined. And it is the spec.
ulator, and not the farmer who is con.
| tent to toll for his money who has some.
thing to sell and needs to sell it. Such
men would prefer no doubt to first sell
out their inchoate water rights and
glowing prospects and let the lawsuit
to determine these rights arise later on.
"Another class of opposition to the
bill arises from some gentlemen who
object to creating the administrative
officers who would be created by the code
to carry out the provisions thereof.
| These men have an honest but un.
grounded fear that the rights of the
people will be infringed upon. But an
examination of the code will show that
these officers are to prevent wrongdoing,
and loss and damage, and the law abid-
ing citizen, who respects his neighbors'
| rights has nothing to fear from the bill;
one might as well object to the Office of
Judge and sheriff as to the officers Gre
ated by this bill.
aft a man steals water from his neigh.
Dor, or wilfully wastes water to the
detriment and loss of his neighbor should
he not be made to cease from so doingl
The code makes such action as misde-
meanor, but goes further and endeavors
to prevent such wrongs by empowering
the water commissioner to lock mans
gate so as to give him his water and no
| more, or in proper cases he may rotate
the supply of water as is needed under
great system like the Sunnyside ca.
nal
"'An ounce of prevention is worth a
pound of cure and wise and efficient
administrative system as provided by
the code will prevent the subsequent
wronging and r,linous lawsuits, and the
oftentimes irreparable damage entailed
by the abuses that cannot be prevented
under the present system.
"The subsequent law providing for
the posting of notice of appropriation
upon the bank of a stream does not
change in effect the old system so as to
remedy. in any degree, the old defects.
SIS this system to continue! Are the
future appropriations of individuals and
companies of individuals. to be left In
jeopardy to be later settled by contests
| compared with which the case of Long
mire VS.. Smith willappear timid? Is there
any reason why the wise principles of our
land laws and registry laws should not
be adopted to and extended to the wat
ers of the statef These along with reg
ulation of the water rates and the res
toration of riparian rights, principles
which are the very life Of the proposed
code, are not attacked by the gentle
men who so vigorously oppose its adop-
ton. Public attention is, however, side.
tracked to the bugbear of the litigation
to be started by the proposed code. The
code provides for the investigation and
determination of water rights by the
state in suit where the state will look
after the interest of such settler as
| against all other claimants not by some
powerful interests in suit where, as
under the present method, every man
must fight his own battle.
"Under the present system of adjud-
ication, be it also recommended, single
lawsuit or nalf dozen lawsuits does
not settle the water rights on a stream
system. Nothing is settled except the
rights of the litigants as against each
| other. We have lawsuits now that do
not establish title. The code provides
state investigation that does settle
water rights once for all.
"The regulation of the rates provided
by the code is a great advance over the
present lack of regulation. If the exten.
sion of this principle, suggested in the
amendments from Sunnyside, can carry
in the legislation, so much the better.
'The great aims Of the BILL" said Mr..
Bridgeman in conclusion, "is to secure
the waters of the state to the tiller of
the soil VINO will actually use the water
and to prevent speculation in the waters
by those who profess to have valid IT,
tie to some water which they have new
er used, and which, perhaps, isn't in the
river; the holders of the vested sights
have nothing to fear from this bill and
they have very much to gain in that it
provides an effective, simple and inexpen-
sive method Of determining their rights,
and putting them once and for all on .
sure foundation. The Spectators who