The Ellensburg dawn. [volume] (Ellensburg, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1905-12-21

so that the claims of the Indians viii
never disturb the rights of the present
irrigatOrs, and also insures the bring
ing under irrg ation of many thousands
of acres of land which otherwise would
lie idle.
This leaves for settlement at home
by our people the claims Of those who
are now irrigating from the river, and
its tributaries, and those who are using
the water of the river for power por
poses. The government will not ad
just the claims of power, as it was sug
gested in the Republic few days ago
That is claim that we will have t.
settle just the same, as the claims Of
all other private users of the stream
The matter is now squarely up to US
Heretofore we have not had the ap'
prOval of the secretary. We now have
his approval and his assurance that if
the difficulties in the way are settled,
construction will commence soen. The
settlement of these difficulties will be
of incalculable benefit to our people
and to our valley. 1t makes the water
rights absolutely sure for all time to
come: avoids lawsuits, and will pro-
mote good feeling throughout the val
ley. The commencement of the work
means not only the reclamation of the
lands under the Tietan and Sunnyside
projects, but ultimately, and as rapidly
as the work can progress and money is
available, the reclamation of 10000
acres in Kittitas and 2000 acres in
what is known as the Leadbetter pro-
ect, at total cost of eight, ten or
twelve million dollars. The eXpendi-
ture of this money alone will be worth
our population of thousands of people
The reclamation of lands means thou
sands of settlers, and thousands of peO-
pie in the towns and cities. With
these thousands of people will come
manufacturing establishments of which
we have not heretofore dreamed. 1t is
almost inconceivable that any man will
be unwilling to concede much in order
that this great work may go on. To
everyone who owns property it means
Il doubling in value. Ii this is true,
and | believe it is. we can concede
twenty-five or even fifty per cent. and
still be ahead, financially and other
wise.
| we let this opportunity pass, we
are plunged into an endless and eXpen-
sive litigation which will either direct
ly or directly involve every water user
from kennwick to CleElum. At the
end the cOurt-one man-will dis
tribute the water that is in the river
and he cannot distribute any more) to
to those whom he finds entitled to use
it. In this distribution he will spread
out the water just as thinly as possible.
He will make it go just as far as he can
The most economical use will be re-
quired, and very likely each man will
be told Just when he can use his water,
as was done in the Wenas. 1t seems to
me that the people themselves ought
to be able to make better distribution
than any court, and especially since so
much will accrue from an amicable
settlement. We should emulate our
friends in Kittitas county. Without
half the interest that we have, they
come much nearer the proper settle
ment, for their project not yet specifi
cally approved they have made conces-
sions which, if followed by our people,
would soon solve one of our most diff
cult problems. am glad that they are
so situated that they will get great
benefit from the expenditure of so
much money in the construction of res
ervoirs, without having to wait for
actual work on their project. Private
capital cannot come into our territory
with the water rights unadjusted, even