Arizona republican., 1906-05-06
ARIZONA CANAL
 WATER USERS ASSN.
Reorganization of Board Effected, and
 New Officers Elected.

There was a reorganization of the
 directorate and official roster of the
 Arizona Canal Water Users associa-
 tion yesterday that is of great import
 ance to that utilization of farmers and
 incidentally to the entire valley, for 1t
 is believed it means the solving of
 problems that have been not only em- barrassing, but might have ended in
 disaster.
 Under the provisions of the articles
 of incorporation the management is
 under the administration of the direc-
 tors elected by the stockholders and
 officers who may or may not be direc-
 tors. It is well known that the assO-
 citation has met with unexpected eX- pense and unusual troubles in the prOj-
 ect undertaken of getting water for the farmers under the Arizona for this year and next The result was the accu- mutation of an indebtedness that made
 financial assistance imperative. and the
 association had little to offer except its good name, which, by the way, is an invaluable asset, though not nego- tiable at the banks. Certain gentle men who were not interested in the directorate. though members of the as-
 sociation and as deeply interested in the welfare of the valley as anybody could be, have been advancing money and credit to the association, but their favors had been so large that they did not deem it wise business judgment to further finance it, at least, to the amount necessary, unless they were given complete control of its manage ment. They recognized that the direc- torate and officers had done nObly so
 far and have no criticism to offer, and
 only praise for their conscientious and
 .f hot If they were expected to furnish the credit for the completion of the enter prise and the performance of any new work that may be necessary, they should have charge.
 When this view of the situation was i placed before the management it was very promptly agreed with, for in reality the work done was a labor of ! love, or, rather, of patriotism to the l valley. At yesterdays meeting of the | board, therefore Fred A. Woolsey and ] Winfield Scott resigned as directors,
 F. F. Jack resigned the presidency. c. ! NJ. Etter the vice presidency, and Ralph Murphy the secretaryshfp. Frank AL
 Iire was elected president. B. A. Fow- Ter as vice president. J. w. Doris as l secretary. MT. Van der Veer was con tinued as assistant secretary and will | have charge of the office business. There will probably be one or two more changes in the board of directors to | give place to those connected with the
 new management.
 ! Emphasis should be laid on the fact | that the gentlemen who resigned did
 so on their own motion. willingly ana gladly. and only that they might facil-
 itate the success of that which all are
 most interested in. The spirit of har- mOny prevails, and there is no refiec- ! ton on any acts of the former board of l officers. On the contrary the old board, before resigning. ratified the ac-
 tiOn of Superintendent McDermott in his decision to construct a rock dam.
 made on the suggestion of the incom- | ing management. It also approved the hiring of R. H. Collins to have per sonal supervision of this work.
 It is announced by the new manage ment that it feels able to provide in some manner the necessary means for | carrying on the work and that there will be no stopping of operations at the head. There is a daily increased flow of water in the canal, and yester- day it had got as far west as lateral 15, north of Alhambra. Nobody is drawing any water from the canal yet, notwithstanding some groundIess re- ports to the contrary, nor will anyone
 be permitted to do so until the canal is thoroughly soaked up to it's termi-
 nus. The ZanjerOs and special men em- ployed for the purpose are riding the
 ditch constantly to see that there is no
 drawing of water unoffi"ialIy and that
 no headgates are tempered with.
 The kneynOte of the new manage
 ment is the square deal,' and it is in-
 tended to enforce absolute fairness in
 the distribution of water. This is men
 toned for the reason that during the former flow there was criticism of cer- tain parties who secured water irreg- ularly. There was then but imperfect organization for the enforcement of the rules, but now everything is arranged for and it will be an unfortunate man indeed who is caught taking water that does not belong to him. The con- ditions are reversed from the old days,
 when the farmers were 10th to com
 plain of each other, for each felt that
 if another got water from the company
 even irregularly, he was probably en-
 titled to it. In this case the stealing of water does not affect the association. which is purely cooperative, but af- fects every other member of the asso- eiation individually, and every one of them will be interested in catching any person who violates the rules. It is q case where the law, the association, and practically all the farmers are of one mind. The management feels com petent to protect the individual in his rights and is fully determined to do so.
 It should be mentioned in this ar ticle. also, that a number of farmers came to town yesterday under the mis- apprehension that there would be held the regular monthly stockholders meeting as customary before the in corporation of the association. It is explained to them that under the ar ticles these monthly meetings are done away with and the stockholders meet only annually or in special meetings, when summoned by the board.