Arizona republican., 1907-06-15

/ thinking reader as well as The Re-
! publican. The building Of the diver
! sion dam has been undertaken by the
/ government and is progressing nicely.
! IL is apparent to those who are close
| ~ following the conditions. that if con-
| struction is maintained with the pres
ent vigor this structure viii be finish
| ed next summer. But il has been the
policy of the government from the be-
ginning. not to get ahead Of the peo-
pie. though in various phases of the
Salt river project it has more than
kept faith b. working up TO the limit
of all promises and sometimes taking
for granted the favorable action of the
people a little in advance Of that ac-
ton.
Ii is recalled that in the beginning
the Granite Reef feature even after
made public. was entered upon with
string tied to it. In other words it was
a part of the distributing system which
was not to be authorized until the set
Element of priorities and until good
progress had been made in clearing
away the preliminaries to the appor-
Torment of water TO specific parcels
Of land by the government. The peo-
pie pledged their acquiescence to this
plan through the Water Userso assoc
citation and began the work now un-
der way. of determining these rights.
Almost simultaneously and before any
great progress had been made i'm this
direction, the government began the
construction now well under way at
Granite Reef. Had il rigidly adhered
to its initial demands. that enterprise
would hardly Vet have been decided
upon, but it knew fun well the needs
Of the valley. had confidence in the
purpose Of the people to make good
their pledge of faith. and special con-
fidence in the officers of the Water
Users association and the government
engineers. locally stationed. who as
sured the Washington authorities of
the urgency of the situation as well as
the entire good faith Of the people.
The essence OF all this. and il is
again cautiously explained that the ut
terance is not inspired by any official
source, is that the government does
not propose to have finished Granite
Reef dam on it's hands until it knows
who 1t Is going to serve water to,
though if these valley conditions are
can be no doubt that the dam will be
simultaneously finished undertaking
The recent incidents in connection
with the water suit are most encour-
aging for this local settlement. where
fore ii may be said that the prospects
for the Granite Reef dam are most
fiattering and in consequence there
OF, an uninterrupted continuance of
that prosperity which began here dur
ing the past winter. continued with
accelerating speed until the natural
lull on the approach of hot weather.
and which will be taken up with re-
newed vigor in the early fall The
valleys creates. prosperity is yet 10
come In the settlement of ten thousand
families in small farm homes in the
few years that are Immediately to fol-
low. What has thus far occurred has
heen in great measure speculative. |
That is the people with money realiZ-
ed the future and realized that valley
lands were ridiculously cheap. They
bought, sold and bought again. etc
But even with That. and the consequent !
increase of fifty per cert in the price !
of lands, acreage is still held at bar
gain prices when the productivity of |
the soil and water are considered. to- !
sether with the possibilities Of near |
by markets. Lands Will yet double IN !
price before the opportunity for en- /
speculative profit taking shall :. .
way 40 the permanent prosperity Of |
the intensive tilling of the soil And |
meantime many who have this idea ]
as tiieif primary OBJECT. are coming ia /
and acquiring homes. thus getting the |
benefit also of a measure of the spec |
uiative profits