Gunnison news-champion., 1909-02-26
0.uuus 4 uanu - eoun 0sm.s
Coa1sH-.a from Fssss Pase.

tong si tssssa tine Iort ~ ttse
governmental machinery knows no,
stsaa the other ,s doing - IN eA-
smpk-W.th prudent, far pessksaS
foresight. the aovernmeut ~ssAdrss
from entry over . township Il land
near the hesdWsiers of 0unnssoa
river As q reservoir SITE IN csse ii =
very probable shos, ,Aee in ske wssss
supply for It's Gssnisoa tsssel IRA
gst'oa project ~hea cosnpletsd.
The being lover down the river
and IN watershed of which Cuksto.
pa creek forms q part. aud now .
part of this same prudent depart
'nest 10 generously giving s~sy q
part of the Cochetupa 10 be diverted
from this watershed aud over con
tinea,al divide.
The government ls very sol,c,toas
in its endeavors not to break faith
-r treaty obligations with Mexico IN
regard 10 waters of Rio GraDde
Should nation break faith with iis
own citizens any more than with y
foreign nation' Colorado, ON enter
ing the union as a state was gwen
the night 10 use all streams within
her borders and nov the government
not onl Y assumes that right, bui
SAYS where they shall be used
| From whence and when did the
government derive its power in tax
ing the Irrigatlng waters away from
IT'S present users and supposed own
ers aud giving them 10 new set of
users! Is there no priority of
rights or no anything that is stable
IN this country, or not liable to sud
den emotional executive changes?
Where are we at and whittier are We
driitInRY The doctrine Of taking
water from its riehtful, natural pos
SCISSORS and giving it to some Others
who at the time CAIN they can put
1t to more valuable use is as pernl-
cions as 1T is mischievous, for when
ITS rightful owners grow to the per
iod when it is as valuable or even
needed more by them, how are they
then to get back Their rightlul
property?
Stripping this question from all
local interests and prejudice and
treating on the broader grounds OF
human rights. All government is
founded on the principle of the
greatest good for the greatest num-
ber Granting this Has state or
nation the right to confscate a part
OF the estate Of minor ward, be-
cause at THAT TINE the confscat-
ed part would do more good TO
greater number Of its citizens else
where? We OF this slope are, 40
compared with older and larger
settled communities the minor ward.
1t is only three decades since this
section was a part of an Indian res
ervation. IL not the moisture of
tins slope as natural part Of its heri-
tage, when it 10 absolutely vital and
necesary TO its industries as is the
rainfall Of an ea..tern state to ITS in
habitants? Supposing it were pos
sible for " through some invention
or departmental ruling to take away
and deprive an eastern state Of it's
rainfall and have it fall on our
900 per acre land where il is
moro needed, because the la.d in
said state was not % valuable, or had
not had time to be settled - thickly
as ours. How long would that
eastern state tolerate such . confis.
catory doctrine? Yet this is what
we are expected to meekly submit
to. Are not the irrigating waters of
a watershed 10 much a part of it's
natural inherent rights as is the
rainfall of an eastern state q part of
theirs? The only difference is that
our moisture is deposited in a form
that it can be larcenized and thus
excites the cupidity of unscrupulous
promoters not TO say the over offici-
ousness of meddling department.
Representatives of the now res
directing and once mighty empires
of Egypt and Babylonia are sert
here TO study and copy our advanced
methods in irrigation; but wager
not the slipshod departmental rul-
ings that are guiding and controlling
this reborn and mighty method Of
human industry
Knows the East not that the vast
stretches Of sage brush mesa land on
this slope which our eastern friends
C ontemptuously call the country of
magnificent distances" 10 . garden
rich in disinte grated eraptive rocks
laden with phoephates and other
elements, rich in plant life, and like
the soil arosnd the bases Of Vesuvi-
% and Etpa where an Jtaliaa MN.