The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1909-10-27

80 wasted grows greater every yea
and must continue to increase unit
our statutes regarding the appropri
alton OF water are overhauled ant
present claims a~djudicated. AS tn.
law now stands, any person can file {
claim for any amount of water hi
chooses to indicate on any stream IL
the state. regardless of how many
prior claims exist on that stream, OF
whether there is q drop of unappro'
priated water in it or not, and the
records of the state are numbered and
confused by such conflicting claims,
the efficiency of which no man car
discover without going to an enor.
mously expensive lawsuit, which in.
wolves no less q task than bringing sui,
against every claimant on the stream
contrary to the interest be seeks to
establish.
To illustrate how the records are
numbered by these conflicting claims,
The Tribune was informed some time
ago by q competent irrigation engin.
Ger, who had occasion to look the
matter up, that the claims to the use
OF water from Belt creek in this coun-
ty duly filed at the county court
house call for more inches of water
than flows in the Missouri even at
flood time in this county. It is ap.
parent that q vast number of these
prima facie water rights as disclosed
by the county records must be abso-
lutely worthless in law and equity.
Yet the effect of their appearing on
the records is to cloud the title of the
really good claims, and it is a very
hard thing for any man to ascertain
what titles to water are any good and
what are worthless. or course evry
man who holds one is fully convinced
that his title is good, and is ready to
defend 1t in court, and sometimes out
OF court with a shotgun.
1t is nearly ten years ago that n
attempt was made to remedy this state
OF aft airs by patriotic and far-sighted
men in this state. Professor Fortier,
then director of the United States ex-
perimental station at Bozeman, and
one OF the most distinguished irriga-
tion experts In the world, sought in
conjunction with the state engineers /
society of this state to frame a new
irrigation law that would obviate the
clouding OF titles of irrigation
and bring order out of chaos in
present system or lack of system.
He framed up an irrigation code mod
eled on the Wyoming law as modified
by The best expert experience, had it
approved by the State Engineers So
and presented for passage at a
meeting of the legislature in Helena.
Professor Fortier received the reward
is usually handed out to reform.
srs. A delegation of farmers and
others who would have been mostly
benefited by the proposed legislation,
appeared In protest at Helena, with
allegation that the bill was only
designed to make new jobs for engin-
at the expense of the taxpayer
was, in fact, a big graft. They
defeated the bill easily because the
men who got it up and bad no personal
interest in it apart from the public
interest threw up their hands in dis
gust at the opposition and retired
Helena.
Since that time, it may be recorded
here as an example of poetic Justice
hat time usually brings to even things
up, most of the men active in defeat.
ing that bill have been called on to
pay out very large sums of money to
defend their title in the our to the
OF the west Gallatin river,
which result would have been alto.
gether avoided under the terms of the
bill. Their hindsight is now better
Than their foresight.-Great Falls Tri-
.une.