Arizona republican., 1909-10-21
Said Sec'y. Ba|Iinger Speak
 ing Of Salt River Valley TOO EARLY TO REALIZE
What the Roosevelt Project Is Bringing To It. - De- partment's Policy - MT. Ballinger Briefly Dis cussed Power Contract

Secretary of the Interior Ballinger returned last last night from Roose- welt, where he made a brief inspection of that. the greatest of all the reclama- ton projects. He probably learned nothing about it that he did not all ready know though a visual observa- ton of it gave him a clearer impress sion of what he had heard of it.
 That it is a great work. MT Ballin- ger did not think it was necessary for him to say. but he said that the ef- feet of it on this valley could not at this time be fully realized. There will be water for all purposes and as much of it as will be needed to get the most out of the land which lies under it. In his opinion the productive power of the more than 200, GOO acres which will draw life from the dam will be a marvel to the agricultural world.
 Mir Ballinger believed that once the possibilities of the valley are under stood there will be attracted here a large number of people of substance from all parts of the country. And" he added. that is just what you want. No other kind of settler will have any business here or under any other rec lamation project. There will naturally be a burden which a man without money cannot undertake unless he is an exceptionally resourceful man. Such a man might succeed but such men are comparatively few. But the man with some money and judgment will find here an admirable opportunity 10 increase his substance"
 MT Ballinger said that he had made the same observations in a speech at Spokane and that it called down upon him the criticism of former Governor Pardee of California, but he said that there can be no gainsaying of the truth of it when one takes into consid erstion the conditions attending the construction of a costly government plant which must be paid for. It is a great investment for those who have man cannot make an investment in anything.
 Speaking of the policy of the de- partment with reference to reclama tion work, Mir. Ballinger said that henceforth the energies of the service would be devoted to cleaning up all that was now under way but ne re- peated what he had said in nearly all of his addresses that no work or no new features of existing work could be undertaken for the reason that there was now no money to carry them on.
 The thing that is now more immi- nently before the department is to make the adjustment Of the reclama- ton fund required by the national irri- gation act which provides that the ad justment shall be made within ten years after the passage of the act That will be in 1912. when there must be returned to every state fifty per cent of the proceeds of the sale of lands within such state under the act.
 MT Ballinger said that as fast as money accumulated the work of rec lamation would be prosecuted in the states to which the money belonged and he was hopeful of congressional action which would facilitate the work of reclamation throughout the west.
 The secretary, though tired with his journey. said that the road from Mesa to Roosevelt was a fine piece of en- gineering, possessing the finest grades of any mountain road he had seen. At present the road is not in very good shape. having been badly cut by the heavy traffic. The government, having so nearly finished its work at Roose- welt. would be unable to expend any more money in making repairs of the road but he presumed that it would be put into good shape and kept in good shape by those who had an in terest in that famous thoroughfare.
 one feature of the Roosevelt project of which he spoke was the power which would be developed, 5000 h.p.. the sale of which he said would not only maintain the dam and the sys- tenn, but would be a source of revenue to water users for all time to come.
 It was an easy transition to the question of the so-called power con tract which has been the subject of attack. He said it would naturally be the policy of the government to give the preference to municipalities in the sale of power but in this par ticular case he was not aware that any municipality was in the market for power
 In this connection Mir. Ballinger incidentally stated that he favored the municipal ownership of lighting plants and he referred to the experience of Seattle. But the question of munich pal ownership had not been brought up for consideration in this case. The contract with the Pacific Gas and