Los Angeles herald., 1909-09-24
GUNNlSON DITCH
OPENED BY TAFT
PRESIDENT HAS EXCITING PAY
AT M0NTR0SE
COW GIRLS RACE FEATURE OF
COLORADO PROGRAM
Chief Executive Now on His Way to
Salt Lake City - Will Make
Brief Stop at
Provo
toontinued fram Page one'

president opened the tunnel. The bell
when set upon a copper plate repre-
senting the district of reclaimed land
made the needed electrical connection
which caused a squad of laborers, sew
eral miles away, to knock down the
bulkheads which were holding back
the waters of the river.
In all his speeches today including
the last one delivered at o'clock to-
night to a throng in Elk Park, follow
ing an Illuminated parade and dis
play of fireworks the president touched
briefly on the subject Of irrigation.
Makes a Promise
He promised at Grand Junction
promptly to look into the matter OF
completing the Grand Valley, or high
line ditch project there, which was be-
gun a year ago by former Secretary
of the Interior Garfiell on partner
ship arrangement between the govern
ment and the land owners.
Secretary Ballinger ordered the
work stopped and was upheld in his
action by Attorney General wicker
sham who declared the contract and
the "Garfeld currency" certificates,
which had been issued for work per-
formed, to be Illegal.
But one little incident marred the
presidents visit, and that was at the
conclusion of the tunnel opening TINS
afternoon when one of the 30 Colorado
sheriffs who have accompanied the
president across the state got into an
altercation with H. L. Daniels, super
intendent of the tunnel, when the lat
ter was trying to shake hands with the
president.
Mr.. Daniels was knocked down and
for a time trouble was threatened, as
his friends were quick to resent the
action of the officer, who, during the
struggle, drew a pistol from his belt.
The president heard the quarreling
and stopped for moment as he was
making his way to the train. He was
told there was nothing serious, how
ever, and proceeded.
Ballinger Speaks
Secretary of the Interior Ballinger,
who IS accompanying the president,
made a speech here tonight. He re-
ferred to the subject of reclamation
only in a general way, however, and
his talk was brief owing to a bad
throat.
ernoon the president shook hands with
several Indians.
In his Grand Junction speech Mr.
Taft said:
at seems to me, as I look back upon
my course since I reached Colorado,
that there has been nothing but flow
Of speech; but as the wonders of your
country open, it Is very difficult to re-
strain an expression Of the effect Of
these developments upon man who
has looked at them as I have. You
look at the country in some places and
1t seems the most God-forsaken spot
on earth. -
"Then you pass on mile or two
and you see the influence of water,
and it seems a paradise. 1t is almost
like the rubbing of Aladdin's lamp,
and in the production of such beauty,
such prosperity and such happiness
the stone which was rejected of the
builders has become the head of the
corner.
the valley has been done largely or
entirely by private enterprise, but
there are a good many enterprises that
involve the outlay of capital so large
or require so much risk that II prob
ably is better to have the government
pay.
Enterprise Just Begun
You have an enterprise here just
begun. What I propose to do is to
examine the situation with as much
care as possible and if the circum-
stances justify it to ask congress to
give us authority to take steps which
will enable the settlers ultimately to
reap the harvest that they have been
making so long and so hard a prepa-
raion for.
"The government of the United
States must move slowly. It is a great
body. It has TO move with delibera-
tion and it has to move-or its agents
have to moVe-within the lines of
law, but ordinarily the government uI-
ti.nately does justice if you can live
until that justice comes
Il agree sometimes that is little
difficult, but we shall struggle to do
the best we can in Washington"
Speaking in Montrose today, the
president said:
ST have felt thrilled today by the de-
scription of your resources in this val
ley. The truth is, I understand why
you go dry in these towns. It is be
cause this air has all the effect of
champagne without the bad dav that
follows. It is seen in the smiles of
your people, in their active step, in
their enterprise and in their optimism
Constitutions Power
''Your chairman has referred to the
paternalism of the government, and it
has made me think of the exact power
of the constitution which authorized
the United States government to go
into the business of marrying the wa
ter to your earth. I suppose that it
grew originally and probably will con-
tinue to exist by reason of the owner
ship by the United States O. the pub
lie domain which II is engaged in dis.
tributing to it's citizens, and that the
government felt authorized to assist
those who should settle the domain by
investing a large amount of money in
enterprises which could not be entered
upon by individuals because of the
risk of loss in order to ultimately en-
Courage a great and happy population
perhaps it was under the general
welfare clause which has been made
so much use of by each party when II
wanted to do anything which was of
doubtful power under any other
clause. However that may be. we are
in it and the great Gunnison tunnel
is built and this valley, with an un-
pronounceable name, is going to bios
som like the rose.
IT have been laboring under the i'm
preston for the last four or five days
that I was generally known to the
people of the United States so that
that they could not mistake me, but
II was reserved for a gentleman OF
your committee today when he and
were presented, to question my
won't say a certifcate-but I had tC
protest that I was what ! seemed t.
be. Now, that is a good thing.
"A man goes along in life and think!
he has achieved a certain position
and then every once in a while he gets
q jolt. He may get 1t from his wife
The truth is that in my family it II