Arizona republican., 1909-10-28

Continued From Page l.)
 the cost of this project has been either unwarrantably or unfairly in creased It was all done at our own request, and the burden of the cost of the acquisition. enlargement and inn provement of the canals and the con- struction of the. Granite Reef dam which were originally our own burden was assumed at our request by the government.
 It is true, possibly. that the price that we will have to pay the govern ment is twice, or even more, than that we at first contemplated, but 1t is not twice. or more than twice. that which we had to pay to the government and to some other person or organization. The elements of our burden have not been increased at all. All the things being furnished us by the government had to be supplied. and I cannot as- sume that we would not have to pay for them Of course. we would not object to the extension of time for these payments over a longer period or a diminution of the amount
 Present Needs.
 It has long been contemplated by the reclamation service. and certainly very earnestly wished for by us. that other plants for the generation of cleo trical energy should be installed so that from them a revenue might be derived to materially reduce the cost to US or our irrigation works. This is perfectly feasible from an engineer ing point of view, and we have ready market for the power that might be thus generated at very satisfactory prices.
 The one difficulty is the lack of money in the reclamation fund. There has been allotted to this project suf- ficient money to finish the ORourke contract, to make some needed. en- largements of the old Arizona canal and the purchase of some of the south side canals. none for the installation of electrical power plants. With the expenditure of an additional million dollars on our project we can install power plants which will enable us to furnish power at the most conservative estimate, netting to us an annual revenue of from $500, 900 to $60O. .000 per year That means a reduction of our assessments for payment for the pro- ject of from s150 to $500 per acre per year, and after the payment to the government of the cost of the pro- ject, an assured revenue far in excess of the cost of operation. repairs and maintenance of the whole system; the service of water to the water users. in other words. cost and a large sur plus for new installations. This plan. as I have said. is perfectly feasible. but for the lack of money.
 President Taft has said that he was in favor of the issue of $10,000.0 900 of government bonds to supply money to complete these projects: but he also said that he was opposed to any ex- tension of time for repayment of the cost to the government. There are but two ways to get the money, and one is to get it from the government and the other Is to raise it ourselves. Of course. the other alternative is to forego these power plants and the splendid revenue.
 Now, shall we go to the government and ask for more money and in the same breath say that we can not or that we will not repay what we al- ready have obligated ourselves to pay? If we say that we can not pay. then the whole irrigation scheme of the valley must at once be declared failure. and we can not expect the government to sink more money in a project that does not justify the -ex- penditure already made.
 Now. the fact is that we can pay. or any representation that we have