Los Angeles herald., 1910-09-23

we should not express any opinion or
take sides in the matter"
The mayor asked Mulholland to
make a few remarks and the CHER
engineer was received with applause
MUCH WATER IN DRY YEAR
"This paper is a very brief treat
ment of a very large subject" said Mr..
Mulholland. The figures named may
be far from acceptable either to this
council or the people who are to re-
ceive the water They were presented
merely to open wide this discussion,
and are not to be taken as conclusive.
I will say that we are more confident
than ever that the promise of 2O,00O
inches of water will be fulfilled.
This is the first year since l have
known the Sierra when the snowfall
has been almost wiped out, and 1t is
one of the dryest years in the owens
valley we have experienced, yet with
those drawbacks there is now more
than 10000 inches in the watershed.
I feel confident that this council and
the other bodies who have to deal
with this subject will do so wisely and
for the best interests of all"
John B. Miller, president of the
Southern California Edison company,
asked to be heard, but he declared he
wanted to talk about power and not
water distribution. The mayor an
nounced that several sessions for the
discussion of the power phase of the
subject would be held and Mr.. Miller
said he was willing to wait for one
of these sessions.
Joseph Simons then asked Mr.. Null
holland to define what he meant by
the term "bonus'' in his report.
Mulholland replied that he meant
premium for putting the water on the
land or carrying it to the boundaries
of municipality.
]. Edward Kent of Pasadena wanted
to know if the bonus was the total cost
of furnishing the water to municipal
ity, and Mr.. Mulholland replied that 1t
was not, for an annual rental was
provided in addition.
PASADENA IN MARKET
Mayor Farley of Pasadena was the
first of the participants to make
speech He told how Pasadena was
anxious to get some of the owens
river water, but that Pasadena did not
know itself just how much 1t wanted
or what it was willing to do to get II.
He said that by the time the water
reached a point where 1t could be DIS
tributed the smaller municipalities that
expected to be served by Los Angeles
would have figured out their wants.
Joseph SimOns followed Mayor
Farley.
1T is not what are we going TO 90
with the water, but what are we going
to do that we are not done out OF the
water" said Mr.. Simons. He declared
the prices suggested in Mulholland S
report were much too low and that the
city should not dispose of it for
bonus of $50 an acre because 1t was
worth 5000 an acre.
Don't be frightened. Don't let any
one stampede YOU" he admonished'
mood Cl1pb
as we have in office. We need just
such men as the old iron-gray with
the steel nerve who presides over this
meeting. And we have a council that
is going to back him up"
The mayor then called for Lee c.
Gates, and Mr.. Gates said:
GATES TELLS FUTURE NEEDS
! "The city of Los Angeles some years
| ago was at the parting of the ways
| We had reached a place where we We're
asking, What shall we do for Watery
! Then il was that we went abroad ana
| got so much water that we are con-
| fronted with this dilemma. We have
a plethora Of wealth. We need 1000
! inches of water for our domestic use
! and we have 10000 inches, leaving us
| $4,000 inches to dispose of now But
! this surplus is only a surplus so long
| as the city does not need it for its own
| QOIneSllC uses. but LOS Angeles VIII
grow so that some day we will need
| all this water
"Who is there who can say how
many thousands of citizens will be
| here? Take the case of Pasadena, for
instance. Unless Pasadena becomes a
part of Los Angeles the time will come
when Los Angeles can sell it no more
water. The water we have in the
Owens river supply win serve 2,500,0OO,
and in fifty years we will have that
number here"
Mr.. Gates pointed out that contracts
for the lease Of the water should be
made so that the water can revert to
Los Angeles when needed for domestic
consumption.
Mr.. Simons asked Mr.. Gates If the
water once sold to one farm could be
taken away and sold to another farm
that offered a higher price. Mr. Gates
replied that the water could not be
sold at all without the consent of
two-thirds of the voters Of the city
and that he did not believe twG-thirds
Of the voters would ever consent to
an outright sale. He declared that if
it was leased 1t would depend on the