Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1912-09-30

!
the National irrigation Congress was
opened today in the city of its birth
An elaborate musical program, ad
dresses of welcome and the response
by Senator Francis G. NewIands, pres
ident of the congress, we're the fea
Tabernacle, which was crowded to its
capacity.
Miss Lucille M. Francke, queen OF
the congress, opened the congress by
royal proclamation following the sing
irs of "The Star Spangled Banner"
amid the waving of thousands of small
! American flags.
George A. Snow, chairman of the
Utah Board of Control, Governor
Spry, and Mayor Samuel c. Park. ex-
tended welcome on behalf of Utah
organizations, the state and the city.
General Marshall personal repre-
sentative of President Taft delivered
a message from the president. He said
the president had deep interest in
the advancement of irrigation and
vas in hearty sympathy with any ac'
tIcn the congress might see fit to take
on behalf of the farmer.
The following message from Gov.
ernor Woodrow Wilson was read by
Senator Newlands:
"Please express to the National IT.
rigation Congress my hearty approval
of the policy it is met to promote
and especially of the policy of the
suppIementing bank and levee pro-
lection by storage OF flood waters
above for irrigation and water power,
turning floods from a menace into
blessing and at the same time abund-
ant feeding naveabIe streams"
Salt Lake City, Sept. 30.-ln the
building of the Panama canal and the
carrying of vast irrigation projects,
the efficiency of democratic form of
/ government as constructive force in
the world is on trial, according to
Senator Francis G. Newlands, who as
president spoke today before the Ma
tional Irrigation congress.
At the outset Senator Newlands
said he opposed any attempt to i'm
pose heavy tolls on foreign ships for
their use of the Panama canal. 1T
is desirable that this great national
public utility should in the end be
self-compensatory" he said, land that
the tolls should cover administration
and create sinking fund for the
bonds. So far as our coastwise trade
is concerned, the canal should be con-
sidered part of our inland water
ways, upon which it has been Gus
tomary, Notwithstanding the large ex
penditures of the government in the
interest of navigation, to impose no
restrictions or burthens, but the loss
occasioned by such remission should
be frankly imposed upon the federal
treasury and not upon ships engaged
in foreign trade.
Foreign countries could justly OBJ
ject to the imposition of the entire
cost of administration and bond re-
demption upon foreign ships; they
cannot object to the payment of their
proper proportion, determined by their
relative tonnage
"The curbing of the Mississippi
river floods, and the generation of
great power from the conserved wa
ters are both prospective fruits of the
irrigation projects" Senator Newlands
said. He declared the storage of wa
ter for power would reduce the cost
OF storage of water for irrigation. !
Outside of the great basin all the
waters in the arid region are tribu
taries to great navigable streams and
there the national power regarding
the storage and the utilization of wa
ter rests not merely upon the owner
ship of the public domain, but upon
the nations control of navigation and
OF navigable streams under the inter-
state commerce power" he said.
"The development of such navigable
rivers with their source streams nec-
essarily involves the treatment of
each river and it's tributaries as a unit
from source to mouth and the COM
way as TO maintain an equal flow for 7
navigation. This involves the lower
ing of the flood flow and the raising
OF the ebb flow SO as to secure stand. ,
ard flow suitable for navigation. Such .
control therefore necessarily involves
not only as heretofore bank and levee .
protection in the lower reaches of
each river with a view to maintaining
a fixed channel of suitable depth, but
also the control of the flood waters
above in the tributaries and source
streams in such way as to mitigate
the destructive violence of the floods
to prevent their devastating flow to
the ocean and to hold the waters in
suspense in the protected forests, in
the depths of cultivated fields and in
artificial reservoirs in such way that
they will supplement the ebb flow of
the river in time of drouth and mean
while be used for beneficial purposes
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