Arizona republican., 1912-08-18
Large and Earnest Meeting of Water Users Assem- bled to Consider the New Form of Contract for IT. rigation Water
WAS UNANIMITY
 OF OPPOSITION
Engineer Hill Appeared by Request and Explained
 the Circumstances Sur rounding the Preparation of Contract and Purpose

WHEREAS, an order recent ly formulated by the officials in charge of the Salt River recla- nation project with the approval of the office of the Secretary of the Interior making radical chan ges in the method of delivering irrigation water and the manner of collecting payment therefor has been made public, which or der was made without consulta- tiOn with the users of water or their official representatives, and
 WHEREAS, in our best judg- ment the provisions of said or
 der are impracticable. inadequate, negotiable, oppressive, and con trary to law in that the mechan- ical difficulties of the measure ments proposed are so great as to render hazardous at all times the probability of a sufficient uninterrupted flow of water. that the normal amount proposed to be furnished is insufficient to se- cure the best results and the scale of charges for additional water is calculated to make the total charge prohibitive, that the needs of different crops and different soils vary so widely that the or der is subversive of the doctrine which has prevailed since the in ception of the project, that the
 measure of water shall be it's
 beneficial use; that the provision of the order requiring water users to grant rights of way through
 their lands for service and waste
 ditches is contrary to the provi-
 sion of the Constitution of the
 United States which provides
 that private property shall not
 be taken for public use without
 due compensation, and
 WHEREAS, the cost of in
 stalling the necessary measuring
 apparatus will aid materially to
 the already excessive cost of the
 project, and
 WHEREAS, the present meth
 cd of delivering and payment is
 reasonably satisfactory therefore,
 BE TT RESOLVED, by us. the
 Land owners Protective Associ-
 ation annd the users of water
 under the Salt River Project;
 that we unqualifiedly condemn
 said order for the reasons above
 set forth.
 The passing of the above resalu ton and the appointing of com mittee of one member from eac council district, the chairman of tn meeting, John R. Norton, to be tn chairan of the committee, to confe with the board of governors at it meeting to be held on Monday. wa the finished work of the called meet ing of the Land Owners Protectiy association held yesterday afternoo in the Water Users building. I'll members of the committee besiC Chairman Norton are: George Wa ters, Sam F. Webb, J. P. Ivy, E. Jack, John Bradshaw, w. B. Twi chell. M. B. Fuqua, John Dobson. Ds vid Wallace and Jack Stewart.
 In addition also d form of petite was prepared addressed to the secrt tary of the interior. asking for revocation of the contract This, is understood will not be circulate until after the meeting of the con mittee and the board on Monds when if some other desirable a engagement is made it is possible never will be circulated.
 THE MEETING
 The assembly hall in the Wat Users building was crowded to capacity when the meeting began al there was some talk of adjournil to the city plaza but it was decid' that the business could better conducted in the building Preside T T Powers of the association b ing absent John R. Norton VI made chairman of the meeting. Sc retary o. c. Thompson and Assista Secretary sam Barrett being in the places MT. Norton stated the O ject of the meeting and a general di cuSSiOn followed most of it direct to the main questions. There we many speakers but principal amol them were sam F. Webb, H. A. Blu trin, James Johnson and MT. Bar ley. of Glendale It was learned that Supervisil Engineer Hill had arrived in t city and a motion was passed tn either MT. Hill, Project Engine Fitch, or Engineer Reed be invit to address the meeting and eXpla the nature of the objectionable co tract. that the farmers might knc exactly what is meant by it from t viewpoint of the reclamation servit Almost at the same time MT. H Continued on Page D.