Arizona republican., 1913-01-01
The Director Speaks of the Remarkable Advantages Enjoyed by the Water Users Under the Local Irrigation System
ONE THING NEEDED
 IS COOPERATION
Other Needs to Make Sys- tenn One of the Highest Efficiency; What Course May Be Taken With Res pect to Idle Lands

While addressing a meeting of the board of governors of the water users association esterday morning, Director Frederick H. Newell of the
 United States reclamation service de- iivered himself of some wholesome truths. They were not offered in a spirit of criticism, but were called out in the course of discussion of the matter of extending the time for repayment for the Salt River project. MT. Newell did not express himself as hostile to such an extension, but
 he believed that it would meet with opposition on the part of the people living under other projects.
 A member of the board having based the demand for an extension
 on some criticism of the reclamation service MT Newell addressed him. self to the alleged ground for com l plaint in the Salt River valley. He said he believed there was little
 cause for complaint He spoke of the wonderful productivity of the soil 1 and of the diversified crops and the i abundance of them that might be
 raised with intelligently directed eff l fort
 These complaints seem unjustifi-
 able. Here you enjoy the most fla vorable opportunities Your project costs you less per acre than any
 other under the service Your water rental is lower than under any other.
 You have a rich soil and long sea
 sons, whereas under some of the northern projects where the season is
 short the water users have to pay
 much more money and are not com- plaining"
 Now that the work of construction was complete and awaited only the | formal declaration opening it, MT. | Newell said that the next task was
 to prepare the water users to get the. most out of it. To that end there
 should be cooperation. Better meth
 ods should be employed. Those who
 were lax should be given examples of
 intelligent farming. It should be the
 aim of all to see that evefy farmer
 made a success of it. He would thus
 be made an advertiser of the valley.
 He would write to his friends in
 other parts of the country of his suc-
 cess; otherwise, he would write to
 them of his failure and it would be
 understood abroad that there was
 nothing but failure here.
 There should be cooperation also in the handling of the products of the valley Broader markets would be developed in this way, better prices would be obtained and better
 rates of transportation would be se-
 cured by associations formed for the
 handling of, say, alfalfa or any other
 product of the valley. This was not , T new thing. said MT. Newell; it was
 being tried successfully, under more adverse conditions by water users ? under other projects.
 ' The meeting began with a discus f sion of the subject of laterals on the 2 north side, concerning which reso- 2 lution had been adopted by the as D sociation last year, the work to be a paid for out of the fund created from : water rentals MT. Newell was asked 2 if the government would undertake
 this work He replied that the work e had been largely done and that now q more money is needed He said, Q though, that if the rights of way for 2 the laterals were secured by the as
 sociation he believed that the work O would be carried out. The rights of e way would have to be transferred to : the government, for, he said, it was II contrary to the established policy to l. expend money on ground that the government did not own.
 IS He suggested that the association It specify the laterals to be constructed d with the order in which they were $ to be constructed That was some Il thing that the reclamation did not 's care to undertake, on account of the if dissatisfaction which would arise be II cause this or that work had not beer r. taken up first
 ly The discussion of this subject le( l. up to the question. Where does con l struction end and where do opera er ton and maintenance begin? MT lg Newell replied that that was what al ep effort was now to be made to finC
 out; that was the thing for whicl in the conference of the chiefs of tn T. divisions had been called. He illu e. strated his own views on this sub en ject, defining construction, mainte e. nance. operation, betterment and neV le construction.
 CT The subject of turning over tn CT maintenance and operation of tn
 project was called up by Presiden e. Orme. MT. Newell said that he wa in personally in favor of doing that a
 (Continued on Page Nine)