Imperial Valley press., 1913-07-03
4 BUSE OF FRIENDS.
In the Progress yeste

ing Will \. Edgar of Imperial ha,
communication in which he said:
Il saw the Press desert and abuse
| its friends for pure commercialism
| saw the Standard steal the ideas ol
| its friends and put them forth as #.
own with the hope Of self aggrandize-
ment, and later abuse its old friends ir
| low effort to put itself in favor
with a new set Of people. ! saw the
Enterprise fall to the lowest ranks ol
degradation when it boosts for the
debauchery Of men and women anC
lies in the commercial interests of the
lowest class Of human beings on the
earth.
1t is presumed Mr.. Edgar speaks in
referring to the Press and Standard t.
the discussion on the organization Of
the irrigation district. 1t would be
inferred from the above that the edilcr
of the Press, then editor Of both the
Standard and the Press, afterwarJ
merged, was highly Incorporate and
abusive in the language used 1t may
be worth while to turn to the record
The following are typical extracts
from editorials in the Standard during
the district election campaign two
years ago:
June 1i-'The belief of the Wri
ter that there was a better method of
solving the problems of the valley than
through an irrigation district was an
honest belief and is as firmly fixed
now as ever But the issue has been
settled. The majority of the people
and the majority Of the property in
tereSts have gone on record by way
Of petition in favor of the irrigation
district. Accepting the district as al
ready endorsed by the people of I'm
perial valley, it becomes just as much
the duty Of this journal to aid in max
ing the district a success as it would
have been had this writer favored the
district form of organization"
June 23-"This journal is in re-
ceipt Of a communication from Mr..
Will A. Edgar, former director for
several years Of Water Company No.
and a gentleman for whom we have
much regard, The communication was
received after the editor had been
asked whether discussion of the
present water problems in form Of
a communication would be acceptable
and after Mr.. Edgar had been told
that it would be. This statement is
made in justice to Mr.. Edgar and in
explanation Of the policy Of this paper
But Mr.. Edgar'S communication pre-
Sents discussion Of the relative mer-
It's of the irrigation district versus the
mutual company, and this journal must
look on that subject as one which has
run its course and been settled by the
voice Of the people Of Imperial valley.
The present editor of this journal bore
The brunt of that discussion when It
was a live issue on the side which Mr.
Edgar now presents, and was overruled
by public sentiment, as expressed by
petitions Signed by the majority Of
voters and the majority of property.
That is the final answer to this ques-
ton as it must be to all questions"
June 26.-''Because it accepts The
verdict Of the people, thus expressed
against its own judgment as to the
best course Of procedure, there are
those who are questioning its honesty.
But this journal will not retaliate in
kind. AS it has said often, it honors
and respects the men with whom it
disagrees, and it most sincerely de
precates personal antagOnisms in dis
cussion Of public issues, for they
can lead nowhere but to continuance
Of chaotic conditions"
June PA communication sub
mitted to the Standard and which
was declined appeared elsewhere. 1t
was written in that Incorporate vein
which is altogether too common on
both sides in discussion of local mat
ters. The majority Of the directors
Of Water Company No. 4, Messrs.
Long, Heber and Reed, were de-
nounced as traitors to the valley, aud
other similarly abusive language was
used. There is not the slightest JUS
tification for such language, which is
absurd and must be injurious to the
cause for which it is written. These
three men have taken the position Thai
Water Company No. should resist
the organization of the irrigation dis
trict. This journal believes they are
making a serious mistake, but it be-
Iieyes the directors are working for