Arizona sentinel., 1917-07-12

OSCT0Idry uuIy tO udhc lHC CHdi 6Oo such as will reimburse the Treasury of the United States for it's expendi- lures, be they more or less, and if the first estimate proves inadequate, it is obviously the Secretary's duty, when the works are complete, to revise the estimate and make the charges such as when paid the Treasury will be re- imbursed for cost of construction. It is accordingly the duty of the Sec retary of the Interior to see to it that the amount expended from the recla- nation fund upon any particular pro- ject be returned to such fund by means of construction charges equit- ably apportioned upon the lands with in the project. In the present matter, reduction of the construction charge to $30 per acre would be in the face of knowledge by the Secretary of the Interior that the actual cost was in excess thereof and would result in proportionate depletion of the recla> nation fund. Such action is beyond the legal power of the Secretary of | the Interior.
 It is apparently contended, however, upon behalf of the Lower Yellowstone Water Users Association that prior to the execution of the contract of Oc- tober 25, 1905, and the organization of the water users association, oral rep resentations were made to the pro posed water users by engineers of the Reclamation Service to the effect | that in no event would the United | States assess a construction charge greater than $50 per acre; that they relied upon such representations in the formation of the water users as- sociation, as was evidenced by the price fixed upon the par value of the stock or $30 per acre; that they made their applications for water rights to the United States and subjected their lands to the liens under that under standing; and further that the Secre> tary of the Interior, in a communication dated May 10, 1904, addressed to the l Director of the Geological Survey, had fixed the estimated cost at $30 per acre.
 In answer to these contentious it may first be pointed out that the en- | gineers of the Reclamation Service had no authority to male the prrport- ed representations and that such rep resentations could not bind the Sec retary of the Interior, especially as they would exceed the legal powers of the Secretary himself. Also, the articles of incorporation which were expressly referred to in the contract of October 25, 1905, distinctly set forth | that the water right contracts should be subject to the laws of the United States and regulations adopted in con- | formity herewith The, articles of incorporation also contemplate that the cost might exceed the sum of $3O per acre, since under section 15 of article 8, quoted above, provision was made for the increase of capital stock should the cost of the works, as de- termined by the United States, exceed the number of shares or the capital stock authorized therein.
 The letter of May 10, 1904, so relied upon, is, in full, as follows:
 The Director of the Geological Survey. Sir: I have before me your letter of the 7th instant, in which you inform me that, under the act of June F, 1902 (32 Stats, 3S8), surveys have been made in North Dakota and adjacent portions of Montana; that the only feasible project yet discovered is that involving the reclamation of land in the extreme western part of the State between the Missouri and Yellowstone Rivers. and that to reach the land water must be diverted from the left banks of he Yellowstone River in Montana and carried along the banks thereof, irrigating strip of land in
 Montana and the flats in North Da- kota.
 It appears that the surveys show that the lands can be reclaimed at a cost of not to exceed $30 per acre, which cost is considered to be the maximum at which the lands can be readily settled under the reclamation act.
 You have reported that about one
 third of the lands which may be irri-
 gated are vacant, one-third in private
 ownership, and one-third believed to
 be still owned by the Northern Paci- fic Railroad Go.
 Your recommendation is that the
 sum of $1,2OO,OOO be set aside from
 the reclamation fund for the construc, | tiop of Fort ptfnrd nroio0t if eat