The Delta independent., 1920-02-20
Delta Citizens May Have to Stand
Trial on Recent Conspiracy Charge

L L 484 O4k 4N~S~1eO
The way the Montrose papers are
commenting in their weakly daily
papers on the sugar factory situation
is a scream. Their latest effusion is
threat to bring justice to bear upon
the Delta County Business Mems as
sociation and residents for an alleg-
ed violation of the Sherman antitrust
law, and the Press publishes what
purports to be an expert opinion by
John l.. Stivers defining the said law,
in which he covertly hints at a con
spiracy' to interfere with the estab-
lishment of a sugar factory at Mont
rose
Why. God bless you, we haven't any
objections to Montrose's having a
sugar factory, or a whole row OF
sugar factories If she can get them,
SO long as she doesn't attempt to
usurp the sovereign rights Of Delta
county,! When she does the fat is
going to be in the fire right away.
The Delta county business men and
the Delta county farmers may be a
set of marks" but when they openly
agree to pull together for a bigger
and better Montrose, and against the
welfare of their own town and county,
it will be when the ice is SO thick
over that place about which Dante
wrote that il can't be cut and Incl
have to be done by someone who gets
up earlier than a bunch of has-been
Montrose politicians.
To go back a bit reviewing events
of the past few years: Montrose has
been a thorn in Delta's side ever since
Delta's advantages had been discov-
cred
When the Gunnison tunnel was
opened by President Taft, Delta had
a buch of 500 school children there
with red parasols on which the word
Delta" blazed That made Montruse
sore
Then when baseball took prece-
dence over everything some Of the
promoters nearly broke themselves
trying to beat Delta" and after they
had been taken to a cleaning time
and time again, they became silent
but were newer upright enough to acs
knowledge the supremacy of that
little water hole at the junction of
the Gunnison and Uncompahgre riv-
,ers.
Then came the Black mesa and the
mesa road won. as many miles were
chopped out OF perpendicular cliff.
No person who had ever been over
the two roads would ever questioned
which was the more practical from
an engineering standpoint, but they
won on the Blue mesa road and Delta
didn't go into n tantrum. either. Both
of these roads being largely in Mont
rose county. wasn't conspiracy en-
tered into against Delta county?
In the Nucla-Delta road which the
continued interference on the part of
Montrose officials, who even went to
Denver and appeared before a COM
mittee of the State legislature. voic
ing n loud protest, was declared
State highway. Delta still kept her
temper in the face of the dirtiest con-
spiracy in the history of the Western
slope.
Now as to the sugar factory mat
ter: after several years of agitation.
in the year 1917 site consisting of
GO acres was acquired in Delta and
at a special election the people OF
this city were asked to set aside, by
vote, this tract OF land from the corp
orate limits. which was done in due
course. The factory was to be COM
menced in 1919. but owing to the war
conditions. the proposition was made
and agreed to by the people of this
vicinity, whereas the Western Slope
Sugar company was proposed to be
Incorporated for one million dollars.
This was en- blanc,
The proposition was to build fac
tory in 1920. provided that the I'm
compahgre and North Fork people
would suscribe 100000 in stock and
sonally made a trip to Delta and he
and his associates agreed to put in
$500. 900 and the Delta people 5000, 900
the balance of the million dollars, in
stock. 100000 only was to be is
sued in bonds which were to be held
by Delta people.
They accused Delta OF "conspir
acy" to interfere with commercial ad'
when as matter of fact
their very act in breaking into Delta
with Misrepresentation and
offers was un-American and n parallel
with the acts Of the Hohenzollerns in