Bonners Ferry herald. [volume] (Bonners Ferry, Idaho) 1904-current, 1921-06-09
MORE ACTIVITY
FOR DRAINAGE
b. c. OFFICIAL VISITS CRESTON
AND STUDIES PROPOSED IN
TERNATI0NAL PROJECT
READY TO COOPERATE WITH U.S..
Letter Urges Idaho Officials To Speed
Up Governmental Action.

The live wires of Creston. B. G are
working early and late for Kootenai
valley reclamation, and are leaving no
work undone that can in any wav
exert favorable influence upon this
much desired international project
Last week the Hon. T. d. PattulIo. pro-
vlncial minister of lands, was at Cres-
ton, was shown over the valley and
TINS matter of reclamation brought to
ms attention. In reporting the meet
ing with the minister, the Creston Re-
view has the following to say:
Mr.. Pattullo stated that the de-
partment's policy was exactly in ac-
coru with the wishes as stated by
chairman Constable. The province
was making all possible speed to get
representative engineers from Idaho,
washington, Ottawa and British Co
lumbla together to make complete
and final report as to whether drain
age was feasible and at what cost. No
move will be made till all four parties
have named their engineers and agreed
upon date to commence these final
proceedings, and so far as British Co.
lumbia is concerned Mr.. Pattullo as
1
will be secured to look after the pro-
vince's end of this all-important work.
He also strongly concurred in Mr..
Constable's view that before any de-
cision is reached as to the desirability
of drainage-insofar as its cost might
apply-local landowners will be con-
suited as to what might be considered
a reasonable cost per acre to spend
on drainage to make it sound invest
ment."
| Guy constable of Creston, who has
long been one of the most enthusiastic
and hard working supporters of Koo-
tenai valley drainage, writes A. ]. Kent
in regard to the conference planned to
be held here and at Creston this month
when Governor ID. w. Davis of Idaho
and w. G. Swendsen, state commits
sioner of reclamation. planned to be
here. This meeting. has been post
poned until the latter part of the
month, and Mr. Constable writes that
1t would be better to postpone ii until
later in the season when the flood
water would have receded from the
land
Writing further he says:
Now, we told you when at Creston
that we had no word officially as yet
as to Idaho having appointed an engi-
neer and yesterday we had wire from
our provincial minister of lands, in
whose department this work comes, to
the effect that as yet no official inti-
nation had been received by the b. G.
government that Idaho had appropri-
ated money for the investigation or
that an engineer had been appointed.
The b. c. government is pledged to
provide their share of the money and
an engineer so soon as the state of
Idaho has done so but as the minister
; of lands in his telegram says, they do
not propose to make any move till
they receive official word that Idaho
has made the appropriation
Il have wired Ottawa to know IL
they have any official word as yet of
this appropriation by the state and ap-
; pointment of an engineer. That offic-
ial intimation must go from Boise to
your federal government at Washing
ton and then through the medium of
the British ambassador to the Canad-
ian government. which in turn will
then advise the provincial government
of British Columbia It cannot be any
other way as British Columbia is not
a sovereign state any more than Ida
: no is.
IF you will permit me to suggest. I
would say urge your governor to see
that the Canadian government at OF
tawa is advised Immediately of the ap-
preparation made by the Idaho legisla-
ture and that an engineer is about to
be appointed to act jointly with an en-
gineer to be appointed by Canada. We
will let you hear from us in a few days
again. Now can assure you that we
would be mighty glad to see the COM
missioner of reclamation and the gov
ernor any time, to confer with them
and show them over the ground The
latter can of course be done better
after high water, say in September In
fact it cannot be done at all now as
all our flats are in flood. Again, any
time your officials are in Bonners Fer
ry we can always take a run over for
conference with them, but the next
step is to get these engineers on the
job and we want the best men to be
obtained at that.
IT can assure you that we can get
busy at short notice but until that
official notification comes from the
state of Idaho that they have made
their appropriation and appointed the
engineer to act for them. our hands
are tied"
Funds win BE Available
q " Fluhartv direcfor of axfensfaY,