The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1923-05-24

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\ A party of distinguished reciams
! ton officials visited American FALL
Pocateilo. Blackfoot and the ads
cent country last week for four day
/ making observations on the wor
to be done In connection with tn
American Falls project, the For
Hall project and the Greater For
Hall project. They held meeting
in each of the towns named to tall
matters over with the leading mel
OF the communities and arrived a
an understanding Of problems tina
are Of mutual interest to the gov
eminent and the communities.
On Thursday night A. P. Davi
left for Salt Lake City and the res
of the party spent Friday on triI
to the Blackfoot reservoir on thu
upper Blackfoot river and in the
evening were the guests of the Black
foot Commercial Club, where a ban.
Quet was served in the I. o. o. F.
hall. The party consisted of A. P
Davis, chief engineer OF the recla-
nation service; Wendell M. Reed
chief engineer for the Indian Recla-
nation service; B. E. Stoutemeyer,
attorney for the reclamation service
of Idaho; former governor D. w.
Davis, now Assistant Secretary of
the Interior; and Miles Cannon, for
mer commissioner of agriculture for
Idaho, but now field commissioner
for the national reclamation service.
This party excepting A. P. Davis was
taken to the BIackfoot dam on Fri
day by Indian Agent, William DON
ner going by way of Ross Fork and
the Buckskin Basin, viewing the
route of the canal and the two pro-
posed power cites on the western
slopes and the cite of the diversion
dam on the Blackfoot river near
Grave Creek. They viewed the res
ervoir and the dam and came back
by Lincoln Creek road. They ar
rived at about six o'clock In the ev-
ening and went to the /. o. O. F.
hall where about a hundred men
we're assembled and were served
with banquet that was arranged
for club by L. B. Dustin, j. M. Har-
tong and Manager Mas of the Eccles
Hotel. Addresses on reclamation
were made by P. G. Johnston, Miles
Cannon, D. w. Davis, w. M. Reed
and w. NJ Stoutemeyer. In Mr..
Johnston's address he urged the nee
essity of connecting the plans and
work of the Greater Fort Hall pro-
ject with the rest of it so that the
diversion dams, wiers, fumes, brid-
ges and canals would be made the
full size to serve both projects now
80 hoin M nd q
of the Fort Hall project.
Commissioner Cannon explained
his work in the new department just
created by the reclamation service
and said it was his duty to step in
and help the settlers at the point
where the engineers and construction
people left off, guiding the settlers
in the management of their farms,
the production, grading, packing and
marketing of their products and hel
was able to establish an office some
where in the west. He injected q
complimentary joke for the men who
furnished the banquet by referring
to it and saying that since partakine
of this fine dinner he had decided
that his office should be at Blackfoot.
D. w. Davis reviewed briefly the
several weeks tour the party has
just made to projects in the south
west and northwest up to this point
and gave his audience clearer COM
prehension of the vast scope OF the
work now in progress thru the ma
tional reclamation service including
about twenty-five big projects OF
which the American Falls 81 one.
He said the tendency of the people
of each community where the pro-
ject is in contemplation or in oper-
alton is to take narrow view of the
operation and governments relation
to their prospect and to forget the
extent and scope of the other pro-
iects similarly situated and all
claiming similar attentions from the
He said on all of these
projects there are people who dis
credit the work and purpose OF the
whole project and all the projects.
He spoke of applications that had
been made for extensions of time for
he settlers to pay what they owe the
and said that so many
.ases had come to light where specu-
ators holding lands under these pro-
ects had urged the extensions OF
line when they were perfectly able
o pay their bills, but he said the
;peculators were not alone in these
matters, the settlers had expended
heir money when they had 1t and
hen asked the government for ex-
ensions of time. In some cases they
lad expended their money unwisely
or things that were not necessary,
sometimes for luxuries and in some
instances they hal even boarded
heir money and clamored for ex-
ensions of time. These things COM
ng to light have discredited the set
lers who have been asking for ex-
ensions; and all of these requests
mbarrass our representatives when
hey are asking for appropriations
nd loans to further our projects
hat are not yet constructed. When
he people at mass meetings have
assed resolutions asking for extern
ions for payments for what they
we the government on reclamation
matters and when they passed reso-
utions to their legislatures for ex-
m ciou ~ firoo IN nouipO tboir faYQa 2