Arizona state miner., 1924-11-22
|HELL'S A POPPIN BETWEEN LOS
ANGELES AND VALLEY FARMERS

| The recent outbreak of the Owens
River Valley farmers against the City
of Los Angeles is only another illus
| tration of what will happen should
! the people of Arizona ratify the pact
and place this state in the hands of
power and water syndicates. History
repeats itself.
| In 1889 the people of Fresno county
witnessed a similar uprising Of the
riparian farmers who for years were
forced to open the headgates of the
Church and Perrin Irrigation Com
pany to get water that rightfully be-
longed to them and which the private
irrigation syndicate refused to deliver
when crops needed the water.
| Years previous to that the Mussel
| Slough settlers were forced to blood
shed in disobedience of law and or
der and an edict of the Court in
which gunmen of the Southern Pacific
and deputy sheriffs were killed by
the farmers over water and land
rights, of which they were being dis
possessed by the railroad company
and desert land reclaimers. The lat
ter had located all available streams
and vast areas of arabic land under
! the desert land grabbing act.
In 1914 a big section of the Los
Angeles aqueduct was dynamited east
of Mohave and the culprits escaped.
For time the aqueduct was policed
after that event, until the trouble
subsidized, but there has always been
friction between the homesteaders
along the aqueduct who had been
promised water to irrigate their lands
and never was fully carried out.
/ The aqueduct has annually carried
off the tributary water shed and sup
ply of Owens Lake, around which
a prominent farming district in Inyo
County has sprung up. The draining
of the water resources from the ST.
ezra Nevada Mountains, which previ-
| ously supplied Owens Lake, has al
ways created a shortage of water
among the farmers and irrigators of
the Owens Lake and Owens River
| section; hence the long aggravated
feud has originated between the far
mers and the City of Los Angeles
which is getting worse every year.
| The present condition is one in
which the farmers of Owens Valley
have little or no redress, except by
use of force, which always invites
bloodshed and rioting. Though it
sometimes achieves the object of
ameliorating the condition of those
who are deprived unjustly of their
homes and crops by powerful and
soulless corporations after big divi-
dends and profits, it also has de-
moralizing effect upon the poorer
class workers and tillers of
the soil who furnish the sustenance
of the nation, but are continuously
exploited.
The present alteration between
the farmers of Owens River and Los
Angeles has been of long standing
and is a perfect reflex of what can
be expected if the Colorado River
pact prevails in Arizona. Mushroom
growth of Los Angeles calls for
greater water and power facilities.
In her aspirations for great common
wealth like New York City, Los An
geles must provide more water ia
cilities and other resources to main
tain her immense population, land
this must be obtained from the Colo
RADIO River. But Los Angeles cannot
be allowed to denude Arizona and
turn her back to the desert, as was
once already the case, evidenced by
ancient water aQueducts and irriga-
) tion bitches all over the Salt River
Valley.
Power and water resources of Ari-
zona are the life giving energy of
this state-which must be protected.
Los Angeles, for the present, is draw
ing much trade from Arizona because
of her ocean transportation facilities
In another generation all this may
change to another tidewater terminal