Imperial Valley press., 1924-08-05

4
Colorado River Control club head
quarters here, the assertion by Con
gresSman Swing that certain prom
inent men in the Valley who form
erly supported him and the all
American canal have now change,
their position, is denied. The reply
to Congressman Swing is as. fol
lows.
, During his campaign speeehe,
in the Valley, Congressman Swing
alleged that number of VALLEY
men have changed their position
regarding the proposed All-Ameri
can canal. He asserted that those
men at one time favored the canal
and that they now oppose it, as
members of the Colorado River
Control club.
''The facts are these: The men
named by him never favored the
All-American canal, and, as mem
bers of the club named, are not
now actively opposing it. Though
the men named have not changed
scores of others who once advo
Gated the canal no longer favor it
''Those men had courage to do a
thing which deserves the commen.
dation of the community, namely
to set aside their own convictions
in the interest . of harmony. All
the worth while people who have
sought to advise the Valley, gov
ernment officials and others, well
qualified to advise, have said that
we must get together, unite in sup
port of an essential program. The
men named by Swing were big
enough to take that advice.
t'The resolutions adopted by va
rious political and civic organiza-
tions were passed in the interest of
harmony. Some who voted in ia
vor of those resolutions were on the
fence regarding the canal, others
were openly opposed to it; but they
felt that something should be done
at once for at that time the situa-
ton was critical.
E'The danger of flood was acute,
but has since been temporarily
remedied in part by the construc-
ton Of the Pescadero cut.
"And there was another consid-
cration-the army was being dis
banded and throughout the eoun-
try there was desire to get the
soldier boys located as quickly as
possible. Farm products were
high prices. Farm
lands were actively worked. That
situation has since changed. Re
Gently the products of the farms
have been in excess of the demand;
prices have declined; farms have
been uncultivated; 100000 We're
abandoned during the year 1920
and it is now possible for the ex-
soldiers to secure improved lands
for less than the improvement cost
of the desert lands.
Not Inconsistent
Congressman Swing knows that
the men he named did not actually
favor the canal. He knows that
they withdrew their opposition and
lent him their support through a
desire for harmony, in a spirit OF
fair play, but in his speeches he
loes not tell you that.
"For about three years the pro-
oonents of the Swing bill have had
their chance to accomplish some
ching to solve our problems, and
have failed. The bill is not yet
out of committee. Since, after
three years, it has not passed the
how long will it take
to get it through congress9 Can we
expect congressman from the agri-,
cultural districts to favor the ex-
penditure of government money to
develop new lands when every
where farms are idle and farm
products exceed the demand.
''The men he named have not
been inconsistent. They are now,
as they were then, striving for
unity, and with that end in view
they, with others, recently formed
the Colorado River Control club.
In every group of people there are
differences of opinion. Frequently
they disagree regarding every mat
ter at issue, but the Valley is for
tunate in that there is one thing
desired by all, concerning which
all are in accord, namely, river
control and conservation of water
for irrigation. Literally every per-
son in the Valley wants that
much.
"But the moment we 60 farther
we come to indifferences of opinion
some ardently advocate the all
American canal; others have not