Imperial Valley press., 1924-11-18

| irrigation district board and the
| Colorado River Control club, held
on October "a, the Control club have
, | committed their points of argument
: TO writing, and give the reasons why
the club is opposed to the All
American canal feature of the
| Swing-Johnson bill now before con
greSs, which are in part as follows:
"First: That its inclusion in
;! the pending bin has, up to the
present time, prevented the en-
actment of legislation providing
for the construction of storage
and flood control works, and
will further tend to delay and
prevent such legislation being
enacted;
Second: That the provisions
| of the Swing-Joh ohnson bill, as
now written, would make pos
I sible the building of an An.
American canal in advance of
the time when the available wa
ter supply has been increased
| by storage and without the con
sent or approval of owners of
taxable property within the
Imperial Irrigation district be-
| ing required to be evidenced in
| any equitable or sufficient man
ner.
I! ''Third: That the cost of
construction and operation of
such canal will create an addi-
I! tional, crushing burden upon
lands within Imperial Irrigation
| district which cannot be justi
] fled upon any sound economic
| basis, or conceivable political,
/: interstate or international ne
! cessity.'
| Mentioning that the lowest esti-
! mate cost of the canal is estimated
| at $32 100000, which it is assumed
| viii be guaranteed by owners of
lands to be served with water, the
club is convinced that such de-
mand on the public treasury will fail
''Too Much Land"
''(a) The present administra-
tion has announced its fixed pur-
pose to reduce taxation and to
cut down to the minimum all,
appropriation measures.
''(b) The farmers of the coun-
try are opposed at the present
time to any increase in tillable
land at public expense. There
has been an reproduction of
farm products in the United
States ever since the close of
the war. The great farming
areas of the eastern and middle
states will not look favoraby
upon an attempt to impose upon
them direct tax in the sum of
So, 100000 or more for IKE pur-
pose of irrigating new lands in
California, the products from
which will enter into competi-
\ tion with them. Their repre-
| sentatives in congress will not
support this feature of the pend
ing bill.
"(e( There are % or more
United States reclamation pro-
jects at the present time in the
! northwestern states i'll various
| stages of completion. The peo-
| pie of the states where these
projects are located will not
| consent that any part of the
available funds for these pro-
! jects be diverted to California
for the construction of the All
American canal, nor will they
favor an appropriation, to be
raised by a direct tax on the en-
tire country for this purpose.
Their representatives in con-
gress will not support this fea-
ture of the bill.
(d) Arizona has not yet
ratified the Colorado River com
pact. The upstream states,
of the compact, will continue to
oppose any legislation which
seeks to authorize work on the
Colorado River which will pro-
vide for the irrigation of new
lands, until such time as the
compact shall have been ratified
by Arizona.
"(e) The power provisions as
written into the bill are social
istic to marked degree, and
the bill, for that reason, will
meet with strong opposition
from the conservative element
in congress.
After dealing with the point that
after the Swing j ohnson bill is pass
ed the property owners of Imperial
Valley should be given an oppor-
tunity of determining whether it
would be advisable for the All
American canal to be built, excep-
ton is taken to the irrigation
board 4 purpose to enter into a
contract with the secretary of the
interior for the canal construction
without any submission of the pro- /
posal to property owners.
Say Policy Unsound
The River Control Club declares
that policy unsound, and ask for a !
guarantee by amendments of the
bill as fololws:
First: The secretary of the
interior should ebe directed by
the terms of the bill, not to en- !
ter into any contract or con-
tracts for the construction of
the All-American canal or any
canals authorized to be built by
the terms Of that bill until after
the completion of such storage
and flood control works on the |
Colorado River or until such
storage and flood control dam
had progressed under construc-