Imperial Valley press., 1924-10-08

! Already, the Klamath river con-
servatiOn fight shows that people
| throughout California are doing
! their own thinking and discussing
private propa ganda however camou-
flaged.
Steadily increasing support is com
ing from all quarters TO California
Conservation League and the sports
; men $ Fish and Game commission in
their campaign to put the future of
fishing in his state up to popular
fish and game district. 49,.
This is the initiative placed upon
the general ballot as measure No.
II by the largest petitions ever filed
with the least expenditure, over 1O5,-
! 900 electors signing beside many
|, thousand others since registering to
| get I'M their good work by voting
! eyes, November 4th; and keeping
private dams out of Klamath river.
In their frantic efforts to corral
! the Klamath and capture the rem
| nant of the people s natural re-
! sources for private future profit by
damming the river first and the flu
ture of California s sporting fishing
attraction forever afterward, profes-
sional mouthpieces of\the self-styled
"trust' have insulted public intel
llgence by resorting to misrepresen-
tation until it seems to have become
habit with them.
Facts in the Case
Witness such childish fabrications
as claiming the initiative had fallen !
short of making the ballot, when i
every voter will see the measure be-
fore him; and charging III one
breath that the fish and game com
mission wanted to ''hog' the kla- |
math for their own personal fishing; I
only to turn right-about face and
deny such charge by their subse-
quent plea that the "improved fish
ing to be created by daming the .
river would always remain open to
the people because the klamath |
flows through forest reserved"
In a program of early prevarica-
tion absolutely without precedent ,
even in California where we have
become somewhat calloused to this
sort of thing, the professional barn |
stormers in behalf of their pow
erful' employers the private !
"Trust,' loudly claimed that they
meant to conserve both power and !
the fish,, that the California fish |
and game commission stood alone i'll
its contentious that sea-run fishes /
could not be gotten over high dams.
Whereupon, the coVention of West
efm States Game and Fish Wardens ,
in Portland passed unanimously Il
resolution emphatically supporting |
the stand taken by their California
colleagues, and opposing consNuc-
tion of the proposed 250 foot dam
until the citizens of California con-
sidered it necessary for power.
Again, last week, U. S. Fisheries +
Commissioner Henry O'Maley put
the federal bureau of fisheries on
record that no device had been APP |
proved for taking fish over high
dams and none had yet been perfect
ed that would guarantee the preser-
walton of fish life in the klamath
river. Such, however, is the unani- |
nous opinion of experts, as attested
by written verdict of he'committee
chosen to pass upon possibilities OF
getting salmon over the proposed
Priest Rapids dam in the Columbia,
which all agreed would shut off and
ruin all the salmon spawning areas
lying above it, and destroy the fish
cry.
Another sophistry which propon-
ents of the proposed private raid
upon California power are seeking to
spread, is the statement that adop-
tion of Klamath river fish and game
district, prohibiting dams, would for
ever prevent any commercial use of
the river. This answers Itself; since
what the people do, they also can
undo, by again invoking direct leg
islation as is being done now to hold
! these natural resources in public
hands until the people decide wheth-
er to improve for themselves or sell
the privilege to the highest bidder
at its then worth, certain to be
many times even the hundred or so
| of millions which those now seeking
! TO corral it for themselves so frank
| lv admit it is worth already.
All that initiative measure No. ii