The Winslow mail., 1925-08-21
TRI-STATE RIVER
CONF ERENCE IS
QUICKLY ENDED

Ihe trl-State COLORADO river con-
ference between delegates from
California, Nevada and Arizona,
which met at Phoenix Monday
closed it's deliberations almost be-
fore it opened. The delegates from
the three states were unable to
reach a common ground for dis
cusSion. No action was taken dur
ing the conference and the dele
gates returned to their homes that
evening.
Immediate cause of the break
was the refusal of the Arizona de-
egation to agree to a proyiso for
the immediate construction of the
Boulder Canyon dam The refusal
was based on the committees be-
lief that it was entitled to know
the type of dam to be erected, and
the disposition of any benefits ac-
cruing therefrom.
AS a further reason for breaking
off negotiations, the California and
Nevada delegations quoted from the
concluding paragraph of the COVER
nor'S statement, which said, in
part:
I'VE are unprepared to nego-
tiate, but if an adjudication can
be worked out that sounds any
where near fair and equitable to
this state, l shall be very glad of
the same"
(The governors statement in full
appears in another column of this
issue.)
Considerable time was spent in
a vain attempt on behalf of the
Arizona delegates to impress upon
the California and Nevada dele
gates the fact that they, the Ari-
Zona members, were not to be
guided by the governors statement
of principles as laid down at the
opening of the meeting. They
sought to show that they were of
free and open mind, ready to nego-
tiate independently of the provi-
sions of that statement. The Wis
ltorS, however, said they could not
reconcile themselves to that belief
after consideration of the facts;
that unless the Arizona men were
to be. guided in their deliberations
at the conference by the governors
message, then it had no place or
part in the proceedings.
The entire conference, as a mat
ter of fact, resolved itself into
fencing parley endeavoring to
shift the burden of failure from one
delegation to another. The Cali
fornia and Nevada delegations were
arrayed ON the one side with the.
Arizona contingent on the other.
Weeks and even months in the
making, the conference quickly be-
came matter of history, "a piece
of political by-play," as one Cali
fornia delegate expressed himself,
even before it had gotten fairly
under way
The break in the afternoon was
not unexpected. AS a matter of
fact, events at the opening session
in the morning presaged a with
drawal of the visiting delegations
in the afternoon.
A joint statement by the Cali
fornia and Nevada delegations Sc
verely criticised Governor Hunt for
his action in appearing before the
conference.
When we arrived here, much to
our surprise, Governor Hunt ap-
peared with printed statements of
his speech embodying his opinions
and views as to the Colorado river
and as to the matters which would
be taken up and discussed at this
meeting. He stated his views in
positive language and in such
manner that we could see no hope
of adjustment" said the statement,
in part.
The Arizona delegation, in setting
forth it's view, made it plain that it
was in no wise bound by the pro-
visions of the governors statement
and sought to place the blame of
the split on the visiting delegations
in the following language, in part:
The California and Nevada com
mittees advanced an arbitrary and
impossible premise as a basis upon
which negotiations or even discus
sion by the joint committees could
proceed. Their ultimatum, as a
prelude to any negotiations or even
discussion, provided that Arizona
must unreservedly agree that the
first construction of dams on the
Colorado river should be at Boulder
Canyon or it's vicinity"