Imperial Valley press., 1926-08-20


Der 9TH, 19lt The article is too
! long to be reprinted in its entirety,
! but | print the part which refers
to my own employment bv the irri.
, CATION district. As before stated
| cannot afford either the time nor
the money to answer everything in
detail, but iuasmuch as | have not
the time to visit even all Of my
personal friends. l shall, myself.
from time to time make such use
OF printed matter as can afford.
Earl Pounds letter follows:
Earl Pound Letter
Il did not vote for Mr.. Genk-
ling : employment so / can speak
without prejudice concerning ii
aud his work At that time, the
condition of the law was such that
the constitution of the state forbade
the district owning the stock in the
Mexican corporation by means OF
which only the Mexican portion of
the system can be held. The sta
tutes also forbade our purchase. The
law forbade our exchanging bonds
for the property All this had 10
be overcome. Legal obstacles were
met at every turn. In order to vote
bonds or buy the system. II VAS
npcesSarv that the consent in writ
iug of majority of the land Own
crS. both in number and vaae, be
obtained. The enemies of the dis
trict fought every step. Looking
back now at our condition tleu. at
what has been accomplished, | am
Of the opinion that a lawyer Of less
courage than Mr.. Conkling would
never have tackled the job, and one
Of the less ability and perSeryer-
ancc would never have succeeded
aS he has. There WIS plenty for
Mr.. Conkling IL do rs We found
out without his giving moment
10 our relations with the southern
Pacific. | confess that in refusing
to vote for his employment Vas
Influenced bv the known fact Of
his employment by the railroad com.
pauv. When. however. there came
up the question Of putting our I'M
! derstanding with the railroad COM
panv into a more formal contract.
I Iomkling told the board that In that
event We should call in some other
! LAWYER, and take such LAWYER : m
dependent advice as to contract
with Southern Pacific, saw there
was no possible reason for criticism
! judge Haines ncgotiatod our con
tsact with the Southern Pacitl,
! and Conklin. was sent to Wash
iugtou on important business. There
/ i, not and was not any ConkIin-
contract with the Southern Pacific
/ The contract a. drawn and aPprov
cd by Judge Haincs VA, shown all
over the valley 10 everyone interest
ed. Its terms were discussed in the
newspapers and it was rcdraftcd
/ and chcwcd over by the directors
for a wear before il Was finally
! signed in February. 1915 During
all this time there va, not a word
Of protest either rs to tonkling !,
! employment or aS to tia contract
! Durin. the summer Of 1914, Conk
! ling spent most Of his timc on ouT
/ bond issue and in October, l9l /
/ the voters Of thu district authoriz
81 the bonds with whjrt 10 carry
out the contract with the Southern
!. Pacific with full knowledge Of th,
terms of that contract and the pilc,
TO be pai1 by vote ot twenty L
ono. 80 far as | cau Ioaru, every
leader in thc recall movement sign
/ cd the petition to authorlo the pur
chase Of the g. y. Company 5 SIS
tenn and to issue tho bonds with
which TO pay tIic Southern Pacific
Now, what j. thr mattrr' Why j,
/ i suddenly discovered tjat Conk
ling : relation to the ruiiroad com
paov prrcludos hi- employment by
the district. Whom ronslng gave
/ three months Of his Time without
pay 10 organize The district, thcr.
wa no "hollcr" about the 5. +
When thc validity of The districr
was attacked in the legislation o.
! 1913 ronkling gave III, time tc
having rs validity confirmed. Still
no comp,aiut about the $. T. our
contract with The 5. T. was com,
plctcd and endorsed by rAo vote Of
the people and stiIl no complaint
about the 5. T. If tho rccaI lead
. crs had been honest abour the mat