The Coolidge examiner., 1930-07-04

At least there is one California
editor who has the courage of his
honest convictions and does not
hesitate to accord to Arizona the
justice of it's contention regard
ing the development of the Colo
RADIO river under the Swing-J ohnson
bill.
r. A Sauer, editor of the San
Diego Herald, was a recent visitor
to Arizona, and gathered his facts
at first hand. Returning to his
home city, he wrote the following:
(By r. A. Sauer)
Although | have fought the Boul-
der Canyon dam strenuously, be-
cause | believed and still believe
that the Glen Canyon project is SUI
perior in every way, accepted the
Boulder Canyon project on the
assumption that Congress knew
more about it than | did When
Arizona refused to join the other
six states of the Colorado river ba-
sin in ratifying the pact concern
ing the dam, | put that states dtLi
tude down to greed and selfish
ness. | knew the need for Colo
rado river water in Southern Cal
fornia, and as great a need fer
Colorado river power, and | could
not understand why Arizona should
stand in the way of so important
a development.
With these considerations at
heart, | thought that | could forego
my preference for the Glen Cal
yon project and throw my support
to the Boulder Canyon dam the
people of Arizona could surrender
cheerfully to the majority. But
before censuring Arizona, | decided
to visit that state, get my informa-
ton right on the ground, and pro-
vide myself with a correct view
point. / have just returned from
a trip to AriZona-and | believe,
now more definitely than ever be
fore-that Arizona will not and can
not benefit from the Boulder ca.
yon dam.
During my trip | investigated
number of irrigation projects in a
state which has been famous for
this form of development. | visited
the Roosevelt dam, the Coolidge
Dam-also known as the San Ca
los-the Horse Shoe, the Carl Pleas
ant Dam, and the Buckeye. All tn
lands under these dams are pro-
ducing valuable a n d abundant
crops. and lands higher, up are be-
ing irrigated by pumped water
costing about S. an acre.
What amazed me most in this
investigation was the tremendous
crop output on the irrigated iands
of our sister state. The soil does
not produce lavishly-it produces
extrayagantly. There can be no
question that Arizona is destined
To become one of the greatest agrl-
cultural and horticultural states III
the Union. The cotton crop, ol
course. has been famous tor years.
In addition, there is alral1a, CITRUS
fruit-including the best grapefruit
on esrth-early vegetables at :
fruits dates and cantasoupes. 10
chic must be added cattle, hoss,
sheep and poultry worth millions
of dollars and producing other n'-
lions yearly. A great part OF lihs
1vaalth-the limits of which are not
within human ken-comes VINO"
from lands irrigated with Wdeei
stored in the states dali-a
and what is being done by ,hese
dams is sure indication OF the eX-
traordlnary possibilities in the Boui-
der CANYON dam, the largest anu
most important development OF us
hind ever conceived by the mine
man. ,,+
Whv is Arizona holding out
against the Boulder Canyon dam
Crciect? The reason may De se'
forth briefly-and it is a reason
which fully justifies the people
that state. When the Boulder can
Won dam was proposed, it was
claimed that it would make an em-
nire of the southwestern United
States; that it would furnlsl
enough water for irrigating TIE
entire irrigable area in the south
west including lands on the west
ern slope of California, and that il
would make even the A~izoha hill
tops blossom like the Gardens 4
Ind.
In the beginning, however, it was
apparent that somebody was lying,
and | said that IN the Herald. 1
said that no lands on the western
slope CT southern California wou,
ever be watered by the Colorado
river, and that only little OF ~
zona lands would be benefited from
that stream. The reason for this
prophesy-which was not hard
one to makc-was the fact that 20
distribute the water from the Boul-