Imperial Valley press., 1931-01-31
ATEN WILL CARRY
OUT PLEDGES AS HE.
HAS FOR 8 YEARS.
Aten Answers His OppOn-
ents Acquisitions And
Is Willing To Carry On
AS He Has In The Past

/ is W1lllng 10 carry On
AS He Has In The Past
! I had not thought that / would
engage in a radio campaign during
these weeks preceding the Irriga-
! tion District election, but SO many
! things have been said over the radio
by one of my opponents regarding
the affairs of the irrigation district
that I believe it to be proper for
me to give you the facts of admin
istration of the District.
You can imagine my surprise
when I heard this particular op-
ponent of mine make such state
ments as: There are more than IS
per cent Mexicans employed in Dis
! trict work, and; The District Off
! cials bought an automobile for ST.
600 and that funds had been trans
ferred from this division to Holt
vile division; and 1t would be eco
nomical to build only the first leg
| many other assertions that are far
from being correct, and are mis-
leading to the public in the ex-
treme.
My opponent knows or should
know that there ave at present less
than Is Mexicans out of more than
hundred employees in this Di-
vision, and that several of these
Mexicans were born in the United
States, and that some of them have
worked for the water company and
District for as much as 18 years,
and; that it is necessary to have
a small camp of Mexicans avail
able for emergency repair work on
our canals whenever q break ac-
ours at nights, and that for more
than two years the directors of the
District have insisted on giving
American labor preference over
foreign labor in spite of the fact
that it costs 40 cents an hour for
American labor against 25 cents an
hour for Mexican labor.
My opponent knows or should
know the so-called $1,000 car own
ed by the District actually cost $4,-
700, that it is used only by the dis
trict directors in making trips to
outside points on official business
where there can be an important
saving of time and money because
of such travel facility. That $1,000
guess is about as near as my op-
ponent comes to anything. He should
know that the purchase of this
particular kind Of a car is real
economy when you consider that
it will outlast more than three
! cheaper machines In proof of that
I point to the non-inclosed Cadil-
lac car which was bought by Mr.
Carberry back in 1922, and which
! has been used constantly since that
:, time for District business. which
has travelled over the worst noun
| tain and desert roads in the South
west, which has raore than 100000
miles on its speedometer, and which
is still going strong after nine
years of duty. It is known fact
among my brother directors that I
opposed the buying of this car at
that time. I am only one member
of "5" on that board.
My opponent knows or should
know that there never has been in
the past eight years a transfer of
funds belonging to this division to
other divisions. AS O matter of fact
he should recall that have lived
up to every one of my original CAM
paign pledges years ago. Those
pledges included the placing of the
District headquarters and shops at
Imperial; the reduction of opera
ting costs through increased eff
cheney of departments and the Sc
curing of the Boulder Dam, ALL
American canal legislation. Those
were the issues on which I asked
you to elect me as your director 8
years ago. I have had the pleasure
of knowing that every one of those
/ pledges has been fulfilled.
My opponent knows, also, or
should know that he is actually op-
posing the construction of the ALL
American canal or any part of it
by advocating the first leg from
Laguna dam to Pilot Knob.
The Boulder Dam project act,
under which the Canal is to be
built does not provide any possible
means of financing Through the
government of the first leg by itself.
The All-American canal is to be
built primarily for extending and
improving agricultural irrigation.
Power production. the means of
paying for the canal. is, in the eyes
of the government simply means
of guaranteeing repayment of the
loan.
The first leg will fail to solve any
OF our major problems in Imperial
Valley. It Will leave us carrying our
water through Mexico, it will leave
us in poorer condition than ever;
so far as our water rights are con-
cerned. And finally, it will cost us
just about $l6,000,000 to build, with
/