Evening star., 1934-11-25

VI THE Federal Government Is
never again to hear talk of seces-
sion in these States 1t must take
/ care never again to put over such
an outrageous injustice as that
which the bill authorizing the Hoover
Dam appears to inf1ict on Arizona.
Congress seems to have thought that
because Arizona was weak in num-
bers there would be no comeback. She
failed to reckon how great the State
is in spirit. She also failed to reckon
with the kind of women you find In
Arizona.
I first heard talk of secession in
Arizona three years ago-a hint dark
ly dropped at a dinner table, but
laughed of. Inquiring into it later.
1 was told, 1T may be too late to stop
the big dam, but they will never put
one through at Parker. Nellie won't
stand for it!'
"And who was Nellie?" I asked.
soon had my answer. The Legis-
lature was in session ct that moment,
and 1 was reading the animated re-
ports of its doings in the Tucson Press.
Nellie-Mrs. Nellie Bush, to be more
formal-appeared frequently in those
reports and always to her credit. You
were not long in finding out that she
was a person to be reckoned with, no
matter how big her opponent, even
II he were Uncle Sam himSelf-that
is, providing she thought he was at
tempting to swindle. Arizona.
Mrs. Bush. I found. was one OF
seven women in the Legislature at
that time-the dean Of them-then in
her sixth term. Officially she was
the lady from Yuma.
Now Yuma is a huge territory at
the southwest corner of the State. 1t
is separated from California by the
Colorado River, and it is on this river
at the town called Parker that Nellie
Bush lives, and 1t is there that for
many years she has run ferry. 1t
is there that war" between the
United States and Arizona was re-
Gently threatened. Mrs. Bush's de-
votion to this ferry and the profits
thereof are well enough known to all
Arizonians. and there was very gen.
uine admiration expressed for her
when she came out in the Legislature,
the time that I was following it, with
q bill to put bridge across the river
at Parker. Now that bridge would
have done away with her ferry, but
as she argued. Travel across the river
has become too great to be properly
taken care of by ferry. therefore
l,rid
Why Bill Passed.
The bill was passed because. as one
of the legislators said. Il admired her
for fighting for her people at her own
expense"
As fine as this was, Nellie Bush soon
did something that Was still finer in
my way Of looking at 1t, something
that really touched me very much For
finding that there was not money
enough on hand in the State to build
her bridge-which you must remem-
Der was q real feather in her cap
with her constituents-and at the
same time to take care of what wss
called 'The Barefoot Boy Bill"-a bill
extending opportunities for vocational
training-she told the legislators:
"You have just voted me $4,000 for
my bridge, but something for the
children is more important If we can't
have both I'll give up the bridge"
Now that is the kind of person
she is and that is what makes her
stand today against the United States
building q dam across the Colorado
River at Parker so worth attention.
If she were for herself first. or for
Yuma first, she probably would be for
the dam; new big local developments
generally dazzle those of narrow views
and flabby conscienceS; but Nellie
Bush is not that kind. She is for
Arizona first.
But why were they all so stirred up
about the possibility of the United
States building dam across the Colo
RADIO River at Parker? Why were they
all so indignant that the United States
should be building the Boulder Dam?
I could not understand until followed
the advice of one intelligent woman to
look at the map and form my own
ideas of what the United States was
doing.
Well, a little study of the map of
the Colorado River from source to
mouth made me entirely sympathetic
with Arizona's anger and not a little
curious about the political procedure
which had convinced" Congress. Look
at the map yourself. and see If you
do not share my sympathy with Ari-
zona-also my curiosity about the
deal!
There are seven States ION the Colo
RADIO" that is, seven States which
rightly have something to say about
its waters:
Three of them, wyoming, Colorado
and New Mexico, because they furnish
it water;
Two. California and Nevada, because
1t separates sections of their eastern
boundaries from Arizona-they give
the river little water and no part Of
it lies within their territory;
One, Utah, because the river IS
formed in her territory by the union
there of two of her largest rivers, the
Green and the Grand, also because
crow flies. Is within her territory;
One, Arizona, for all three reasons
she furnishes more water to the Colo
RADIO River, 1t is claimed, than any
other State-the river forms her west
ern boundary for some 500 miles, and
also, most important, $50 miles Of it
are entirely within the State-350
miles along which are. am told. sew
eral possible sites for dams.
Now Arizona has always looked on