Imperial Valley press., 1935-06-03

President 4. &. West, of the
Southern SierraS Power company
on An-Ameriean canal power,
given before The As ociate d
Chambers Of Commerce meeting
at INLAND on April %, Evan I.
Hewes. president Of the Imperial
Irrigation district, delivered the
following address before the same
organiza ton at its meeting in II
Centre On MAY 81.
The board OF directors Of the IN
perial Irrigation District has asked
that I appear here this evening as
its representative in response to the
invitation by this association to
discuss the question OF Develop
ment and distribution Of AL
American canal power from the
viewpoint of the people of Imperial
Valley. As president of the board,
] wish 10 express appreciation Tor
the invitation to appear before
YOU. and while il VIII not be pos
sible. in the short time allotted TO
me. TO go into many details rela-
tive to this proposition, yet I Will
try ana cover the proposition IL
general. in order tdat you may
better understand the reasons for
the policies now being carried out
by your board Of directors in this
regard.
At your last meeting In inland,
Mr.. A. B. West. president of the
Nevada-Calfornia Electric corpora
ton, gave you the power company's
views relative to AI-American canal
power. While his story was very
interesting, it only painted one-half
OF the picture; tonight 7 would ike
to paint the other half, and in ad-
dition retouch and bring out some
of the very important points Of his
half Of the picture which he did
not cover. However, let me say at
the outset that We held no brief
either for or against the power com
pany. but It is the intention Of our
board, as representative Of the peo-
pie Of Imperial Valley, TO carry
forward and complete the policies
which will best serve the interests
Of the people. irrespective Of
whether in so doing we meet with
the approval or the disapproYal OF
the power company.
Sewer Control Parallel
This question Of the right and de-
stability Of the people to own and
control their basic utilities is not
a new one. We 90 not have to go
hack in history great many years
to find where even the sewer sys-
TENS We're privately owned and
were constructed for private profit,
but as the metropolitan centers de
veloped and the Importance Of
sanitation became realized, it was
not long before il was felt that this
important service should be rem
dered for the benefit Of the peo-
pie. rather than for private gain,
and as a consequence We find the
cities themselves taking over, en-
larging and extending the sewer
system Today il is taken as a
matter Of course that the people Of
the city own and control their own
sewer system. and no one for
minute eontemplates private
utility owning or operating the sew
er system Of a city. But this was
not Gone without a fight ana the
question raised Of whether or not
The country was going soeialistic.
etc, that the people did not have
the ability to own or operate sue
cessfully their own sewer system,
and yet. as I say. today it is taken
as a matter cf course that the
people do own ana operate their
own sewer system.
Water supply Compared
Next. take the matter Of water
supply It was only a few years
ago when most Of the water sys-
tens in the cities Of the country
We're owned and operated by pri-
vate utilities. but as the impor-
tance Of a safe and adequate water
supply for the inhabitants of a
community became realized. and as
the use Of the town well or in
dividual wells on town lots became
impossible due to cont animation,
etc, as shown by serious epidemics
Of typhoid. the people began to de-
mand that they have the right TO
own ana control their own water
supply. Al the START. those who ad-
vocated thls policy were called So
cialists and were bitterly attacked
and fought by the private water
companies. The same line Ct pro
paganda and objections was put
forth by the water companies that
is nov being put forth by the power
Companies. Why. Of course, the
people could not possibly handle
their own water supply. 60 out and
develop new supplies and efficiently
conduct the business Of selling
water Yet today who raises any
question as to the right Of a city
handling its own water develop
ment and distribution. II is true
that there are still a few towns
where the water system is privately
owned and controlled, but these are
the exception rather than the rule
You have only to LOOK around you
and see the city Of San Francisco
building It's marvellous HetCh-H -Hetchy
water system. Los Angeles with it,
Owens River aqueduct, and now the
Metropolitan Water District build
ing the Colorado river aqueduct al
a cost of over S20OO 100000 x
realize the correctness Of thes,
statements