PULSE OF THE IRRIGATION INDUSTRY. 



31 



formed in six years from a sheep pasture to a modern 

 town of unusual beauty ,set amid prolific orange groves. 

 This is the company which contracted to supply the 

 Allessando and Ferris districts, and its failure to fulfill 

 all its obligations in this direction appears to be the 

 immediate cause of the receivership. 



THE AGE has studiously refrained from any discus- 

 sion of the affairs of the company, because aware 

 that its president, Mr. Charles W. Greene, was en- 

 gaged in an earnest effort to avert disaster and pro- 

 vide means by which the creditors might be paid and 

 the agreements with the two districts faithfully ful- 

 filled. Now that the embarrassment has reached a 

 point where the naming of a receiver could no longer 

 be avoided, it seems necessary to allude briefly to the 

 personal friction between the present and the former 

 manager between Mr. Greene and Mr. Frank E. 

 Brown. 



Mr. Greene charges that Mr. Brown, the originator 

 of the enterprise, is responsible for the troubles of 

 the company. In a circular of October 2d he dis- 

 claims personal responsibility for the financial policy 

 of the company, asserting that he merely sold stock 

 upon the representation of Mr. Brown and his associ- 

 ates, and that when, about one year ago, he assumed 

 the management, he did so only because the step 

 seemed necessary to all concerned. He^charges that 

 Mr. Brown has pursued a dishonest and selfish course, 

 the object of which was to wreck the enterprise and 

 then absorb it into a gigantic corporation of his own. 



To this remarkable indictment Mr. Brown made 

 no reply. He said he had done what he could to 

 avert the disaster, and that he should patiently await 

 the result, whether it be the restoration of the com- 

 pany's credit, or its collapse into the hands of a 

 receivership. He said the people of Redlands and 

 the American stockholders knew him very thorough- 

 ly; that he would invite a reputable Englishman to 

 examine the charges for the benefit of stockholders 

 in Great Britain. Mr. Brown has now broken silence 

 by giving the following letters to the press: 



CHICAGO, December 11, 1893. 

 To the Public: 



I learn that the troubles of the Bear Valley Irriga- 

 tion Company culminated on the 9th inst. in the ap- 

 pointment of a receiver. To those who are familiar 

 with the part I had in the conception and upbuilding 

 of the great enterprise which gave birth to Redlands 

 and its surrounding development, it is unnecessary 

 for me to express the deep regret I feel at this event, 

 but to those who know of me only through the gross 

 misrepresentations which have been circulated by 

 various means during the past few months, it may be 

 necessary for me to speak briefly put plainly. 



I have refrained from speaking until now from a 

 desire not to enter into a controversy which might be 

 injurious to the interests of the company. 



I devoted ten of the best years of my life to the de- 

 velopment of the Bear Valley works. I have always 

 regarded this plant as the most valuable and substan- 

 tial irrigation property in the United States, in pro- 



portion to the amount of land it covers. Although the 

 project was regarded as very bold at the beginning, 

 and although it encountered very many difficulties, 

 physical as well as financial, my associates and I 

 succeeded in our original object, and the city of Red- 

 lands is the monument to that success. When, at a 

 later day, the company undertook to supplythe Ales- 

 sandro and Ferris Irrigation Districts, we approved of 

 the undertaking as feasible, and our good faith waa 

 pledged to its accomplishment. That the agreement 

 in this regard was not fulfilled is no fault of ours. 



While I regret very keenly the disaster which has 

 overtaken the company I have no occasion to be sur- 

 prised. More than a year ago I clearly saw the result 

 to which the policy of the management would surely 

 lead. My remonstrance was unavailing, and an ag- 

 gressive effort made by me to induce foreign stock- 

 holders to agree upon the only possible course to pre- 

 vent the ruin of the company was defeated by Mr. 

 Greene, who, to further his own selfish purposes, has 

 arraigned me as the enemy of that great enterprise 

 which my faith and my industry largely created, and 

 of that community which has been my home, and is- 

 to-day the seat of my property interests. 



I have been assailed because I foresaw and had the 

 courage to point out what must be the inevitable con- 

 sequences of the policy pursued by a short-sighted and 

 wrong-headed management. 



I take this occasion to say again that the Bear Val- 

 ley enterprise, if developed as originally conceived, is 

 one of th most splendid irrigation properties in thia 

 country. Under proper management it will fulfill the 

 expectations not only of its shareholders, but also of 

 all who hold its water rights, including the two organ- 

 ized districts. If by any means in my power I can as- 

 sist in solving its difficulties, thereby serving the com- 

 munities in which my own interests are located, I 

 shall do so with whatever energy or ability I may 

 possess. 



F. E. BROWN. 



NEW HAVEN, CONN., September 15, 1893. 

 HON. JAMES GRAHAM: 



DEAR SIR: As you were for so long president of 

 the B. V. & A. D. Co., and the Bear Valley Irrigation 

 Company, and are conversant with the circumstances 

 under which I came to this country, I am writing to 

 you, at Mr. Brown's request, to state very generally 

 the result of my inquiries here, so far as he is per- 

 sonally concerned. 



This request seems to me a very reasonable one, in 

 view of any possible accident which may happen to 

 me on my way home. Time does not admit of my 

 saying more than that (allowing for the mistakes of 

 judgment which Mr. Brown may have made with oth- 

 ers, in their joint conduct of the Company's affairs), I 

 am satisfied after careful inquiry that Mr. Greene'a 

 charges against his personal honor are without foun- 

 dation. 



I may add that I am intending to enter into busi- 

 ness connection with Mr. Brown, and that I look for- 

 ward to that connection as one likely not only to be 

 advantageous, but also an agreeable one in every re- 

 spect. I am, dear sir, yours faithfully, 



THOMAS CAVE, 

 4 Fenchurch Street, London, E. C., England. 



THE AGE does not care to add any comments of its 

 own to these statements, because it does not appear 

 that any good purpose would be served by going into 



