242 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



the company and to render impossible the wrecking 

 of the property in the interest of outsiders. The com- 

 plications existing between the company and its cred- 

 itors on one hand, and the irrigation districts on the 

 other, were many and baffling. The work of unravel- 

 ing these difficulties devolved principally upon Mr. 

 J. G. Foster. He handled the delicate task with consum- 

 mate ability, keeping faith alike with his foreign 

 clients and with the local directors and the American 

 friends whose assistance he sought or accepted. 



IMPORTANT ARRIVALS AT REDLANDS. 



The situation began to take definite shape when 

 Mr. A. P. Maginnis, of Los Angeles, came forward 

 with a proposition to interest a syndicate of promi- 

 nent Chicago business men in the reorganized com- 

 pany. Mr. Maginnis cordially co-operated with the 

 various elements in the situation and soon became 

 their unanimous choice for appointment as one of 

 the receivers at the hands of Judge Ross of the United 

 States Court, to whose tribunal the matter was 

 brought in February at the instance of foreign stock- 

 holders. In March the committees at Redlands were 

 reinforced by the arrival of Messrs. Henry Allan of 

 Glasgow and A. E. Davidson of Edinburg, and 



Messrs. Edward F. Cragin and J. C. Shaffer of Chi- 

 cago. The plans which had been formulated by 

 weeks of negotiation were then finally shaped and 

 put into operation. In the meantime Judge Ross had 

 named Messrs. A. P. Maginnis and J. A. Graves as 

 receivers, and they had begun a vigorous administra- 

 tion of the property. Their report showed the total 

 liabilities to be over $1,250,000, and that an equal 

 amount would be required to complete the plant, 

 making a total requirement of $2,500,000 of new 

 capital. 



A JURY FOR BEAR VALLEY AS A TYPE. 



The time came about the middle of March when 

 this representative enterprise, whose success had 

 largely won and whose failure had largely impaired 

 the confidence of the public in a new class of securi- 

 ties, must submit to the crucial test of examination by 

 impartial minds. To a large degree the broad sub- 

 ject of irrigation investments was on trial in this case. 

 The party gathered at Redlands included keen Euro- 

 pean minds representing the most conservative 

 element of foreign investors; men of ripe judgment 

 from eastern States accustomed to rigid standards in 

 the estimation of values and earning capacities; men 



BUILDING A FLUME ON THE BKAR VALLEY SYSTEM. 



