THE IRRIGA TION A GE. 21 



Rio Grande Valley was at hand, when, without a word of warning, and 

 notwithstanding that the American company's rights had been officially 

 confirmed by a member of Mr. Cleveland's cabinet, and that over a 

 year had elapsed since the Secretary of State and the Secretary of the 

 Interior had received direct communication from the officers of the 

 English company with regard to the intention of that company, com- 

 munications which were officially acknowledged, the authorities of 

 Washington, in direct violation to every canon of good faith and 

 public decency, suddenly instituted an injunction action with the 

 avowed intention of confiscating the valuable irrigation works that 

 were being carried out with friendly English capital. In the absence 

 of any legitimate grounds for attacking the company, the action was 

 based upon a preposterous allegation that the company's works would 

 interfere with the navigability of the Rio Grande. The navigability 

 of the Rio Grande forsooth! Could anything be more absurd? The 

 Rio Grande in New Mexico is not, and never has been navigable, and 

 in view of the officially published opinion of the late Attorney -General 

 Harmon, and the fact that the authorities at Washington have for 

 years maintained, in opposition to Mexico's claim for joint control of 

 the river, that the Rio Grande is not a navigable stream, that a special 

 committee of the senate conclusively proved it to be non -navigable, it 

 is not in the circumstances surprising that the shareholders in the 

 English company, and the public generally, look upon such a 

 flagrant outrage of justice as but another instance of American sharp 

 practice, this time in the highest quarter. 



Needless to say Americans resident in England, and interested in 

 the enterprise, cognizant of the true fact of the case, jealous of their 

 country's honor and anxious to exonerate American officialdom from 

 the charge of acting in bad faith, endeavored to reassure the share- 

 holders in the English company by offering the only possible explan- 

 ation, namely, that the authorities authorized the action, knowing 

 that it must result in a decision in favor of the company, in order to 

 satisfy Mexico and the advocates of an international storage dam at El 

 Paso, that neither by treaty nor otherwise may the United States 

 Federal Government invalidate existing rights or prevent citizens of 

 Colorado and New Mexico from impounding the waters of the Rio 

 Grande for irrigation. 



It should be stated that with the exception of General Anson 

 Mills, U. S. A., the leading spirits of the so called international dam 

 scheme are not American citizens, nor residents in the United States. 

 The principle supporters of the International Dam scheme consist of a 

 small coterie, holding options over, or owning the greater part of the 

 Mexican lands that would be benefited by an international dam at El 

 Paso. These gentlemen have vigorously backed Mexico's demand 

 that the Rio Grande should be under the joint control of the two re- 

 publics, and they have for some time been exceedingly active in urging 



