THE IKKIGATION AGE. 



307 



"The fact that Dr. T. 'E. Wills, Secretary of .the 

 National Forestry Association, came from. Washington 

 to attend the meeting of the executive committee in 

 Chicago, is an indication of the strong interest and 

 feeling that has developed in these subjects in the east. 

 During my hurried trip I met many of the governors 

 and other prominent men of the various states. I 

 stopped in and they all demonstrated a great interest 

 in the subject and promised to send large delegation^ 

 to the Congress. I am well satisfied with the results 

 of my trip and I feel assured that the Congress will be 

 a great success." 



Every effort is being made to make the deliberations 

 and discussions as broad and expressive of public opin- 

 ion as possible, and with that end in view the following 

 letter has been sent to leading authorities on irrigatior 



"At the irrigation congress held in Boise in 1906 

 the subject of interstate water rights was under consid- 

 eration and a resolution was passed appointing a com- 

 mittee to collect data on the subject of rights to wa- 

 ter from interstate streams and present to the next 

 congress a report on the nature of the issues involved 

 and methods which should be adopted for determining 

 and protecting such rights. This committee was com- 

 posed of Elwood Mead, Washington, D. C. ; Frank Free- 

 man, Willows, Cal. ; Morris Bien, Washington, D. C. ; 

 John F. Lewis, Salem, Ore., and Ira P. Englehart, 

 Yakima, Wash. 



"Since this committee was appointed the United 

 States Supreme Court has rendered an important de- 

 cision in the case of Kansas v. Colorado, in which it 

 seems to be established that rights to water for irriga- 

 tion must be primarily established under state laws. 

 The laws of several adjoining States are at present 

 unlike in the principles governing water rights and 

 methods of their establishment and the settlement of 

 interstate questions in these states must therefore in- 

 volve both the division of the stream between the states 

 and the principles which control this division. Your 

 opinions on this phase of the subject are especially de- 

 sired. In the broadest sense, however, the committee 

 wishes to present the matured thought and experience 

 of those who have taken a leading part in the settlement 

 of water-right questions within the states, and has 

 framed the following inquiries with a view to ascertain- 

 ing, first, what is, and second, what ought to be. It 

 is realized that these questions are addressed to busy 

 men whose time is valuable but it is hoped that, recogniz- 

 ing the importance of these questions-, you can give to 

 this inquiry enough time to enable you to submit a 

 statement of your views regarding the topics outlined 

 below. 



"1. Begardless of existing laws or decisions, in 

 your opinion what governmental agency should control 

 interstate water supplies used in irrigation? That is, 

 should each state have exclusive control within its bor- 

 ders, or should the nation control regardless of state 

 lines, or should there be divided control? 



"2. What principle should govern the division of 

 the streams between the upper and lower states? And 

 how should they be adjusted where the procedure of one 

 state provides for a more exact determination of rights 

 and quantities than the other? 



"3. If you believe the doctrine of appropriation is 

 the correct one and that priority of appropriation should 



govern, what tribunal should determine the order of 

 these priorities and the amounts of the appropriations? 

 And how should its mandates be enforced? 



"4. If you believe in an 'equitable division' among 

 riparian owners, how is this division to be determined 

 and by what tribunal ? 



"5. Where riparian rights are recognized in one 

 state and appropriations in the other,' how can these 

 conflicting principles he adjusted to secure an 'equitable 

 division' ? 



"6. If it should be determined that rights in a 

 lower state are entitled to water being .used above, what 

 officer is to close the headgates in the uppsr state ? 



"7. How would this regulation of gates affect 

 state control as now exercised in the upper state? 



"8. Under existing conditions, are interstate 

 water-right controversies likely to arise in your state? 

 If so, on what streams? 



"9. What other suggestions occur to you that 

 would assist in the consideration of the matter? 



"The committee believes that the extension of irri- 

 gation and the best interests of irrigators will be pro- 

 moted by a close approach to uniformity between the 

 nature of rights and the methods of establishing and 

 enforcing them in the different states, and that no other 

 factor will so conduce to this end as a full and candid 

 consideration of this subject." 



The board of control which has in hand the ar- 

 rangements for the coming session has a unique plan 

 for taking care of visitors on arrival, and all who come 

 will be assured of accommodations with the least possi- 

 ble trouble to themselves. The idea is to have a pavilion 

 of some sort adiacent to the depot where all incoming 

 delegates will arrive which will be used as a hotel office. 

 as it were. All rooms at the disposal of the committee 

 will be of record there, and delegates and visitors will be 

 assigned to them from that point, and sent with their 

 baggage under personal charge of bell-boys and porters 

 so that they will have no difficulty in getting located. 

 This is only one of the many novel ideas that have been 

 hit upon to make the stay of delegates both profitable 

 and pleasant. 



The complete list of trophies and prizes to be 

 awarded for exhibits at the Interstate Exposition, which 

 will be held in this city simultaneously with the con- 

 gress, has been announced. It consists of twenty mag- 

 nificent and costly prizes, the gifts of prominent public- 

 spirited citizens and commercial organizations of Cali- 

 fornia and other western states, with many large cash 

 prizes for individual displays. All states are eligible 

 to compete for these prizes with the exception of Cali- 

 fornia. 



The trophies offered are undoubtedly the finest and 

 most valuable collection ever hung up for any event 

 of its kind. There are twenty in all, ranging in value 

 from $250 to $2,500. These are the most splendid ex- 

 amples of the silversmith's art. Most of them are 

 especially designed and manufactured by Shreve & Com- 

 pany, of San Francisco. Each is of massive proportions 

 with especial decorative scheme appropriate to the char- 

 acter of the exhibit for which it is offered. All are 

 worked out with wonderful fineness, rendering every 

 trophy not only intrinsically valuable but artistically 

 superb. 



