THE IERIGATION AGE. 



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A LOopariuient Devoted to too 

 Interests of the Farmers on the 

 Government Irrigation Projects 



EDITED BY GEORGE J. SCHARSCHUG 



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THE PRICE OF EXTENSION OF PAYMENTS 



By FULTON H. SEARS, of Fallen, Nevada 



When Congress au- 

 thorized the issuance of 

 $20.000,000 worth of 

 Reclamation Certificates 

 to provide funds to aid 

 in the completion of the 

 Federal Irrigation proj- 

 ects, a clause was in- 

 serted in the bill direct- 

 ing that this money 

 should be distributed in 

 accordance with the ad- 

 vice of a board of army 

 engineers. Among the 

 engineers named by the 

 President to visit the 

 projects and apportion 

 the funds was Brig. Gen. 

 William L. Marshall, re- 

 tired. Many Water Us- 

 ers, no doubt, recall 

 meeting Gen. Marshall 

 during that inspection Fn|ion Scars memher o( the ; 



trip. Federation of Water 



It was in May, 1913, 

 that a number of Water 



Users, who had gone to Washington to confer with 

 Secretary of the Interior Lane concerning needed 

 legislation, again met Gen. Marshall. The general 

 had been appointed consulting engineer to the Sec- 

 retary of the Interior at a salary of $7,500 a year. 



One of us asked the doughty old general what 

 he thought of the large gathering of Federal Water 

 I'sers, who had come in response to the Secretary's 

 invitation. 



"A lot of - - farmers, seeking to repudi- 



ate their obligations to the government," was Gen. 

 Marshall's reply. 



The Water Users are to meet Gen. Marshall 

 again this time as a member of the supervisory 

 board, which will be the final court on the revalua- 

 tion of the projects. He is one of the three mem- 

 bers appointed by the Secretary. This board is 

 instructed to consider the reports of the various 

 project revaluation boards, "and to definitely and 

 finally estimate and determine the cost of construc- 

 tion of each of said projects, or units thereof." 



Federal Water Users still have faith in their 

 government. Notwithstanding odious conditions 

 imposed upon them by the Reclamation Service, 

 misrepresentations of conditions on the projects 



ecutive Committee of the National 

 Users' Associations. 



and the overbearing, 

 cold-blooded, Czar-like 

 attitude of the bureau- 

 crats who have ruled 

 the destinies of the 

 Water Users, the con- 

 fidence in the final 

 justice, integrity and 

 fairness of their govern- 

 ment is still unshaken 

 among the settlers. That 

 is why they have fought 

 almost unbearable con- 

 ditions bravely and si- 

 lently, with little or no 

 complaint. 



Now the costs of the 

 projects are to be fixed 

 for all time. There is 

 an item of something 

 like $40,000,000 involved 

 money expended on 

 these projects in various 

 ways, but producing no 

 benefits to the settlers. 

 Who is going to pay this bill? 



The original Reclamation Act provided that 

 the estimated cost of the projects should form the 

 basis of payment for water rights by the settlers. 

 In accordance with this law of 1902, contracts were 

 issued to settlers, specifying the amounts which 

 they must pay per acre for their water rights. The 

 settlers felt that the price named in their contract 

 would govern finally the amount they would be 

 required to pay, notwithstanding future estimates 

 or costs. That was, as lawyers say in describing 

 a contract, the "meeting of the minds." 



This evidently is also the view of Secretary 

 of the Interior Lane, for in his public notice of 

 September 24 concerning the extension act, he 

 states specifically that present contracts are to be 

 recognized and there shall be no increase in the 

 cost of water rights to settlers holding such con- 

 tracts without the consent of the settler. The 

 notice provides further that those who desire to 

 come under the terms of the Twenty Year bill must 

 make application, which includes consent to abro- 

 gation or revision of water right contracts now held. 

 In plain English, then, those who desire to ex- 

 tend their water payments over twenty years must 



