398 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



the notice is 

 silent on this 

 subject. In 

 other words, 

 the letter says 

 things which 

 the official no- 

 tice only hints 

 at. Our project 

 manager, Mr. 

 Sanford, is en- 

 deavoring to se- 

 cure from 

 Washington an 

 interpretation of 

 the order. 



"Meanwhile 

 one wonders 

 just what in- 

 superable ob- 

 stacle is en- 

 c o u n tered at 

 W a s h i ngton 

 when they take 

 their pen in 

 hand and tackle the knotty problem of inditing a 

 public notice that can be understood without the 

 aid of experts." 



The settlers on the Truckee-Carson project, 

 equally unable to solve the puzzle, had United 

 States Senator Francis G. Newlands telegraph an 

 inquiry to Secretary Lane. This was the reply : 

 "Hon. Francis G. Newlands, Reno, Nevada. 



"Answering your wire of September twenty- 

 eighth ; no increased charges will be announced as 

 to the Truckee-Carson nor any other project as a 

 condition precedent to the acceptance of the terms 

 of the Reclamation Extension Act. General public 

 notice just issued, together with form for accept- 

 ance of the terms of Act, distinctly provides that 

 the amount heretofore fixed in the several public 

 notices heretofore issued may not be increased ex- 

 cept as provided in the Reclamation Extension Act, 

 of which see section four. 



"FRANKLIN K. LANE." 



The part of section four referred to reads as 

 follows: "Sec. 4. That no increase in the con- 

 struction charges shall hereafter be made, after the 

 same have been fixed by public notice, except by 

 agreement between the Secretary of the Interior 

 and a majority of the water-right applicants and 

 entryman to be affected by such increase, where- 

 upon all water-right applicants and entrymen in the 

 area proposed to be affected by the increase charge 

 shall become subject thereto." 



Commenting upon the telegram and the quoted 

 section of the law, the Churchill County Eagle, of 

 Fallen, Nev., says : 



"From this it will be seen that there can be no 

 increase in charges except by a vote of a majority 

 of the Water Users affected by the increase and 

 this affords absolute protection against any arbi- 

 trary increase that might be proposed in the future 

 by an administration less in sympathy with the 

 Water Users than the present one." 



That seemed simple enough, but it failed to 



The cuts .used on this and the preceding page are from photographs 

 made for the Santa Fe Railway. 



Filling a concrete stave silo on an irrigated farm in Texas. 



satisfy a large 

 part of the set- 

 tiers on the 

 project. They 

 read the pub- 

 lic notice again ; 

 then they read 

 the Secretary's 

 letter a c c o m- 

 panying the no- 

 tice. The Sec- 

 retary wrote in 

 a similar vein 

 to each project, 

 but his letters 

 varied in some 

 details. Here 

 is his letter to 

 the Carlsbad 

 project, which 

 is considerably 

 longer than the 

 letter received 

 by the Shoshone 

 association : 



DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, 

 WASHINGTON. 



October 6, 1914. 



Pecos Water Users' Association, 

 Carlsbad, New Mexico. 



Gentlemen : There is enclosed to you herewith a copy of 

 the first public notice issued under the terms of the Reclama- 

 tion Extension Act. The terms of this notice are such as to 

 dispel any fears that may have existed concerning the intent 

 of the department relative to the so-called increased con- 

 struction charges on reclamation projects. It is not a condi- 

 tion of the extension of time that you shall agree to pay" 

 a higher construction charge. You are entitled to the exten- 

 sion of time on the charges as at present fixed. It is required, 

 however, under the terms of the Reclamation Extension Act, 

 that you shall sign an acceptance, binding yourselves to pay an 

 increased charge only and when a majority of the Water 

 Users on your project shall, after that increased charge has 

 been determined upon, agree that the increased charge 

 shall be paid. 



It is desired to have a review of the expenditures made 

 on the project and this review may result in a lower con- 

 struction charge or it may result in a higher construction 

 charge. Your representative on the board will be there to 

 protect your interests. The charge which his board may 

 determine is a proper charge will not be binding upon you 

 under the terms of the public notice herein enclosed until 

 it has been submitted to you and to all the Water Users for 

 their consent and agreement. If and when this increased 

 or lower charge is submitted to you the majority of the 

 Water Users shall agree that it is a just and proper charge, 

 which they are willing to pay, then all will be held for it. 



The local board of review which it is my purpose to 

 appoint will consist of an accountant and an engineer, whom 

 I shall appoint, and a member to be designated by your 

 association. The findings of this board will be referred to 

 a central board of review, consisting of Mr. I. D. O'Donnell, 

 supervisor of irrigation ; General William L. Marshall, con- 

 sulting engineer to the secretary, and some other person yet 

 to be designated. I suggest that steps be immediately taken 

 for an election by Water Users of their representative on 

 the local board. Meanwhile, I will consider the seiectirn 

 of the other members of the local board, and as soon as 

 your representative has been chosen, I trust you will advise 

 me promptly, so that the local board may be completed and 

 enter upon a review of the cost of the project. 



In selecting your representative it is suggested that each 

 Water User be entitled to one vote, whether his acreage is 

 large or small, for the reason that the results may be as 

 important relatively to the man holding a small acreage as 

 to the large landowner. The latter should not be permitted 



