72 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



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 V/ntor Usors 



A O-o^artiiient Devoted to tha 

 Interosti of the Farmers on the 

 Government Irrigation Projects 



EDITED BY GEORGE J. SCHARSCHUG 



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NEWELL DEPOSED AS HEAD OF SERVICE 



THE shake up of the Reclamation Service has be- 

 gun. Frederick Haynes Newell has been de- 

 posed as director but is retained as a consulting 

 engineer. Secretary of the Interior Lane has com- 

 bined the offices of director and chief engineer, with 

 A. P. Davis filling the combined positions. Davis 

 has long been chief lieutenant of Newell, but other 

 members of the Reclamation Commission have ex- 

 pressed themselves as believing that Davis will prove 

 a very good man for the Service, when freed from 

 the influence of Newell. 



The removal of Newell is also considered a dis- 

 tinct victory for the National Federation of Water 

 Users' Associations. 



Secretary Lane evidently did not feel that either 

 Davis or any of the engineers in lesser positions in 

 the Service were competent to supervise and manage 

 the actual construction of the government irrigation 

 projects. Therefore, he went outside the Service 



ranks and named Sidney B. Williamson as chief of 

 construction. Williamson's duties, it is announced, 

 will consist of expediting construction work on the 

 projects and in promoting efficiency among the men 

 employed by the Service. He will spend most of his 

 time in the field. 



Williamson was formerly division engineer of 

 the Panama canal. He was in charge of the Pacific 

 division of the canal construction work and is re- 

 ported to have proved an efficient man. When the 

 canal was about completed, Williamson resigned 

 from the government service to enter the employ of 

 J. G. White & Co., Ltd., of London, England. Wil- 

 liamson's salary has not yet been announced. 



A number of engineers and other officers of the 

 Reclamation Service have been dismissed or trans- 

 ferred in the shake-up. More heads are likely to fall, 

 it is stated, although not officially. 



SETTLERS MUST PAY THEIR REPRESENTATIVES 



IF the water users have a representative on the su- 

 pervising board for revaluation of the government 

 irrigation projects, he must either serve without 

 pay or be compensated by the settlers. At least 

 such was the recent announcement of a member of 

 the Reclamation Commission in a letter concerning 

 a prominent water user, who was suggested by a 

 western senator as the third member of this all im- 

 portant board. The water user promptly volun- 

 teered to do this work, despite the great sacrifices 

 on his part, which it would necessitate in giving up 

 his time without any compensation, because he felt 

 the settlers should have representation on the board. 

 His 'name, it is understood, has now been submitted 

 to Secretary of the Interior Lane. Whether Mr. 

 Lane will see fit to name this water user or some 

 other settler is a question still unanswered. 



It was announced recently that practically all 

 Secretary Lane's pronouncements concerning the 

 proposed revaluations were more or less unofficial 

 and therefore subject to change. It was hinted that 

 because of objections and suggestions by the set- 

 tlers, different plans for the revaluations might be 

 adopted. 



It has also been announced that the water user 

 member of each local revaluation board must be 

 paid by the settlers, if he is paid at all. The other 

 two members will be government payroll men and 



will draw at least their regular salaries and suitable 

 expense money. 



The cost revision plan continues to meet with 

 opposition on various projects. A letter from the 

 Salt River project in Arizona says: 



"After Secretary Lane announced his plan of 

 revising the cost of the projects, the fanners held 

 meetings in most of the school districts and passed 

 resolutions urging the officials of the Water Users' 

 Association to turn down Secretary Lane's plan. 

 The Associated Land Owners were organized for 

 the purpose of protecting the rights of the water 

 users. Despite all the protests, our Board of Gover- 

 nors, which is controlled by the large land owners 

 and is nothing more than a tail to the Reclamation 

 Service, voted to accept Mr. Lane's plan. The farm- 

 ers consider Secretary Lane's plan unfair, because 

 he chooses five to one on the boards, which are made 

 up of Reclamation Service men, who will naturally 

 uphold the Service expenditures. 



"I. D. O'Donnell and Gen. Win. R. Marshall, on 

 the final board of review, have already expressed 

 themselves on the cost of the projects. 



"Carl Hayden, our Congressman, was the first 



to defend Secretary Lane's plan. About the only 



excuse he gave was that he knew Secretary Lane 



would be fair, notwithstanding the fact that Secre- 



(Continued on page 86) 



