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<br />Seven IYATE S
<br />d&..
<br />A. Bi
<br />
<br />SEVEN states within the United
<br />States arc' trying" to agree on a treaty
<br />among themselves, sharing up a river.
<br />They arc California, Arizona, Nevada,.
<br />New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and
<br />Wyoming.
<br />This river flows through--or along-
<br />side-six of them. It draws much
<br />water from many sources out of the
<br />seventh. l( flows seventeen hundred
<br />miles from the head of its longest
<br />tributary to the sea.
<br />It I~es.it?~.. in", .1aJces" that. arc fcd
<br />from snows 'Ulat no summer ever
<br />wholly rilcHi. 'It ellds' traversing a
<br />pI<.tjn t~1.al 'Ill?' willter ,ever' congeals.
<br />It 'COIll~S from cold as of the Arctics
<br />to '~e.~t. as of tl.Ie _Tropics. 'IL passes
<br />through. bare' canyons; ancI when it
<br />le~y~~ the canyons .it passes through
<br />btiiTc.r:l sands. Bv nature its course
<br />is.a:'coui'sc of sterile "clesola!.ion. By
<br />artifIce" '.wlle'il its wttters "arc stopped
<br />by~ danls' n.iiclled asidc' by ditches, it
<br />d.rl"(:"rcate~ i;ooo,ooo acres of crops.
<br />if a~rcn.d}~c'reate5sorlJ\e2 ,000,000 acres,
<br />. .' 'Af.tcr lhe irrigatiQIl projecl is carried
<br />o~i,t;.thesc states'pr.6bably will special-
<br />ize on .the following crops: .
<br />, , , ' <i;
<br />Arizona: " Fresh vegctilbles sllch ~ .'.
<br />.... .celery and asparagus;; .~:
<br />, cott91l;orailges;gi'ape.
<br />fr"uit; .lemons.
<br />.very smail' acreage (or~"
<br />agriculture; mostly
<br />v:,m"". :be' . power for'
<br />mines..; "
<br />Ne~" 'Mexico: So)ra beans,; potatoesj ~auliJl~~er;' mntaloupc;
<br />: ". ~~ \l, '.) _ s~g{l.i' ~eei:'; 'hay; <)lfalfa. _
<br />
<br />'UCQt'~~r;.a.do,>:,." Pota.t~es;-- lllel,onsi, le..~~ucg:j' bcrr~s;' grazing.
<br />illl Apples, p~acl.l~~ ~hefr!~sj gnt1<ing land.
<br />~ajif9t:riia.:' . :D~tes; orfl.ng~s';-,/J~m.o.ns: g~apefr~it; garden vege-
<br />.' ."; y) t . : tables. '.. '::_,l' '-.<.::;.,):....:, ,
<br />YV'yol~li,ng: Grain for fccd; grazill?:fo~ shc.cp and cattle.
<br />
<br />..L':::.
<br />
<br />Nevada:
<br />""'"
<br />
<br />;)' ....
<br />
<br />geT rogemer
<br />011 thcgrctlt new wCtllth from
<br />.' the biggest dam in the world, '
<br />Such a question tlmollg seven jorcigfl countries
<br />would oftell 'metln, Wt/.f
<br />
<br />By
<br />
<br />William
<br />
<br />g RIVER
<br />
<br />Hard
<br />
<br />
<br />walls of the. canyon ~nd 'by' then
<br />blowing avalanches of. .l:ock out ,"of
<br />tn(J5~' tunnels into the rivei""be1ow.
<br />Other pC9ple w<).'nt to build it. bS( the
<br />more customary 'methQd o.f. 'going
<br />down to rivet bottom and building it
<br />up from there in. solid concrete' from
<br />foundation to 'paraI)ct. It will be
<br />very narrow relatively to its height.
<br />Seven hundred feet high, it will be at
<br />its top only twelve hundred feel wide.
<br />n will store 'enough water to. pre-
<br />veot- all danger of floods in the
<br />Imperial Valley below. It will store.
<br />enough water to supply the people
<br />on the lower rcaches of the Colorado
<br />with all the water they could reaSOll-
<br />abl" need. to supplement the water
<br />they now get from the normal flow
<br />of "the Colorado in the dry seasori.
<br />It will store enough water to make 'the
<br />contract for dev.eloping the electric
<br />power from it a great national poIitJ-.
<br />eal question. . '
<br />The bill introduced into Congress
<br />by Senator Jolmsoll and Congressman
<br />Swing makesJhe whole of the Colorado
<br />River from the middle of the State of
<br />Colvrado down to the Mexican border
<br />a national possession. It provides
<br />that along that. whole sLre.tch the
<br />Federal Government. shall have the
<br />exclusive right to COllstrllct all dams
<br />and all reservoirs and all irrigation
<br />diversion works. .
<br />Here then are seyen states moving
<br />towil.rds'a treaty [or' partitiOtl,ing and
<br />apportioning the Colorado and her~
<br />is the Federal Government moving towards an exclusive. jq:ris-
<br />diction in much of the Coloradp district. . B.etwcen th~, treaty.
<br />and the bill, this river ought at.-Iast to find out ~who owns it.
<br />'the basin which it drains will then some day. be the, home ..of
<br />great multitudes of people who wiJi" make: it secni "TI\ich more
<br />reasonable to the resL of us that the Senate of the United States
<br />should consist of two Senators from each state. \Ve now see
<br />the beginning of the final peopling of tbe basi.n of the Colorado.
<br />The river is the possession of these sevcn states: \Vyomij1g,
<br />Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona and C,aIHornia,
<br />and the United States. It belongs to seven sovereign states anu
<br />one super-sovereign state.
<br />The seven sovereign states arc now trying to put their thoughts
<br />about it into an interstate document. They have gone .in for
<br />diplomacy. They have appointed delegates. The delegates have.
<br />met. They have exchanged credentials. They have brought
<br />experts. One of them remarked the other day at 'the end of
<br />scveral hours of Lestimony: ,
<br />."If the treaty would hurt my state, I am against it; if not, I
<br />am for it." . . .
<br />He is a patriot. If his sl ate had an army and could use it,
<br />he might die in his boots defending the right of his stat!,': tl/
<br />every drop of rain that falls upon it and preventing the forces
<br />'9
<br />
<br />, ~ OIiVN" !1. Sharp, Governor ~( Colorado, is om oj
<br />Ihoil' moit inu':fSltd in the big reclamation project.
<br />
<br />',The size of the job can be indicated thus: .the' Colorado River
<br />. tC'd~d',r\wl ~ci:'nt(\i\y ~'Nb' :~~i;,[5, it \t5 nOlmal il~w, ,~ithout 1lmng
<br />up the basin tha.t ",!'ould be 'cr~<l:~ed by the dams.
<br />, ,
<br />
<br />. W~~"~i~Q~~r. the dams, (lie i'ive~ threatens'the lives' of .50,000 Lo
<br />i06,qoo'pc()plc. .If it b.reaks a.way from its bcd, they may he
<br />di-t$wned..:' More likely, as they aU own nlotors, they wiU
<br />c~capc "'to' Los Angelcs. in ttJeir :Fords. If you .Jook at the ac-
<br />cQrrltJanying . map, YO\l will see .why Los Angeles thinks the
<br />cngi11ccrrng .wQrk'-w~ll"makc 'her one of the 1110st important cities
<br />in .the':Un"i"ted' States: '~. '.
<br />;': 'The .darn in BO,ul/ler: Canyort will be seven hundred feet high.
<br />Some. PCOI)lc~ \va'nt .to :bldld it by boring gr~~t. tunnels hl the
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