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Show j ;j Remove Obstacle I j i To Burley Qut-Otf . $ ' H , W A telegram received recently from H'': Il Senator Reed Smoot by Secretary Jo- H&. ' j seph E. Calno of the Salt Lake Com- H'r ; tncrclal club conveys tbo Information Hf that the injunction proceedings re- H i( cently brought by the government ro H. j clamatlon serylco against the Oregon H'.u ' Snrt Line, preventing the railroad 1; , company from constructing Its pro- i' I poBcd branch line from Saline, on the ?- ' $ Luc,n cut-off, to Durley, Idaho, may Hi!', ;' k now be satisfactorily settled by slip- t Pf ulatlon. If this Is done, which seems L ( $ likely, work on tho Important road Half I S v''," bo renewed and completed as If J H Boon as possible. H.' B Tno railroad company planned the Hi'.' f lino and started grading In tho fall HJ w , of 1910. This work Is now complete B ?' "o Durley to Kclton Summit, a H' ; dlstanco of G9& miles. Vhll0 no H' . rnls havo been laid, all tho material HJ j i necessary for tho road Is at hand. H , Surveys for tho rest of tho road, from HJ - ( Kclton Summit to Saline, a dlstanco HJ of about 125 miles, havo Ivni com- LH pletcd. H Traverses Rich Section. H Tho course of tho road Is from Sa- H t "t lino along tho west shore of tho M . Great Salt Lako promontory, passes HJ through tho rich Itaft river country, H cuts 100 miles off tho trip from Salt HJ f Lako to Portland, makeB the Twin H Falls country tributary to Salt Lake H I i-f brings a vast and rich area within H y. Salt Lako Jobbing territory nnd H means tho development of northwes- H tern Utah, besides holding other H great promises. H After tho railroad had started work H officers of the reclamation service H filed tho injunction proceedings, H 'j bringing the project to a standstill. It H -j was held that tho right of way would H ' pass through areas Included in what H ' aro known as tho Minidoka and Twin H Falls-Raft river reclamation projects. H It is declared that tho purpose of the HJ Injunction was to bring the railroad H company Into an agreement to con- H struct as its own cost all necessary H "7-2 crossings, bridges, canals nnd cul- H ; J verm on lands through which Its Hue ( would pass, nnd which would be In cluded In or affected by tho reclamation reclama-tion projects. . t 'To Avoid Precedent. H I ' The rullroad company has held H ( that by years of custom transport- H tlon lines construct crossings, bridges H culverts or other similar work found H i necessary as a natural course, but HJ that It did not dcslro to establish a H precedent that might provo tdo cost- H ly In tho end by agreeing to entry H out such work at Its own expense on Hi ' account of somo futuro outsldo undoi- tHJ . With tho important project at a H d standstill, tho matter camo beforp tho Commercial club, which Investigated Investi-gated tho situation carefully. On July 'ill tho board of governors passed n 1 .resolution requesting Utah's congress H "j lonnl delegation to use Its Inlluenco H . to raise tho embargo. Copies ot the H resolution were sent to Scnntors H Smoot and Sutherland and to Con- H f grcssmnn Howell, with accompanying H ' letters. At tho samo time, a petition H setting forth all tho circumstances, H ' connected with tho, controversy, was H forwarded to tho Interior department H ' and to Utah's delegation. m J Appeal to Washington. H The letter written by Secretary H Calno to Senator Smoot, duplicates of M J" which wero also sent to Senator H - Sutherland and Heprescntatlvo How- H ' ell, follows: HJ July 13, 1912. H Hon. Reed Smoot, United States Sen- H at0 Washington, D. C. H My Dear Senator At a meeting of H the board of governors of tho Com- H merclal club held on July 11 a reso- M t lutlon was passed requesting our con H j gresslonal delegation to use Its In- 1 ftuenco to ralso the embargo which H' J has been placed upon tho building ot H the brnnch of tho Oregon Short Lino H, railway from Saline station on tho Hi Lucln cut-off to Durley, Idaho. H, It appears that an injunction suit H was brought against tho railroad com H' .. pany by oulccrs of tho reclamation H'N'' service and this Important work has H ' been brought to a standstill. Tho now H road will decrease tho dlstanco bo- H, J S.I tween Salt Lako City and Portland, Hj S ' about 100 miles beside' bringing Hi a largo and rich district Into our H jobbing territory. Our Investigation Hj, ' I shows that tbo settlers along tho lino H? i " T are unanimous In their dcslro to havo H ' tho rallro?d built and that tho objec- H ! ' tlons raised by tbo reclamation scr H I j vice aro not well toundod nnd havo H resulted in a serious detriment to tho HJv::' district afectod. H ' I am Inclosing herewith a copy ot H C -HbHw thfi r,ctlUon- whlc1' states all the clr J' Hk curostances connector with this mat- tcr and which has received tho Indorsement In-dorsement of tho Commercial club. Your efforts In this matter will be highly appreciated. Senator Smoot's reply, received, Is as follows: Washington, D. C, July 19, 1912 Mr. Joseph E. Calne, Secretary Salt Salt Lake Commercial club, Salt Utah: Tno secretary of the Interior assures as-sures me that he now stands ready and always stood ready to permit tho rallrqad to finish Its construction as soon as n proper stipulation was made agreeing to bear the cost of any canals or other crossing nnd pay tho building charges to bo assessed against the Irrlgablo land ot tho project pro-ject taken up by tho right of way amounting to about fifteen thousand dollars. If this Is not done It will bo necessary to make a higher charge per acre for the lands In tho project. If there Is any doubt as to legal authority for the secretary to Impose this charge, ho Is willing to submit It to n proper court and permit per-mit the construction to go ahead pending decision on proper stipulation stipula-tion from railroad company. Tho question of crossing with right of wny, roads, canals and ditches is so essential to tho success of the project that It should be determined now. Sco railroad company nnd report re-port results and whatever suggestion tho company may wish to submit. Seek Further Information. It Is thought that Secretary Fisher's Fish-er's announcement, as conveyed by Senator Smoot's telegram, leaves tho railroad company at liberty to proceed pro-ceed with construction, satisfactory adjudication to bo mado later. However, How-ever, P. H. Knickerbocker, secretary to W. H. Bancroft, vice president and general manager of the Oregon Short Lino, said last night that tho company's com-pany's next stop could only bo determined de-termined by further negotiations rel-atlvo rel-atlvo to the Interpretation of Secretary Secre-tary FlBhor's announcement nB given in Senntor Smoot's message. It Is declared that under proper stipulation stipula-tion construction will proceed. m m mm |