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Show Inquiry Into the Carey Act Projects Promises Great Revelations. SUIT FILED AT FILLMORE H WILL ALSO BRING RESULTS H Both, the Law and Their Own Rules Ignored hy the State Board. . Members of the State Land "board arc in tho position of tho boy that was kicked by the imilc they aro not near IH so pretty as they wero, but thoy know a great deal moro. And they arc still IH sweating blood. They have reason to do so, for not only must they face an action against themselves, their bonds'- mon will have to face an action, and then Undo Sam is to make a most IJ searching investigation of methods em-ployed em-ployed by tho board in connection with Carey laud act projects, particularly tho reason wliy the 7)ro,iectors of these con-tracts con-tracts were not compelled to file tho bond which the natiqnal law exacts from all projectors under this law. ( Tho story printod by The Tribune on Saturday morning was like a bomb-shell WM thrown into their camp. They had jH thought that matterB wero so covered up that no publicity would bo given. They belioved that the close alliance between tho board and tho federal bunch was so close that nothing would jH leak out from tho federal building, hence Tho Tribune story struck them IH as a bomb and the board now sees its fl finish in more ways than one. The board of land commissioners of IH Utah issued in pamphlet form the stato IH land laws and rules and regulations thereon of the state board; the Carey land act, state laws accepting same and !H rules and regulations thereon. All laws in force aud as amended by the Utah legislature of 1909 aro included m the pamphlet.' On page 3-1 of this pamph-Jet pamph-Jet appears the followdng. It is section 2379 of tho compiled laws of Utah. It reads thus: Here Is the Law. 2379. Contract Between State and Ap-plicant. Ap-plicant. Price of Land and Water to bo Klxed. Bond. Upon the withdrawal of ihu land by tho department of the into-rlor, into-rlor, it shall be tho duty of the board to enter into a contract witli the appll-cant, appll-cant, which contnwt shall contain com- IjH pleic specifications of tnc location, di- ljB mensions, character of material, class of work, and estimated cost of the proposed works, and tho maximum price and jH terms per aero at which perpetual water rights shall be sold to settlors, and terms upon which the stato Is to dispose of the IB land to settlers, lu the discretion of inu yM board, tho contract may provide that ".ho IB aalo to a settler of a xract or land with IB a permanent water right shall include -a IB pro rata interest in the reservoir and ir-rigotion ir-rigotion works, cciual to tho proportion that tho tract of land purchased by hlni bears to the entire tract to bo reclaimed bv the said irrigation system, and that upon lull payment of tho purchase price of the said land and wuter right, capl-'tal capl-'tal slock of the corporation representing 'such interest shall bo' transferred to such soltler. and if the said Irrigation system ( shall be constructed by a corporation, or if by a person or company, then such In-terest In-terest shall be conveyed to tho settler by tho person or company constructing tho said Irrigation system. Tho price and terms for water rights, maintenance tax, and land shall in all cases be reasonable; and said contracting parly or parties shall have tho power to tlx, in the con-tract con-tract with the applicant Tor the land and ponnanont water right, the amount or quantity of tho annual water supply; and sold party or parties or corporations shall have the right to provide reasonable rules and regulations for the use and distribution of the annual supply of wo-icr, wo-icr, such rules and regulations to be approved by the board; and said contrac-tor contrac-tor shall enter into satisfactory bond in a penal sum equal to ilvo per cent of tho estimated cost or the works for tho faithful performance of tho provisions of ,.i-, (r-nnt with till"! KtrttP' but ill IK) case shall sold bond exceed tho sum of $50,000. Under this section of law thore is no alternative. The contractor, that is, IftVMj the party or parties who ask the seg- jH legation, must 'tilo a bond. In all of tho Carey act projects in Utah but one has filed a bond. What Hulcs Provide. , One of the rules of tho state board of land commissioners, rule No. 19 and printed on page -10 of tho pamphlet, reads thus: JM In order that the interests of the set-tiers set-tiers may be protected, tho board will re-nulixj re-nulixj that, ponding the time when tho Construction company shall notify the settlers that It Is ready to deliver water. H all water right payments must lie mndo to the board and remain In escrow until tho water Is delivered, this money to bo paid over to the Construction company when notlco is given as above, and tho water has been delivered, or to be re- jHH turned lo the settlor in tho event of tho failure of the company to carry out tho provisions of its contract as to the oe-livery oe-livery of water within a reasonable time. jHH This rule has not boon enforced. And . the ii tier disregard of tho law and of their own rules has resulted in tho in-quiring in-quiring into their methods that has been ordered by Undo Sam. This inquiry -will no doubt bo a most searching one. I Sut Ono Bond Piled. In tho story' printed in Tho Tribuno on Saturday morning, no particular ir-rigotion ir-rigotion project undor the Care act was mentioned, but of tho four projocts now on in the state, on only ono has thore been a bond filed. This one is tho Beaver Land, Irrigation and Power "company, and thoro is trouble over this project, due to tho fact, as it is said. that Bubseqiient to tho construction of this plant- it was discovered that tho IB amount di water available fell far short of the claims of the projectors. ' Vfl Tho applicants aro now trying to havo rHKBJ the original bond and contract rescind- ' Continued on Page Three. I SHAKING AMONG THE LAND BOARD Continued from Page Ono. cd and a new bond and contract substituted. sub-stituted. In this project 43,26(5.7-1 acres are segregated. Other Carey land projects proj-ects arc: Oasis Land and Irrigation company, 13,110.83 acres segregated. E. Warren Stoos, account of H. W. Shelcy of Salt Lake City, 4959J.5 acres sogregated. Buckhorn Irrieation company, 29,-S39.S7 29,-S39.S7 acres segregated. Secretary Lynch Breaks Loose. That the state board of land commissioners commis-sioners knows that rit has ignored the laws and its own rules is discorncd by tho interview given by Secretary William Wil-liam .1. Lynch of the board to the Dos-crot Dos-crot News Saturday. In this interview Secretary Lynch takes up tho matter of the Oasi3 projoct in Millard county. In this interview Mr. Lynch is quoted as saying: Members of the company aro now In tho cast, and have practically closed a contract with a company which will underwrite un-derwrite a bond issue of $125,000 to tike up the floating Indebtedness of tho company com-pany and complete tho Oasis Carey act project, provided certiln concessions will bo glvon by tlio Dcserct Irrigation company com-pany and the Mellvlllo Irrigation company, com-pany, both of which are Interested. Now tho facts aro that no contract has boon closed for underwriting. This would mean a second mortgage on the propertjr. In this connection it might bo said that SO water contracts of tho Oasis company sent to the recorder of Millard county for record are retained by tho recorder because tho, fees for recording, which amount to about $3d0, aro not paid nnd the recorder has therefore there-fore declined to return them to the company which has made the request, until these foes aro paid. It is said that the company wants the contracts on account of sttbsequont payments bo-nig bo-nig due. Secretary's Memory Short. Mr. Lynch in his interview says that "tho farmers rcalizo that evon if tho Oasis company had been bonded for $1,000,000 it could not havo withstood tho violent floods of this spring which lore out railroads as well as dams." The secretary must have a short memory, mem-ory, for on July 7 and 8, there was a henrinu before the state land board of the Oasis case. Ho was present and administered the onth to tho witnesses. One of those witnesses, Col. Moore, testified tes-tified as to tho construction of the Melvillo dam, which was washed out, that a portion of tho comeut spillway rested upon quicksand and tho impounded im-pounded water worked underneath this spillway through the quicksand and caused tho ceiuout work to drop into the excavation made for the dam. There was no flood. The impounded waters caused . it. This was also admitted on the witness wit-ness stand jiy Professor Lyman, engineer engi-neer for the Oasis people, in charge of the construction of tho dam. Again Secretary Lj-nch says: Says Thoro Is Another Sido. That thoro arc two sides (.0 tho story Is apparent from the fact that the stale land board received on July 10 a loiter from settlors in Burlnor, Millard county, which vindicates to some extent tho company com-pany and Impugned the Integrity of -tlio complainants. Tho letter dated Burtnur, July 12, and signed by Citation O. Connelly, Con-nelly, Albert Watts, Lorou Taylor and J. J. Clark, reads In part, as follows; "Having causo to believe that the course being pursued by certain othor owners of water rights purchased from the Oasis Land it Irrigation company may be injurious to our interests, we wish to advise you that the parties above referred to, having other means of maintenance main-tenance or homes elsewhere, and whose holdings hero are largely speculative, are seemingly Intent upon the destruction of the Oasis Land & Irrigation company, which, in our opinion, would bo disastrous disas-trous to many of the settlers und delay further development The parties referred re-ferred to wo bolievo to bo a minority of the actual settlors." Contracts Wero ApprovccL jS'ow the fact is that tho owners of the water rights have had their contracts con-tracts approved by tho state board of land commissioners, therefore the board is not in position to say that tho settlers set-tlers are not qualified settlers. Secretary Secre-tary Lynch, as said, must; havo a 'short memory. Again Mr. Lynch says: Tho state engineer approved the plans and specifications of tho Oasis dam, and the wholu project would probably have been accepted and the matter turned over to the company if tho iloods had not torn tho dam away. The dam looked to be all right to the state engineer. The testimony of Colonel Moore and Engineer Lyman disproves this statement state-ment of Secretary Lynch. Jn connection with the mutter of the bond which the Carey act required should be givuii by the Oasis Laud company, the Oasis company stated to tin; board that the company could not give- ihe bond which the law required the company to give, because it was not financially in position to do so, Yet, in tlio faco'of this statement, the board did nothing toward making the company com-pany comply with the law. Aljout Rulo Nineteen. As to rule 19, A. M. Trader, secretary of the Oasis Lund & Irrigation company, com-pany, testified on the witness stand before be-fore the land board heretofore cited, that I he money received by tho Oasis company in paj'ment of water contracts of the settlers had not been deposited with the state land board but had been usi'd by the company in tho promotion of its project At the same hearing Mr, Ooponing, the sollinir agent for I ho Oasis company, testified (hat he rcpresenti'd to purchasers pur-chasers of hind under the Oasis pro jocfc that the money paid as first payment pay-ment on the purchaso prico of said lands Would bo deposited with tho state board of land commissioners and held by tho board as a protection to settlers according to rule nineteen. At this hearing, as said above, Secretary Sec-retary Lynch was present and swore the witnesses. He must have heard the evidence. Will Be Under Limelight. This investigation of Uncle Sam into tho workings of the state laud board in Carey act projects, the suit filed in Millard county, the action to be instituted insti-tuted against the board collectively, and as individuals, aud against the bondsmen bonds-men cf tho board, will throw light upon many matters connected with the state lands that havo lou been hidden away, and when tho 6pot light is thrown upon those matters there will be such a scurrying scur-rying to cover as has never beforo been seen in Utah siuco stalohood. Tho action taken may be one of the reasons why tho official organ of the state objocts so strenuously to having a grand jury called, for its inquiry would covor everything. |