Mercedes Tribune (Mercedes, Tex.), Vol. 7, No. 36, Ed. 1 Friday, October 22, 1920 Page: 4 of 10
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PAGE FOUR_
MERCEDES TRIBUNE
Published every Friday by the Hoyt
Printing Company
L T HOYT........Managing Editor
\ ____
Subscription
One Year .....................$2.00
Six Months ...................1.00
Entered as second class mail mat-
ter at the postoffice at Mercedes,
Texas, January 23,. 1914, under the
act of March 3, 1879.
AS TO AN IRRIGATION DISTRICT
That the Mercedes farmers and
business men are keenly alive to the
importance of an early solution of
the problem created by the proposed
increase of water rates is evidenced
by the large attendance at the mass
meeting Tuesday night and the in-
tense interest manifested.
The farmers on the Mercedes cana\
are facing a condition which calls
for earnest, careful consideration and
a thbrough investigation of the actu-
al situation.
Upon whatever action is taken will
depend the future prosperity, pro-
gress and development of the Merce-
des country.
Three courses are open, viz: Either
to accept the increased rates as pro-
posed, to contest them through the
proper channels on the ground that
they are exhorbitant or to form an
irrigation district and purchase the
canal system.
Opinion seems to be divided as to
which of these courses is the proper
of Mercedes. Mts. J. A. Chapman,
one to pursue.
The concensus of opinion unques-
tionably is that a continuation of the
service by the American Rio Grande
Land and Irrigation Company, as ad-
ministered by it in the past would be
preferred even at an increased rate.
But is this possible?
The time has come when we must
look the situation squarely in the
face.
Two years ago the American Rio
Grande Land and Irrigation Co. was
the owner of nearly 60,000 acres of
land which at that time had not been
placed upon the market for develop-
ment purposes. Today every acre of
that land has been sold and the only
property interests which the com-
pany owns here is the canal system.
While that land was in the course of
selling the operation of the canal
was only an incident of the business
of the company. The real profits
were derived from the sale of the
land. Notwithstanding this, however,
the operation of the canal and the
service rendered the farmers under
the management of Mr. W. F Shaw
has been so perfect as to be almost
beyond criticism. Of course, this has
been possible by reason of the fact
that no expense has been spared in
building a permanent perfectly con-
structed system of canals op-
erated by the most modern and. effi-
cient machinery.
Today the only business of the com-
pany is the .operation of this canal
and it stands to reason that a water-
rate will be exacted sufficien to pay
the operating expenses, mainain the
upkeep and pay an income on the in-
vestment. Regardless of who shall
be the' final arbiter, whether it. be
the State Board of Water Engineer?,
the attorney general under the terms
of the war contract or the courts
the contention .of the company is this
respect will unquestionably be sus-
tained.
The United States government in
granting increased passenger
freight tariffs to railroads has estab-
lished the rate of income which
should be paid on the investment af-
ter the allowance of operation and
upkeep, at 6 per cent.
It was suggested by Dr. Rothrock
at the meeting Tuesday night that if
the farmers are to be required to
pay a water rate sufficient to make
this profit to the company the farm-
ers might better take over the own-
ership and operation of the canal
system and save this profit to them-
selves.
But this is not all. It appears to
us after a careful consideration of
the situation, that the American Rio
Grande Land and Irrigaion Company
or its present stockholders rather,
have decided to dispose of the canal
system. The question arises—Who
will be the purchaser? Mr. W. E.
Stewart of the W. E. Stewart Land
Company has an option to purchase
all of the capital stock of the Amer-
ican Rio Grande Land and Irrigation
Company. A very substantial sum
has been paid for this option and it
will undoubtedly be exercised short-
ly after the first of next year. The
transfer of this stock will mean that
all the property, notes, choses in ac-
tion and the canal system will pass
into the ownership of Mr. Stewart,
Mr. Stewart is a land man and a
very successful one. He has suc-
ceeded in building up the strongest
land selling organization in the en-
tire country. His ability for organ-
ization and development can not be
questioned. And yet, do the farmers
on the Mercedes canal wish him to
take over the ownership and opera-
tion of the canal system?
Would he have the same incentive
for impartial, efficient service that
the water users themselves would
have?
Would the chief consideration be
the equitable distribution of water
over the entire tract so as to as-
sure the maximum yields, or might
it be the deriving of the maximum
profits from the operation?
We do not know. These are only
matters of conjecture, but they
should be taken under careful con-
sideration in arriving at the decision
as to whether some action should
be taken looking forward to public-
ownership.
During the past seven years sev-
en irrigation districts have been or-
ganized in the Valley. Donna and
Harlingen were first in 1915, San
Benito in 1918, La Feria, Santa Ma-
ria and Brownsville in 1919 and
Pharr-San Juan in 1920. All of
these districts were organized for
the prime purpose of improving the
service. With several of them prac-
tically rebuilding the entire systems
was necessary and a large part of
the bonds were issued for this pur-
pose. At Donna bonds were first is-
sued for $750,000, of which $550,500
were used to purchase the canal sys-
tem from the owners. Three years
later another issue was made pi the
amount of $500,000. The district
there is now installing a consider-
able amount of new machinery bur.
instead of'issuing bonds the payment
is made by appropriating a portion
of the amount assessed as a flat
rate. The rate is $5 per acre for
the year of which $2.10 is used for
the overhead and $2.80 for the pur-
chase of machinery.
At San Benito Monday of this week
the water users in mass meeting
voted almost unanimously a flat rate
of $8 per acre, the greater portion of
which is to be used in the installation
of $200,000 worth of new machinery
and improvements. It was necessa-
ry to install practically all new ma-
chinery at the pumping plants and
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To The Growers:
Cooperation in all business, and
handling perishable commodities es-
pecially.
When your eggplants are
brought in after train time they are
24 hours older when they arrive on
the market thereby decreasing their
value.
Therefore we ask that you cut your
vegetables in the morning and have
them delivered to our platform by 1
p. m. so that they can be handled and
packed properly and arrive at the
market in the best condition possible.
Acker Jones & Saladino
dredge out the canals at Donna. Har-
lingen, Santa Maria and La Feria
after the organization of the districts
and purchase of the canal system.
If it shall be determined to be ad-
visable to orfganize a district at Mer-
cedes the farmers are fortunate in
that the entire system is now con-
structed is complete and in perfect j
condition, built with the idea of
permanency. It is conceded that the
operation of the canals by the dis-
tricts already organized has been in
each case a decided improvement over
the operation of them under private
ownership. The wonderful growth
which both Donna and Harlingen
have experienced during the past two
years has been made possible only
by the organization of the districts.
La Feria was without water for
two years immediately preceding the
organization of the district but the
water problems seem now to be
solved and the farmers are being
furnished water at $3.75 per acre flat
rate and $1.50 per acre irrigation.
In order to form an irrigation dis-
trict a petition asking for an election
must be presented to the Commis-
sioners Court bearing the signatures
of fifty per cent of the several hold-
ers of the legal title to the land in
the proposed district representing also
fifty per cent of the assessed valua-
ion in the proposed district as shown
by the county and state assessment
rolls.
At the election any property tax-
payer may vote which means really
that every one qualified to vote at
other elections may vote at this elec-
ion.
It requires a two-thirds majority
to organize the district. At this
election five directors and an assessor
and collector are elected.
An assesment is then made of the
property in the tistrict and the val-
uations fixed independent of that of
the county and state. Bonds may
then be authorized at another elec-
tion to the extent of twenty-five per
cent of the total valuation. It re-
quires a two-thirds mapority to au-
thorize the issue of bonds. The
bonds are usually made to mature
serially covering a period of forty
years. The maximum interest charge
is six per cent and the law requires
that they be sold at not less than
par and accrued interest.
There are about 80,000 acres of
irrigable land on the present Mer-
cedes canal which includes the Cap-
isallo tract. If the land should be
assessed at an average of $160 per
acre and bonds issued for twenty-
five per cent of this amount or $40
per acre the total issue would be
$3,200,000.
It* would mean that all the land in
the district would be bonded at an
average of $40 per acre payable in
forty years at six per cent interest.
We are only using these amounts
for the purpose of illustration. They
might be consiterably less and they
might be some more.
The real important question Is
what would be exacted for the pur-
chase of the canal system. This can
be determined by negotiation and it
would have to be definitely deter-
mined before a bond issue could be
authorized.
We venture the prediction that
some time—we know not when—
but some time the farmers on the
Mercedes canal will form an irriga-
tion district ant take over the own-
ership and operation of the canal
system.
The acquisition of privately own
ed canals by public ownership is the
history and experience of every irri-
gated district in the United States.
Is the time opportune now?
We do not know. We do know, how-
ever, that the question merits the
careful and earnest consideration of
every farmer on the Mercedes canal.
And the business men are not ex-
empt for upon the prosperity of the
farmer depends the measure of suc-
cess of every man in business.
The columns of the Tribune are
open for the discussion of this all im-
portant question.
We invite the expression of the
opinions of the people and will glad-
ly publish any signetl articles which
we received withholding the publica-
tion of the name of the writer if so
desired.
HEY! EVERYBODY!
Don’t Forget There Are Only
Six More Days of the Great
Unloading Sale
You’ll Have to Hurry!!
This is a sale of unusual importance for it comes right at
the beginning of the Winlter season. Such drastic price cur-
ting coming at this time has brought throngs of customers to
our store. If you have not yet made your purchases here, wf
urge you to come during the last week of the sale.
SHOES FOR ALL THE FAMILY
Men’s Suits, Overcoats, Trousers, Work Clothing.
m i DRESS GOODS OF ALL KINDS
Stylish Ready-toWeav for Women, Misses and Children.
MEN’S HATS MILLINERY
MEN’S FURNISHINGS NOTIONS
SALE ENDS SATURDAY OCT. 30TH.
“THE
STORE
FOR
YOU.”
KATZ
Dry Good Co.
___.. * T1
*‘LA
TIENDA
PARA
UD.”
MaALLEN,
TEXAS
B. D. Carroll of Memphis, Tenn..
is a new resident of Mercedes. He
recently purchased a farm on the
Capisallo tract. „
Mr. Arthur J. Summers returned
Friday from a protracted „ absence
from the city during which the home
folk at Sharon, Pa., were visited and
relatives and friends at various other
points were seen.
Mr. and Mrs. H. D. Longkop, two
sons and tw.o daughters of Boonville,
Mo., arrived Sunday to take up their
residence here. Their land, recent-
ly purchased, is on the West Mer-
cedes tract. They are at present
guests at the Mercedes Hotel.
Mr. G. O. Turley came in from
Kerrville Tuesday night and will re-
main for a while at the home o?
his father-in-law, Mr. J. A. Robert-
son. The condition of Mrs. Turley’s
heaLth is not such as to permit her
to return to Mercedes as yet, though
it is hoped her improvement will
continue to such an extent as to per-
mit her return at an early day.
Miss Jones Entertains.
What can be more delightful than
an evening of pleasure on the lake?
The opinion of those who attended
the “barbecue” given by Miss Agnes
Jones last Thursday evening for her
Sunday school class, is that it cant
be beat.
Miss Jones, instructor of the
“Friendship” class in the Methodist
Sunday school planned the outing
for her class. Cars took the crowd
out to a lovely spot near the lake
where a fire was built and meat
roasted over the coals. There were
pickles and salads and ice cream
and cake and a r.oyal supper was
had. Games were played and stories
.were told until time came to go
home, which all did with much re-
gret.
The personnel included Misses
Agnes Jones, Vera West, Pearl Wall,
Sallie Tate, Veda Fairchild. Lucile
Morrow, Bess Vining, Messrs. Louis
Womack, Archie Lewis, R. R. Tal-
bot, Joe Brooks^ Pan Burris, J. W.
Middleton, Sam Hogan, H. M.
Schmalzaried, Frank Duncan, Mr.
and Mrs. W. M. McClelan, Mr. and
Mrs. J. D. Wade, Mr. and Mrs. W.
M. Stroebeck.
Mrs. J. A. Malone and little daugh-
ter, Ella May, have returned from
Beeville where they have been visiting
Mrs. Malone’s parents. Dr. and Mrs^
Malone are now living in their new-
ly purchased home on Missouri ave-
nue.
Mr. O. Gb H. Colley and family
consisting of Mrs. Colley, a son and
daughter, are among the new arrivals
in Mercedes. Mr. Colley is a promi-
nent banker and farmer of Dayton,
and he and his family are a valuable
addition to the citizenship here. They
are at present guests at the Mercedes
Hotel, but will build a winter home
on a beautiful 20 acre tract on Llano
Grande Lake.
When the breath is bad and th^
appetite disordered, Prickly Ash Bit-
ters is the remedy needed. It puri-
fies the stomach, liver and bowels,
sweetens the breath, promotes vigor
and cheerfulness. Price $1.50 per
bottle. Hadden Pharmacy special
agents. 36-2t
iou/Comt
t
We Pay Cash
Do not neglect the warnings .of na-
ture. If your appetite is poor, breath
bad, tongue coated, you will be sick
unless you take steps to put your
system in good condition. Prickly
Ash Bitters is the remedy you need.
It purifies the bowels, strengthens
digestion and regulates the liver.
Price $1.50 per bottle. Hadden Phar-
macy special agents. 36-2t
A burning sensation in the throat
and chest means bad digestion; and;
digestive trouble is-the starting point)
for many serious diseases; particu- j
larly kidney disease. Better take j
Prickly Ash Bitters and put your j
stomach and digestion in sound con-)
dition before serious trouble begins, j
Price $1.50 per bottle. Hadden Phar-
macy special agents. 36-2tj
j&awJt&oek'
JUctr
You can get the “bank book” habit only by
starting it.
Start TODAY.
Bring into our bank that “loose change” you
have in your pocket. Open a bank account
with us and get a BANK BOOK.
Then to increase the balance to your credit
will be easy.
But you MUST start.
Start and you will thank us.
We invite YOUR Banking Business
BANK OF COMMERCE AND
TRUST COMPANY
Texas Avenue at 3d. Mercedes, Texas
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Hoyt, L. T. Mercedes Tribune (Mercedes, Tex.), Vol. 7, No. 36, Ed. 1 Friday, October 22, 1920, newspaper, October 22, 1920; Mercedes, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1018841/m1/4/: accessed June 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Dr. Hector P. Garcia Memorial Library.