Dam suit was instituted in good faith for the protection of navigation or that the General Government of the United States is not responsible for the illegal acts of the Federal officials that instigated and brought about the unlawful confiscation of the English Company's rights and properties; therefore, inasmuch as this is a matter that touches our national honor, it is logical to assume that Secretary Hughes will instruct that the award payable by the United States in the premises shall be paid promptly, i. e., without availing of the eighteen months' grace allowed by the treaty. (9) The said treaty provides for the payment of interest, as well as for damages, and, having regard for the said record proofs of the outrageous manner in which the English Company was defrauded of its property and lawfully acquired rights, it is also logical to assume that the said arbitrators will not fail to allow full interest, costs, and damages in determining the amount of the award so payable by the United States. (10) The exceptionally high rank and financial standing of the principal investors in the said securities, and the fact that the British Government has so intervened in their behalf, ensure that the said record facts that so conclusively establish the validity of this claim will be presented in a proper and forceful manner by the counsellors of the British Government and by the associate American attorneys of counsel in the case. (11) The terms of the said treaty, and the fact that the moneys to be repaid to the subscribing members of this syndicate and the payment of such 200 per cent bonus are secured by a first mortgage charge on and against the award payable by the United States to the said Claimant Company, i. e., on and against an award that can not fail to be many times greater in amount than is the amount of such charge, make such security virtually equivalent to an undertaking on the part of the Government of the United States to pay the amount of such charge. (12) The said award will be payable by the United States to the British Government, and, after the deduction of 5 per cent thereof to cover such government's costs in the premises, the responsible officials of the British Government will pay over to the trustee for the subscribing member of such expense fund syndicate the said $150,000 required to satisfy the said first mortgage charge; the remainder of the award will then be paid over to the said receiver for the benefit of the holders of the said shares and debentures of the English Company; the said trustee will promptly pay over to each member of the said expense fund syndicate such member's share of the said $150,000. [Copy of an Agreement filed in the British Foreign Office.] This agreement, made this 23d day of September, 1921, between Dr. Nathan Boyd, of Washington, D. C., as receiver of the Rio Grande Irrigation & Land Co. (Ltd.), party of the first part, and John Stuart Hunt, of Washington, D. C., as trustee, party of the second part. Whereas, by treaty between the United States and Great Britain (British-American Pecuniary Claims Treaty) the claim of the holders of the shares and debentures of the Rio Grande irrigation & Land Co. (Ltd.) (hereinafter called the Claimant Company), that grew out of confiscation by the United States of the rights and property of the claimant company is presently to be arbitrated; and Whereas certain moneys are required to meet obligations incurred and to be incurred by the party of the first part, and for the printing of briefs and arguments to be presented to the arbitral tribunal, and to provide for the payment of other costs and charges incurred and to be incurred therein; and Whereas the party of the first part is the duly authorized receiver of and for the said Claimant Company, and has power to raise moneys for such expenses and to meet such obligations, and to secure and provide for the repayment of such moneys; and Whereas the award payable by the United States in respect to the said claim is payable to the representatives in the premises of His Britannic Majesty's Government for and in behalf of the Claimant Company; and Whereas, after deducting 5 per cent of such award to cover costs incurred in the premises by His Britannic Majesty's Government, as provided by said treaty, the charge of $150,000 hereby made shall be satisfied, by payment of the said $150,000 to the said trustee, the party of the second part: Now, therefore, these presents witnesseth: (1) That the party of the first part, in consideration of the sum of one thousand ($1,000) dollars duly paid by the said trustee, the party of the second part, receipt of which is hereby acknowledged by the party of the first part, as one-fiftieth part of the loan of fifty thousand ($50,000) dollars herein provided for and secured, and of other valuable considerations: (2) That the party of the first part hereby authorizes and empowers the party of the second part to form a syndicate to provide and make a loan of not more than fifty thousand ($50,000) dollars for the use of the party of the first part; (3) That the party of the second part hereby agrees to act as trustee for and to the subscribing members of the said syndicate; (4) And that to secure the repayment of the moneys subscribed by the members of the said syndicate and the payment of a two hundred per cent (200%) bonus in respect to the said moneys so subscribed by the members of the said syndicate the party of the first part hereby makes a charge unto the party of the second part, his executors, administrators, and otherwise, for and in behalf of the subscribing members of the said syndicate, in the sum of one hundred and fifty thousand ($150,000) dollars on and against the said award to be paid by the United States to His Britannic Majesty's Government for and in behalf of the claimants. In testimony whereof the parties hereto have hereunto affixed their respective hands and seals the day and year first above written. NATHAN BOYD, Receiver, Rio Grande Irrigation & Land Co. (Ltd.), Party of the First Part. JOHN STUART HUNT, Trustee, Party of the Second Part. THE RIO GRANDE CLAIM, FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLAR EXPENSE FUND ($----------) dollars, receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged, towards the $50,000 expense fund to provide for the payment of certain expenses incurred and to be incurred in promoting and preparing for arbitration the above-captioned claim at the forthcoming regular sitting of the British-American Pecuniary Claims Tribunal, and it is also hereby acknowledged that the above-named subscriber is a subscribing member of the said syndicate and that he is entitled to receive in cash from John Stuart Hunt, the duly appointed trustee for the subscribing members of the above-captioned syndicate, at the office of the said trustee in the city of Washington, D. C., out of the award payable by the United States in respect to the said claim, the amount of his said subscription plus a bonus of two hundred per cent (200%), as and when the said award shall be paid by the United States. The repayment of such subscription of $. and the payment of such bonus of 200% is secured by a first mortgage charge, dated the 23d day of September, 1921, in the sum of $150,000, on and against the said award duly filed in the British Foreign Office, London. Receiver Rio Grande Irrigation & Land Co. (Ltd.). -9 Trustee. Act of Congress approved August 19, 1921. [PUBLIC, No. 56-67TH CONG.] [H. R. 6877.] An act to permit a compact or agreement between the States of Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming, respecting the disposition and apportionment of the waters of the Colorado River, and for other purposes. Whereas the Colorado River and its several tributaries rise within and flow through or from the boundaries between the States of Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming; and Whereas the territory included within the drainage area of the said stream and its tributaries is largely arid and in small part irrigated and the present and future development, necessitates and general welfare of each of said States and of the United States require the further use of the waters of said streams for irrigation and other beneficial purposes, and that future litigation and conflict respecting the use and distribution of said waters should be avoided and settled by compact between said States; and Whereas the said States, by appropriate legislation, have authorized the governors thereof to appoint commissioners to represent said States for the purpose of entering into a compact or agreement between said States respecting the future utilization and disposition of the waters of the Colorado River and of the streams tributary thereto, and Whereas the governors of said several States have named and appointed their respective commissioners for the purposs aforesaid, and have presented their resolution to the President of the United States requesting the appointment of a representative on behalf of the United States to participate in said negotiations and to represent the interests of the United States: Now, therefore, Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That consent of Congress is hereby given to the States of Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming to negotiate and enter into a compact or agreement not later than January 1, 1923, providing for an equitable division and apportionment among said States of the water supply of the Colorado River and of the streams tributary thereto, upon condition that a suitable person, who shall be appointed by the President of the United States, shall participate in said negotiations, as the representative of and for the protection of the interests of the United States, and shall make report to Congress of the proceedings and of any compact or agree ment entered into and the sum of $10,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is hereby authorized to be appropriated to pay the salary and expenses of the representative of the United States appointed hereunder: Provided, That any such compact or agreement shall not be binding or obligatory upon any of the parties thereto unless and until the same shall have been approved by the legislature of each of said States and by the Congress of the United States. SEC. 2. That the right to alter, amend, or repeal this Act is herewith expressly reserved. Approved, August 19, 1921. Proposed Colorado River Compact. The States of Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming, having resolved to enter into a compact under the Act of the Congress of the United States of America approved August 19, 1921 (42 Statutes at Large, Page 171), and the Acts of the Legislatures of the said States, have through their Governors appointed as their Commissioners: W. S. Norviel for the State of Arizona, Delph E. Carpenter for the State of Colorado, J. G. Scrugham for the State of Nevada, Stephen B. Davis, jr., for the State of New Mexico, R. E. Caldwell for the State of Utah, Frank C. Emerson for the State of Wyoming, who, after negotiations participated in by Herbert Hoover, appointed by The President as the representative of the United States of America, have agreed upon the following articles: ARTICLE I. The major purposes of this compact are to provide for the equitable division and apportionment of the use of the waters of the Colorado River System; to establish the relative importance of different beneficial uses of water; to promote interstate comity; to remove causes of present and future controversies; and to secure the expeditious agricultural and industral development of the Colorado River Basin, the storage of its waters, and the protection of life and property from floods. To these ends the Colorado River Basin is divided into two Basins, and an apportionment of the use of part of the water of the Colorado River System is made to each of them with the provision that further equitable apportionments may be made. |