Hanford Landowners Fight Water Monopoly
Thirty-two land owners organize to challenge the Consumers Ditch Company's water rates.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
A meeting was held on Tuesday night in the Brick school house as a result of the visit here last week of a United States marshal with subpoenas for the 32 land owners under the Hanford project who signed the complaint to the Public Service commission last summer asking the commission to regulate rates charged by the Consumers Ditch company. Manley B. Haynes called the meeting and a fair attendance was on hand. Attorney M. M. Moulton was present and was retained as counsel to make the defense in the case against the commission by the company. Mr. Moulton quoted from correspondence he has had with H. Alexander Smith, and the whole trend was for an early and amicable settlement of this water question that has so long been the bane of existence around here.
“the whole trend was for an early and amicable settlement of this water question that has so long been the bane of existence around here.”
This 1916 struggle over water rights and monopolistic utility rates remains a familiar grievance in the arid regions of Eastern Washington. The fight by Hanford settlers against the Consumers Ditch Company illustrates the enduring tension between private control of public resources and the needs of rural agricultural communities.
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