The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1908-10-09
WASHINGTON LETTER

| WASHINGTON, Oct S.--In. dis.
cussing the charge made BY the For.
est Service for power permits and the
probable action Of the Trans Alissis.
sipri Congress At san Francisco Dc.
Etoher 9th 10 10Th, in the matter Of
| the conservation of water power
water power, Clifford pinchot, the
United States Forester, expressed
himself as follows in a recent letter:
although | shall not be able 70
be present myseli mr. , send rep.
tes.n'aur IN deeply ed IN
The Trans-Mississippi Congress and
share your anxiety that the Congress
may pursue such 4 course as will have
a positive tendency to promote the
active development and utilization OF
water power.
"The need Of water power TO con.
serve the other natural resources OF
the country especially the mineral
fuels, Is thoroughly understood BY the
Forest, Service. Thus the active de
vclopment Of power sites Upon the
National Forests, for which permits
are issued, is always secured by i'm
posing the condition that work shall
be begun within definite specified
time end completed within another
definite specified period, The policy Of
the Forest Service is TO encourage
water power development in evry way
consistent with the public interests
involved.
,"While the charge for power per-
mits should be based. not only upon
the services rendered by the Govern
nent in administering the Forests and
conserving the water flow, but also
upon the power value" OF the land
occupied, the charge imposed neet
not be onerous, You are entirely
right in your belief that | do not de-
sire to make the charges burdensome
either to the power companies or to
the people
"On the contrary ! have made care
fuF inquiry Of persons experienced in
the practical development of power
projects and am convinced that the
charges have been fixed so low as to
avoid by a wide margin any posi-
bility Of retarding power develop
ment As explained in my letter OF
May S, the action, or rather lack of
action, by the power companies upon
the suggestion that they submit to
a fair investigation in order to de.
termine the reasonableness Of the
present rate Of charges, clearly ndi-
Gates that their complaints are
groundless.
"The only real grievance which the
power companies have Is s,.a., Under
the Act Of February Is, 1901, (3l
Stat 1907 their permits must Of nee
essity be reyocable at the discretion
Of the Secretary Of Agriculture, and
with reference to this feature, as you
are already well aware, | am in favor
Of such change in existing law as
would authorize the issuance OF per-
mits irrevocablc, except for breach of
conditions, for fixed term sufficient
" long to insure security Of invest
ment
Grants Of valuable franchises and
rights such as were made
gratis TO the railroads when the ma
tural resources Of the country were
thought to be inexhaustible can not
now be seriously considered in con-
nection with the development Of wa
ter power to the country is coming to
be more and more thoroughly realiz-
ed and fear Of a water power monop-
ply, instead Of being looked upon as
an absurd yagary, has taken firm
place in the thought and considera-
ion Of the people
= am entirely in accord with the
position taken BY the President iii
lis message Of February rs, when he
says:
While we delay = the material
wealth and natural resources Of the
country related to waterways are be-
ng steadily absorbed by great mon "A
opolies,
Among these monopolies, there Is
10 other which threatens, Or has ever !
threatened, such intolerable inter- !