Evening star., 1909-05-01
country related to waterways are he.
ing steadily absorbed by great moncpo.
lies
Control of Water Power.

Control Of Water Power.
Among these monopolies, as the re.
port of the commission points out,
there is no other which threatens. or
has ever threatened. such intolerab,e
interference with the daily life of the
people as the consolidation OF COM
panies controlling water power. Yet
the effect Of granting such privilege.
taken together with rights already &C.
1uired under state laws. would be 10
give away properties of enormous VAL
ue. Through lack Of forests we haye
formed the habit of granting without
compensation extremely valuable rights
amounting to fnonopolies on navisablc
streams and on the public domain. No
right involving water power should re
granted to any corporations in perpetu
ity. but only for a length of time suiii-
cient to allow them 10 conduct Their
business p,ohtabiy A rsasonahi.
valuable rights and privileges which
they obtain from the national xovera-
ment fair share Of the increas.
should be safeguarded for the benent %
The proceeds thus secured. after the
cost OF administration and improve
ment has been met. should naturally
be devoted to the development of our
inland Waterways.
The commission advocates engineering
work designed to regulate floods and low
waters. II SAYS that THE losses from
the annual floods Of the United States
occasionally reach hundreds of millions of
dollars with considerable loss Of life.
while the low water of late summer in
wolves large loss in diminished "a ater sup
ply and reduced power and In the foulins
OF streams. with consequent disease ami
death. II has been claimed that IN spe-
cihc cases the cost OF work required t.
control foods and meet the needs Of COM
merce would be less than the amount OF
this loss. Il Is desirable that more de-
tailed information be collected concern
ing the effects of floods and low waters
and their prevention by engineering
work and other devices"
Annual Soil Waste.
The commission estimates the annual
soil wash At about nm, ON. .nno tons. which
10 the most valuable portion OF the
soil. and II is carried into rivers where
IL pollutes the water. necessitatss
frequent and costly dredging and re-
duces the efficiency OF work designed
to facilitate navigation and afford pro-
lection from :he floods. This is larsely
due to the cutting of the timber. anj
the commission recommends that means
should be devised to prevent such loss-
es and for co-ordinating forestry. farm
ing. mining and related industries With
the use Of streams for commerce and
for other purposes.
There have already been put under
irrigation over 10.OOO.O0O acres OF Ter.
tile land. adding a quarter Of a million
homes and several hundred millions OF
taxable wealth: and IT is estimated that
by fully conserving the waters and by
utilizing the water power fully three
times as much more land can be rc.
claimed
The commission also recommends
comprehensive system of improvements
upon inland waterways. which will re-
claim swannps and overfiowed lands which
are mainly rich alluvial tracts along or
near waterways 1t is estimated that
there are Il N0.OOO acres of such land.
now unproductive. and II II were re-
claimed and divided into forty-acrs farms
1t would furnish homes for ten million
people.
The navigation Of the great lakes
furnishes one OF the most interesting and
inspiring chapters In the entire report.
and the statistics are amazing. The In
ere copper. salt and other producte 10
almost incredible and furnishes a contrast
with the statistics of river and canal
traffic that seems scarcely possible For
example. during the last twenty years the
coal that has passed through the Sault
Ste. Marie canal had increased from 235.-
CAT te 1l.4O0,085 tons: the wheat from
three million to ninety-eight million bush
to six million barrels; the grain. other
than wheat. from three hundred thousand
to forty-three million bushels: the iron
ere from 74S. 131 tons to %. 5a4 ,944 tons.
and tie lumber from JS.SIT thousand feet
to more than a billion Thousand feet.
The total freight that has passed
through the Sault Ste. Marie canal in 1881
was 1567. TAI net tons, while the total In
1907 was IS c17. ia tons. and similar
increase Is shown In the movement
through the Detroit river.
The report contains q great deal Of food
for thought. although its reee eeumendations
seem to be inconsistent with the facts
stated. particularly those relating to arti.
ficial channels of navigation.