The Norfolk weekly news-journal. (Norfolk, Neb.) 1900-19??, 1909-09-24
WATER POWER TRUST
Clifford Pinchot Tells OF Its Peril
at Irrigation Congress.
HE ADVISES SPEEDY PROTEST
National Forester Asserts That q Com
bination 10 Forming and That the
Time to Fight Its Schemes 10 Now.
Points Out the country's First Need.

Points Out the Country's First Need.
At one Of the sessions OF the recent
irrigation congress, held in Spokane,
Wash, Clifford Pinchot, the chief Of
the forestry bureau, directly charged
that there was a water power trust In
process Of formation.
"Not only this" he said, "but this
water power trust does not have any
hesitancy about appearing before this
congress, In the persons Of its attor.
neys, to seek to break down the last
remaining opposition to ownership Of
all the power In the country.
"In fact, l know one genial and ur.
bane gentleman who is now here help.
ing the trusts cause. The time for
protest Is very short, and the water
power trust will show but little con.
sideration to the common people IL
once the power of the country is cen
tralized. In power there Is life, ant
the water power trust will eventual.
control all other trusts"
Equality of Opportunity For All.
Mr.. Pinchot named one power cor
poration which, he charged. was after
the control of water power. His speech
was In part as follows:
"The first thing we need in this coun.
try, as President Roosevelt SO well set
forth in that great message which told
what he had been trying to do for the
American people, Is equality Of oppor-
tunity for every citizen. No man
should have less and no man ought to
tunity is the real object Of our laws
and institutions.
ut goes without saying that the law
Is supreme and must be obeyed. Our
civilization rests on obedience to law.
But the law Is not absolute. 1t re-
quires to be construed. Rigid con-
struction Of the law works and must
work in the vast majority Of cases
for the benefit Of the men who can
hire the best lawyers and who have
the sources of influence in lawmaking
at their command. Strict construction
necessarily favors the great interests
as against the people and in the long
run cannot do otherwise. Wise eXecu.
tors of the law must consider what
the law ought to accomplish for the
general good. The great oppressive
trusts exist because Of subservient
lawmakers and adroit legal construc.
tons. Here is the central stronghold
of the money power In the everlasting
conflict of the few to grab and the
many to keep or win the rights they
were born with. Legal technicalities
seldom help the people. The people,
not the law, should have the benefit of
every doubt.
Water Power Trust Now Forming.
"There could be no better illustration
Of the eager, rapid, unwearied absorp'
ton by capital of the rights which be-
long to all the people than the water
power trust, not yet formed, but I'M
rapid process of formation. This state.
ment is true, but not unchallenged,
We are met at every turn by the indig'
nant denial of the water power inter.
ests. They tell us that there is no com.
munity of interest among them, and
yet they appear year after year at
these congresses by their paid attor'
neys asking for your influence to help
them remove the few remaining obsta.
cles to their perpetual and complete
absorption of the remaining water
powers.
"They tell us 1t has no significance
that the General Electric interests are
acquiring great groups of water pow.
ers ia various parts Of the United
States and dominating the power mar.
ket in the region of each group. And
whoever dominates power dominates
all industry. Have you ever seen a
few drops Of oil scattered on the water
spreading until they formed continu.
Gus film, which put an end at once to-
all agitation of the surface? The time
for us to agitate this question is now,
before the separate circles of central.
lied control spread into the uniform, I'M
broken, nation wide covering of a sin.
gle gigantic trust. There will be little
chance for mere agitation after that.
No man at all familiar with the situa.
ton can doubt that the time for effec.
tive protest is very short. If we do not
use 1t to protect ourselves now we may
be very sure that the trust will give
hereafter small consideration to the
welfare of the average citizen when in
conflict with its own.
"The man who really counts is the
plain American citizen. This is the
man for whom the Roosevelt policies
were created, and his welfare is the
end to which the Roosevelt policies
lead. AS a nation we are fortunate at
this time in this fact above all others
that the great man who gave his nam,
to these policies has for his successor
another great president whose admin
istration Is most so.emnly pledged to
the support Of them"
1t is on account of this speech that
the belief is expressed I'm Washington
that Mr.. Pinchot has imperiled his
chances of long remaining in the gov.
eminent service.
Taft's Sunday Hair Cut.
The Massachusetts law forbids all
work except for necessity or charity
on Sunday hut President Taft had hia