The farmer and mechanic., 1909-02-02

dra,,lic mower and company which
controls the power Of single STATE
or a group of States Will nave nothlhS
to fear from competition.
Many business men with whom /
have talked regard the anehatlo1 ol
valuable energy Of the country
water-cOurSeS as a matter OF the graV-
est potent. Others, spec:ncally some
officials of public service corporations,
take a different view. The deVelop-
ment Of water-poWer in any section
of the country is of greater benefit
to the industries of that section than
to the owners Of the power company
they argue. If compensation is TO oe
exasted for the use of streams. capltal
will not invest in power. plants' OF -
it does invest the tax will increase the
cost Of the power to. consumers and
so act as a drag on the 1nduStr1dl
development of the sections served Dy
Water-pOwer as compared with thoSe
to which coal supply is more acees-
sible. This is the kind of talk that
is heard whenever proposition IS put
forward to give away the property OF
the public, whether it be the pubic
streets or public streams. we may
even admit that there is something IN
this argument as applied to water
power right Nobody wants to dis
courage enterprise or to retard the
development of communities that are
out of reach of an economical coal
supply Grant that the companies en-
gagged in developing the energy OF
flowing streams into the energy OF
electricity cannot afford to pay much
or anything for their use Of the
streams at present. II undeVelOpeu
power privileges are not valuable to
their holders now Cas- a matter Of fact,
they are immensely valuable) they
will be in the future
Of no &c oil n
in the one word perpetual. The
grants that have been made and that
are being made every year are perma-
nent They run needIeSSly. They are
outright gifts. Moreover, they are
gifts that will make their corporation
holders richer and their original own
ers, the people, the poorer with each
passing year. Every ton OF coal that
is taken out of American mines in
creases the value of every ounce of
energy in every waterfall in the cOun-
try. Then strength of the mOnOpo-
listic control of the future power re-
sources Of the country, which Is in
evitab if the present policy is con-
tinued rests upon this one feature Of
permanent control Have we any
right to give away public property
which is certain to increase in value
with every year. which involves the
! future absolute control Of every indus
| try in the country. which belongs as
| much. or more, to generations of
Americans yet unborn as to OF the
| present generation?
There is another way. Among the
| great needs of the country are the inn
provement of navigable waterways,
| restoration to provide for a future
supply of timber. prevent floods and
| preserve the flow of streams, irriga-
| ton to bring fertility to arid lands,
the conservation of the power of
| hv lie
reservoirs. These projects call for
| enormous expenditures. Most of the
| money required, or at least very
| great part of it. can be obtained by
| eXacting reasonable compensation for
| the use of our tremendously valuable
water power privileges. At the same
time the interests of future genera
tlonS can be protected by limiting the
life of such grants This is the way
| any one of us would manage the mat
| ter If it concerned his private posses
| sions. Is it impossible to apply ordi-
| nary business sense to the manage
ment of property that we hold in
| common?
| The most important portion of the
| nations water-power is to De found
in navigaJle streams. These are un-
der the control Of the Federal Govern
meHt That which is located in source
! streams is under the control Of the
States in which these streams are in
| cluded, unless they are in Government
/ lands, in which case they likewise
come under the direction of Congress
i There is no difficulty, therefore, in
finding the. means of regulating the
| use of water power in the public in
terest. In fact. it is the specific busi-
ness of Congress and of the State
Governments TO administer the water
| power of the country in the interes,
Of the people-a business which thus
SgV.ih c1y n > ss<~v
| wholly overlooked sr.
! 1t is not often that we have the
opportunity to deal with.-a trust in
| it's earliest formativet stages Mos
industrial combinations are full
fiedged before they, receive any par.