Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1909-01-16
President Hits Electric Companies.
The message says In part:

10 the HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,.
/ return herewith without my approval
house bill 1907 to authorize William
II. Standish to construct a dam across
James river, in Stone county Missouri,
and divert portion Of its waters thru
q tunnel into the said river again to
create electric power. My reasons for
not signing the bill are:
'.The bill gives to the grantee a val
liable privilege which by its very ma
ture is monopolistic, and does not con-
tain the conditions essential to pro-
tect the public interest.
My reason for believing that the
federal government, lin granting li-t
cense to dam a na,vigable river, has
the power to impose any conditions 1t
finds necessary to protect the public,
including charge and a limitation OF
the time, Is that its consent lis legally
essential to an enterprise of this char
actea.. It follows that congress can I'M
pose conditions upon Its consent.
Believing that the national govern
ment has this power, am convinced
that its power ought to be exercised.
The people of the country are threat
ened by monopoly far more powerful,
because in far closer touch with their
domestic and Industrial Life. than any
thing known to our experience. A sin
gle generation will see the exhaustion of
our natural resources of oil and gas
and such rise In the price of GOAL as
will make the price Of electrically
transmitted water power a controlling
factor in transportation, in manufac-
turing, and in household lighting and
heating. Our water power alone, IT
fully developed and wisely used. Is
probably sufficient for our present
Transportation, Industrial. municipal,
and domestic needs. Most OF It's unde-
veloped and is still in national or state
control.
Would 30 Act Of Folly.
& ITO give away, without conditions,
this, one Of the greatest Of our re-
sources would be an act of folly. If we
ore guilty of 1t, our children will be
forced to pay an annual return upon
= capitalization based upon the high
est prices which 1.-The traffic will bear"
They will find themselves face to face
with powerful interests intrenched be-
hind the doctrine Of vested rights"
and strengthened by every defense
which money can buy and the ingenui-
ty of able corporation lawyers can de-
wise. Long before that time they may
and very probably will have become a
consolidated interest, controlled from
the great financial centers, debating
the terms upon which the citizen can
conduct his business or earn his live
aihood, and not amenable to the whole
some check Of local opinion.
Further evidence of a very strong
nature as to additional inter-
corporate relations, furnished by the
bureau, leads me to the conclusion that
this total should be increased to "a per
cent; and still other evidence, tho less
conclusive, nevertheless affords reason
able ground for enlarging this esti-
mate by per cent, additional. In other
words, it is probable that these eleven
corporations directly or indirectly con-
troll developed water power and ad-
yantageous power sites equal to more
than q third of all the developed water
mower in the entire country. This as
tonishing consolidation has taken place
nractically within the last five years.
T,he movement is still in it's infancy,
and unless it is controlled the history
Of the oil industry will be repeated in
the HYDRO electric power industry, with
results far more oppressive and dis
astrous for the people. 1t is true that
the great bulk of our potential water
mower is as yet undeveloped, but the
sites which are now controlled by COM
mutations are those which offer the
greatest advantages and therefore
hold strategic position. This is GER
tain to be strengthened by the increas-
ing demand for power and the extern
sion of long distance electrical trans
1T is. in my opinion, relatively un-
,,,nortant for US to know whether or
not the promoters of this particular
rroiect are affiliated with any OF these
rrest corporations. II we make an I'M