The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1909-12-24
HILL TALKS ON
CONSERVATION
DECLARES PINcHOT AND OTHERS
SHOULD BE MORE
PRACTICAL.
Private Enterprise Handicapped by
Laws People Need Coal, Says
Railroad Man, and if Output Is Re-
stricted They Will Be at Mercy OF
Operators.

stricted They Will Be at Mercy of
Operators.
James ]. Hill, chairman of the board
of directors of the Great Northern,
in an interview granted The Seattle
Daily Times, made several prointed OBJ
servations anent the proposed federal
supervision and control of coal mining
enterprises by individuals and cOrpor-
atoms which may, in the future, seek
to develop coal properties on lands
now belonging to the public domain.
1t was Mr.. Hills first public statement
of his views on an issue which, owing
to the persistent attacks of Chief For
ester Clifford Pinchot and others on
Secretary Ballinger, has become of ma
tional Importance.
People who so strongly urge con-
servation of our natural resources
should be practical above all things
said Mr. Hill. II hold Mr.. Pinchot in
high esteem. He is a very fine sort
of a fellow. Yet, am free to say that
had some of the policies now urged in
his name been in vogue and in effect
through the federal statutes thirty
years ago, the great West would not
have developed as it has in that time.
Common Sense Needed.
cot federal control of coal mining
operations and of the proposed leasing
of coal lands in Alaska and elsewhere,
hold that should the government en-
act laws that would handicap private
enterprise and take away from the in
his part to develop industries and re-
sources for his own profit, then the
coal properties now owned by corpora
tons and others will become measur-
ably more valuable.
1.-THE people need coal. The nation
should be wise in safeguarding it's coal
deposits. Yet there is need. for prac-
teal common sense. If the output of
coal is restricted by federal laws, then
those who now mine coal will find
the people will be forced to pay more
for their coal. This is inevitable.
CAS- to the corporate development Of
the coal fields, it is we'll established
fact that the initial cost of coal min.
ing plant is very large, and above the
capacity of most individuals. In other
words, considering the cheapness or
high price of coal, it is certain that
corporations can mine coal cheaper
than the individual
Laughs at Water Power Trust.
What is needed is the practical ap-
plication of the principle of conserva-
ton so as to prevent the waste of coal
and of timber. This appeals to me
more strongly than the extreme views
of some who urge certain so-called
Pinchot policies of our government"
Mr.. Hill was asked: us there any
danger from water power trust?"
Laughingly he answered:
why, there's plenty of water power
for every one out there in the North
west. I see no danger from any So
called water power trust. The devel-
opment of hydro-electric plants is one
of the features of the growth of this
section of our country, and it will con-
tinue"
Mr.. Hill, who was in company with
President Howard Elliott, of the North
ern Pacific, and Darius Miller, vice.
president of the Burlington, talked
freely of the future of Washington
and of the eastern fruit growing dis
tricts reached by the two systems.
Great immigration Predicted.
your State is growing wonderful
ly,' he said. Next year we will
bring great lot of settlers to this
State and particularly to Eastern
Washington. 1 believe that the high
tide of immigration to the Pacific
Northwest will be reached within the
next two years-that is, during the
years 1910 and 1911 we will break all
records in bringing home builders and
producing settlers to this State.''
Mr.. Miller echoed this sentiment.
'The railroads are all doing a very
good business in the Northwest" said
Mr.. Miller. "The Burlington's terri
tory in the Middle West will send to
Washington thousands of home seek
ers next year and for the years to
come"
President Elliott announced last
night that so far as his railway is con-
cerned the switchmens strike is at an
end. He said further that at present
80 per cent of the freight in the hands
of the railroad is on the move, and
that all traces of the strike will be
obliterated within the next forty-eight
hours.
Pinchot Still Holds Job,
Washington, Dec. 18.-Gifford Pin
chOt, chief forester of the United
States, to whom it was said an offer