The Salt Lake herald-Republican. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1909-1918, 1909-12-01
Chief Forester Prods Secretary
of the Interior Ballinger in
Regard to the Conservation
Policy Of the United States.
SERIES OF QUESTIONS
ANSWERED IN DETAIL
"Neither Good Sense Nor Good
Morals TO Let Valuable
Privileges Pass From Pub
lie Ownership for Nothing. p
CONGRESS MUST DECIDE

Washington, Nov 3O.-Cifford Pinchot
chief of the United States forest service
has again thrown down the gauntlet t.
/ Secretary of the Interior Ballinger in re-
gard to the conservation policy. He de-
/ ciared that congress will have to decide
At its coming session whether the great
coal fields of the country shall continue
to remain in the hands of the people OF
I sc gobbled up by mononolies. and wheth-
/ er great water power sites shall be given
/ away to special interests or be controlled
/ by the people.
/ Mr., Pinchot makes known his views
| upon these tyFO chief sources Of power
! Of the present and future in a letter to
| Dr. Lyman Abbott of New York. I'm re-
Spouse TO series of questions asked by
I the latter on 'the national conservation
] policy
Referring to the development of water
/ power and coal fields, the government
chief forester declares that in most cases
/ actual development of the former can
best be done by private interests acting
under public control, but that 1T is
neither good sense nor good morals 10
let these valuable privileges pass from
the public ownership for nothing and for
ever
Dangers Defined.
In answer to DIR. Abbotts question.
/ What is the danger to the conservation
policies i'm the coming session of CON
gress2' Blr. PinChOt declares that it is
. the privileges of the few may continue
to obstruct the rights Of the many, espe-
cially i'm the matter Of water power and
coal"
Congress must decide at this session, %
Mr.. PinchOt says, whether the great
coal fields still In public ownership shall
remain So i'm order that their use may
be controlled with due regard to the in
terest Of the consumer, or whether they
shall pass into private ownership and be
controlled in tire mOnOpOlisCc interests Of
a few.
Congress must decide also whether
Immensely valuable rights to the use Of
water power shall be given to special in
terests i'm perpetlIity and without COM
pensation instead of being held and con-
tE3!f-d ~ I've Etii-iic.
why - IL Important Co protect the
water powers2' asked DR.. Abbott. and
ia reply Mr.. Pinchot points out that it
is of the first Importance to prevent them
from passing into private ownership, as
they have been doing, because the great
est source of energy of which we know
is falling water
What Water Power Control Means.
Under our form of civilization" he
says, eff a few meu ever succeed in con-
trolling the sources of power they viii
eventually control all industry as well.
II they succeed in controlling all indus
try they viii necessarily control the
country
Mr. PiDchot ADDS that he can see no
reason why we should deliberately keep
on helping to fasten the handouts of
corporate control upon ourselves for all
time merely because the few men who
would profit by it most have heretofore
had the power to compel it,
As one Of the essential things that
must be done to protect the water powers
fnw the UnDnfn GRANTING 7f 81
powers forever, either or nOn-navigable
or navigable streams, must absolutely
stop, according TO Mr. PnchOt After
stating that it cannot be right to grant
perpetual rights to the one great per-
manent source Of power, Mr.. Pinchot de
clares that lit IS just as wrong as it is
foolish, and just as needless as II is
wrong, to mortgage the welfare of our
children in such way as this; Water
powers must and should be developed
mainly by private companies. and they
must be developed under conditions which
make investment in them profitable and
safe"
He adds. however, that neither profit
nor safety requires perpetual rights. Mr.
PinchOt declares further that there is
''nO reason whatever why special inter-
ests should be allowed to u.s. them for
profit without making some direct pay
ment to the people for the valuable
rights derived from the people
People Snoutd CONTROL
ut is just as essential for the public
welfare that the people should retain and
exercise control Of water power monopoly
on navigable as on nOn-naVigable
streams" Mr.. PinchOt states in reply to
the question. Does the same principle
apply to navigabie streams as to non
navigabie streams?'
"If the difficulties are greater" he
concludes "then the danger that the
water powers may pass out Of the peO-
pies hands OG the lower navlgable parts
of the streams is greater than on the up-
per non-navigable parts, and It may be
harder. but in no way less necessary to
prevent"
Explaining what conservation means, /
Mr. Pinchot declares that it stands
against the waste of the natural re-
sources that cannot be renewed, such as
coal and iron; il stands for the peTpetu- |
alton of the resources that can be re-
newed: and, most of ALL &c stands for
an equal opportunity for every American |
citizen TO get his fair share of benefit /
from these resources, both now and for |
ever"
In discussing what has conservation |
TO do with the welfare of the average /
man t0day2" it is pointed out that "it
proposes to secure a continuous and !
abundant supply OF the necessaries Of |
life. which means a reasonable cost and /
business stability. It advocates fairness /
In the distribution of the benefits which |
flow from the natural resources
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RITfTATInM III Al ALBANIA