New-York tribune., 1909-01-16

4 that a monopoly Of power in any community
calls for strict public supervision ana reguld-
| ton ,.. -
Commerce in their report On the present OH.
that many OF the streams for the daEniLllhs !. "a
unnavigable is sufficiently answered IN tIS
! case by the action Of the House committee on
| Interstate and Foreign Commerce upon tnis
! very measure. AS stated in the House Oh
! March IS 1898. by Mr.. Russell, of missouri, d
bill TO declare this river unnavigable was re
jected by that committee.
repeat the words with which I concluded
my message vetolng the Rainy River bilI
In place Of the present haphszsFd p0ltcy Of peT Ts
rnanerItly aliena ting valuable pubic properly, we
should substitute definite policy along the follow
FTrstNThere should be limited or carefully !
guarded gras IN & The nats 9i en e for deTe
opment OF plans and for execution OF the project
Second-such grant or concession should De &c &C
vision ekpressly making it the duty & gf desfnasa of Bn
official 10 an4 te Pah1 ON Il, Ins ceordance with the
authority granted; u,o ,.s,e-
,nted ofhcai see that il apPToyins ,;d,, the
srd power Is assured or at least that in making
the plans these may not be developed as uti,
the water or complete development OF The power.
% tobes s5a oq nominal at the outset can
IN the future be adjusted so es 10 secure a con-
FIfth-Provision should be made for the ternl- sT1
nation Of the grant or peee 1--WE he az noer or suthnr
irv TO renew or extend the concession in accordance
with the conditions which prevail at that time
Further reelection suggests sixth condition.
+ viz:
The license should be forfeited upon proof
that the lcensee has Joined in any conspiracy
or unlawful combination in restraint of tTade
as is provided for grants Of coal lands in Alaska
by the act of May 2s. 1908.
GUARDING THE PEOPLES INTERESTS.
VIII sign no bill granting a privilege OF this
character which does not contain the substance
Of these conditions. I consider myself bound:
far exercise Of my executive power Will
allow to do for the people. in prevention OF
monopoly of their resources, what believe they
would do for themselves n they were In posi-
tion TO act. Accordingly l shall insist upon the
conditions mentioned above not only in acts
which sign. but also in passing upon plans for
use OF water power presented 10 the executive
departments for action The imposition or con-
ditions has received the sanction Of Congress IN
the general act Of 1906, regulating the constTuc-
tion Of dams in navigabie waters. which au-
thorizes the imposing OF such conditions and
stipulations as the chief or engineers ana Ihe
Secretary of War may deem necessary 20 pro
tect the present and future interests OF the
United States"
I inclose q letter from the Commissioner Of
Corporations, setting forth the results OF his
Investigations and the evidence of the far
reaching plans and operations of the General
Electric Company the Westinghouse Electric
and Manufacturing Company, and other large
concerns. for consolidation OF the water powers
Of the country under their control. / also In
close the memorandum Of the Solicitor General
above referred to.
esteem it my duty to every endeavor to
prevent this growing monopoly the most threat
ening which has ever appeared, from being
fastened upon the people Of this nation; nation,
The White House. Jan 10 1909.
COMMISSIONER SMITHS REPORT.
Accompanying the message Of the President was
q letter from Herbert Knox Smith Commissioner
OF Corporations. containing a summary OF report
on certain features Of the concentration Of the
water power of the country. It was on the in
formation contained in this report that President
Roosevelt TO a considerable extent based his mes
sage In brief the report shows that one-third OF
the power OF the United States has been con-
centrated into the hands OF few large corpora
tions including the General Electric Company. the
Westinghouse Company and others which
cannot be identified with either OF the tive. The
report dscloses the names only of the principal
corporations. but OF all the subsidiary companies
identified with the principals. and gives the
Of water power controlled by each. The total
horsepower controlled by a group Of thirteen
selected companies interests is 1S2i. 600 Com
missioner Smith points out that this is more than
per Of the total water power of the country.
he adds:
represent A. majority OF The best power sites
and marked control Poorer sites viii not gen
eraIly be developed until these strategic sites are
developed TO their full capacity And should these
strategic sites be coupled up. they become stil
water power COMPANIES % Is Z Lhat or the uneven
uneven source OF power. because OF the huctuat-
not only the different storages in the same drain
age basin, but, OF still greater import, the diff
ferent drainage flows Of different basins. Also. by
coupling up. powers which have largely day
loads at night help out other powers which
have largely might loads and vice Coup
ling up is rapidly IN progress in the United States.
The Niagara Falls Power Company and the Cana
dian Niagara Power Company are coupled The
Southern Power Company. in North Carolina and
South Carolina; the Common nweRlth Power Com
pany in Michigan the Pacific Gas and Electric
Company, the Pacific Light and Power Company
and the Edison Electric Company, in California
each concern has its various developments coupled
up into unit
The economic reasons urging water power con-
CentratiOn thus obvious. The facts here set
forth show the very rapid and very recent con-
CentTatfOn that has ALREADY occurred. practically
and business facts indicate clearly the further
progress toward concentration that is likely to
occur in the near future II is obvious that the
effect the public Of such and future
conditions IS matter Tor serious public cOnsd-
Grafton.