Rocky Ford enterprise., 1910-09-02
RESOURCES OF NATION
ITS PRECIOUS ASSETS
Theodore Roosevelt Tells Large Audi
ence in DenUer Why He Believes
Control of Conservation by the Fed
eral Government Usually Is Best.

and the waters. and that II 1t fails to
attempt this duty at the outset It will
later on have to pay heavily in order to
be allowed to take up the work. which
because It Is done 80 late. cannot be 70
well done as II 1t had been begun earlier.
Water Power.
Take the question Of the control OF the
water power sites. The enormous impor-
tance of water power sites to the future
Industrial development of this country
has only been realized within q very few
years. unfortunately. the realization has
come too late as regards many of the
power sites: but many yet remain with
which our hands are free to deal. We
should make It our duty to see that here
afte: the power sites are kept under the
control Of tho general government. for
the use of the people as . whole. The
fee should remain with the people as .
whole. while the use 10 leased on terms
which shall secure an ample reward to
the lessees. which shall encourage the de-
but which shall not create . permanent
monopoly or permit the development to
be anti social. to be IN any respect hostile
to the public good. The Nation alone has
the power to do this effectively. and It II
for this reason that you will nnd those
corporations which wish to gain improper
advantage and to be freed from efficient
control on the part of the public. doing
ton of state for National action.
There IL something fairly comic in the
appeal made by many of these men In
favor of state control when you realize
privileges of developing the water power
in any given state are at least a. apt to
he owned outside that state a. within II.
In this country. nowadays. capital has
National and not . state use. The great
corporations which are managed and
largely owned in the older states are
those which are most In evidence in de-
veloping and using the mines and water
powers and forests Of the new territories
and the new states. from Alaska to Arr
xona- I have been genuinely amused du-
ring the past two months at having arGu-
ments presented to me on behalf of cer-
tain rich men from New York and Ohio.
for instance. as to why Colorado and 9TH
er Rocky Mountain states should manage
their own water power sites. Now these
men may be good citizens according to
their hEhts. but naturally enough their
special interest obscures their sense of the
public need: and A. their object 10 to
escape an efficient control. exercised in
the interest of all the people of the eoun-
try. they eiamor to be put under the state
instead of under the Nation. II We arc
foolish enough to grant their requests. We
shall have ourselves to blame when We
wake up to ind that we have permitted
another privilege to intrench itself and
another portion OF what should be kept
individuals for purposes OF private en-
s1chment- During the last session Of
congress bills were introduced to transfer
the water power Mites In the National
Forests and the Public Domain to the
control of the states. cannot state too
strongly my belief that these measures
are unwise. and that Il would be disas-
trous to enact them Into law. In sub
stance their effect would be to free these
great special interests from ali effective
control The passaEe Of such . bill would
be . victory Of the special interests over
the general welfare. and . long backward
step down the hill Of progress We have of
late been climbing.
Our people have for many years pro-
ceedsd upon the assumption that the
Nation should control the public land. It
10 to this assumption Of National outlook
that We owe our wisest land legislation.
from the Homestead Law to the Irrigation
Law. The wise use OF our public domain
has always been conditioned upon Ma
tfonal action. The states can greatly help.
but the Nation must take the lead. a. re-
CARDS the land. as regards the forests and
waters: and perhaps peculiarly In the cass
of the waters. because almost all streams
arc really Interstate streams
Coal lands-
The same principle applies with pecu-
liar force to the coal lands and especially
to the coal lands in Alaska. whose pro-
lection and ownership by the Federal
government 10 30 necessary. both for full
and free Industrial development in the
west. and for the needs Of our feet in tho
Pacific. The coal mines should be leased.
not sold. and those who mine the coal
should pay back . part Of the profit to
the people. II is the right and duty of the
people to demand the most vigiiant trus-
teeship on that part of that branch of
the Federal government in charge of the
fuel resources Of the United States.
The Neutral Ground.
Remember also that many of the men
who protest loudly against effective
national action would be the nrst to
turn round and protest against state
action II such action in its turn became
effective. and would then unhesitatinE-
1y invoke the law to show that the
state had no constitutional power to
act. Long experience has shown that
II II by no means impossible, in cases
of constitutional doubt, to get one set
of judicial decisions which render Il
dimcult for the nation to act. and an
other set which render II impossible
for the state to act. In each case the
privileged benenciaries of the decision
invoke the aid Of those who treat the
Constitution. not As a healthy aid to
growth. but as q fetish to prevent
growth; and they asaail the advocates
of wise and cautious progress as being
opponents of the Constitution As I
have said before. an q strong believ-
er in efficient national action. where
such action offers the best hope OF Sc
curing and protecting the interest of
the whole people as against the inter-
est of n few. But am emphaticalIy
In favor of state action. where state
action will best serve this purpose; and
am no less emphatically in favor of
cordial and hearty cooperation be-
tween the nation and the states where
their duties are Identical or overlap.
II there Is one thing which IL more
unwise than another. It IL the creation
by legislative. by executive. or by
judicial action of a neutral ground in
which neither the state nor the nation
has power. and which can serve as a
place of refuge for the lawless man,
and especially for the iawless man of
great wealth. who can hire the best