Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1910-08-30

1ttlN, the ItdilhaNltH mas come too
late as regards many Of the owe
sites, but many yet remain with
which our hands are free to deal we
should make it our duty to see hat
hereafter the power sites are kept
under the control of the general gov
ernment, for the use Of tho people
as a whole. The fee should remain
with the people as a whole. while the
use is leased on terms which shall
secure an ample reward to the les
sees, which shall encourage the de-
velopment and use of the water power,
| but which shall not create a perma-
nent monopoly or permit the devel-
) opment to be ~anti-social, to be in any
| respect hostile TO the public good.
The nation alone has the power 20 do
this effectively, and II is for thi rea-
son that YOU will find these corpora
tions which wish TO gain improper
advantage and TO be freed from eff
cient control on the part of the pub
lie, doing all that they can to secure
the substitution of state for national
action.
There is something fairly comic in
the appeal made By many Of these
men In favor OF state control when
you realize that the great corpora
lions seeking the privileges of devel-
oping The water power IN any given
state are at least as apt to be owned
outside the state as within Il.
IN his country. nowadays, capital
has a national and not a state use,
The great corporations which are
managed and largely owned in the
older states are those which are most
in evidence in developing and using
the mines and water powers and for
ests of the new territories and the
new states, from Alaska to Arizona. 1
have been genuinely amused during
the past w months at having argu-
ments presented to me on behalf of
certain rich men from New York and
Ohio, for instance, as to why Colo
RADIO and other Rocky mountain
states should manage their own wa
ter power sites. o these men may
be good citizens, according to their
lights, but naturally enough their pc
cial interests obscure their sense of
public need; and as their object Is to
escape an efficient control, exercised
in the interest of all the people OF
the country, they clamor to be put un-
der the state instead OF under the ma
ton. If we are foolish enough to
grant their requests, we shall nave
ourselves to blame when we wake up
and find thai we have permitted an
other privilege to intrench itself ana
another portion of What should be
kept for the public good to be turned
over to individuals for purposes of pri-
waite enrichment, During the last ses-
sion Of congress bills We're introduced
to transfer the water power sites in
the national forests and the public do
main to the control of the states. !
cannot state too strongly my belief
that these measures are unwise and
that it would be disastrous to enact
tNn,.. toto uuf m 81 hgfnnnn fhnlr Of
feet would be to free these great spe-
cial interests from all effective con-
troll. The passage of such a bill
would be a victory of the special in
terests over the general welfare, ana
a long backward step down the hill
of progress we have of late been
climbing.
"Our people have for many years
proceeded upon the assumption that
the nation should control the public
land, 1t is to this assumption of ma
tional outlook that we owe our Wlsest
lane legislation from the homestead
law TO the irrigation law. The wise
use of our public domain has always
been conditioned upon national action
The states can greatly help, but the
nation must take the lead as regards
the land, as regards the forests and
waters; and perhaps peculiarly In the
case of the waters, because almost all
streams are really interstate streams
Coal Lands.
The same principle applies with
peculiar force to the coal lands, n
especially to the coal lands In ALASKA,
whose protection and ownership by
the federal government Is so neces-
sary, both Cor full and free industri-
development in the west, n for
needs of our fleet in the Pacific.
The coal mines should be leased, not
sold, and those who mine the coal
should pay back a part of the profit
to the people. 1t is the right and
duty of the people to demand the most
trusteeship on h a part OF
that branch of the federal government
I'm charge of the fuel or me
United States.
The Neutral Ground.
Remember also hat many Of the
who protest loudly against effec-
tive national action would be the first
to turn round and protest against state
action If such action in its turn be-
effective, and would then IN
hesitatingly invoke the law to show
hat the state mad no constitutional
powers to act Long experience has
shown that il IL by no means impos'
In cases Of constitutional doubt,
Ia get one set Of judicial decisions
which render it difficult for the ma
ton to act and mother set which rem
Ter if impossible for the state TO act.
I'm each case the privileged bcneficiar-
les of the decision invoke the aid of
hose who treat the constitution not as
a healthy aid TO growth. but as a
Ietish % preevnt catious progress as
being opponents Of the constitution.
/ have said before, / am "a strong
believer in efficient national action
such action offers the best
1ope Of securing and protecting the
interests of the whole people as
against the interests of a few But !
I'M emphatically I'm favor OF state ac-
ion. where state action can best serve
his and / am no less en-
in favor OF cordial ana
hearty cooperation between the ma
ion and the states where their duties
ire identical or develop.
~ tnere ~ one thing whic his
unwise than another, 1t Is the
,reation b. legislative. by executive
pr by judicial action of "A neutral
round in which neither the state nor
he nation has power. and which can
as "A place of refuge for the
man, and especially for the
man of great wealth. who can
lire the best legal counsel TO advise
lin how 20 keep his abiding place
.qually distant from the uncertain
Of both state q national
The Open Range.
Il am here at the Invitation Of the
colorado Livestock association, and H.
lesire to express my appreciation OF