The Evening standard. [volume] (Ogden City, Utah) 1910-1913, 1910-08-29
ROOSEVELT TALKS
ON CONSERVATION

mcnt OF this country has only been
realized within very few years. I'm.
fortunately. the realization has como
TOO late regarding many of the power
sites! but many yet remain with
which our hands arc free 10 deal. We
should make II our duty to see that
hereafter the power sites are kept
under the control OF the general
government, for the use oil the peo-
pie as whole The fee should re.
main with the people as n whole,
while the use is leased on terms
which shall secure an ample reward
TO the leSsees. which shall encourage
the development and use of the wa
ter power 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 pow
er TO do this effectively. and 1t is for
this reason that you will find these
corporations which wish to gain i'm
proper advantage and to be freed
from efficient control on the part of
the public, 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 roallze that the great corpora
tlons seeking the PRIVILEGES OF deyel-
oping the water power In any given
state arc at least as apt TO be owned
outside the state as within IT, In
this country nowadays. capital has a
national and not n state use. The
great corporations which are man
aged and largely owned in the older
states arc those which are most in
evidence in developing and uslng the
mines and water powers and forests
OF the new territories. and the new
states, from Alaska to Arizona
have been genuinely amused during
the past two months at having ar
guments presented to mo 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 water pow.
er sites. Now these men may be good
citizens according TO their lights. but
naturally enough their special inter
ests obscure their sense OF public
need. and as their object is to es-
cape an efficient control exercised In
the interest oil all the people of the
country, they clamor 10 be put under
the state instead of under the nation
If we are foolish enough TO. grant
their requests. we shall have ourselves
to blame when we wake UP and find
that we have permitted another priv
ilege TO Intrench Itself and another
portion of what should be kept for
a n hn 20
individuals for purposes of private
enrichment. During the last session
Of congress bills were introduced to
transfer the water power sites In the
national forests and the public do
main TO the control OF the states I
cannot state too strongly my belief
that these measures are unwise and
that II would be disastrous to enact
them into law. In substance .heIr
effect would be TO free these great
special interests from all effective
control. The passage OF such a bill
would be a victory OF special inter
ests over the general welfare. and n
long backward step down the hill OF
progress We have of late been climb
ing.
Our people have for many years
proceeded upon tho assumption that
the nation should control the public
land. IT is to this assumption of ma
tional outlook that We owe our wis
est land legislation from the home
stead law TO the irrigation law. The
wise use OF our public domain has al.
ways been conditioned upon national
action. The states can greatly help.
but the nation must take the lead as
regards the land, as regards the for
ests and waters. and perhaps pecul-
iarly In the case of the waters, be-
cause almost all streams arc really
interstate streams.
Coal Lands.
The same principle applies with
peculiar force TO the coal lands. and
especially TO the coal lands in Alaska,
whose protection and ownership by
the federal government IS so neces.
sary, both for full and free Industrial
development in the west and for the
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 vigil
ant trusteeship 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
mon who protest loudly against ef-
fectivc national action would be the
first TO turn round and protest against
state action II such action In its turn
became effective. and would then un-
hesitaungly invoke the law TO show
that the state had no constitutional
power to act Long experience has
shown that II Is by no means impos-
sible. In cases of constitutional doubt.
to get one set of judicial decisions
which render 1t difficult for the nation
to act, and another set which render
1t impossible for the state 10 act In
each case the privileged beneficiaries
OF the decision invoke the aid OF those
VINO treat the constitution not as
healthy aid to growth, but rs fetish
10 prevent growth; and they assail
the advocates of wise and cautious
progress as being opponents on the
constitution. AS I have said before.
! am a strong believer In efficient ma
tional action; where such action of
fcrs the best hope of securing and
protecting the interests OF the whole |
people as against tho interests of a
few, But ! am emphatically in favor |
of state action, where state action |
can best serve this purpose; and | |
am no less emphatically In favor OF |
cordial and hearty cooperation be- |
tween the nation and the states where |