The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1910-04-08

: laws at the beginning which are 70
the benefit Of the masses and not TO
the benefit of the classes.
: After all that is done, we take thi
water power and transmit 1t owe
electric wires for miles and miles
some of it as high as ESQ miles, an,
transmit 1t with only a IL per cen
loss. You can understand what tina
means. We can all have 1t to use
They have 1t on the farms, wher,
they cook and heat and light by cleo
tr1city because our water powers ar,
so cheap that they can afford to d.
1t. AS an illustration: Take m!
own home in Pocatello. I have no
had a fire in my house to cook b!
for seven years, nor fire to heat the
house, either. We heat our house
we light our house, we heat our bath
water and water for domestic use
and we do our cooking, make oul
ice cream and churn the butter, dc
the washing and the ironing, and the
girls even wash the dishes by cleo.
tricity daughter and applause).
was going across the continent from
Boise, our state capital, to Chicago
with gentleman and we had to stop
at my home in Pocatello, and I made
this same statement that l have made
to you to him, and he was a little
stentical, and the only way to con-
vince him was to take him to my
home and give him meal prepared
and cooked by electricity. And If
anv of you gentlemen will come to
Idaho. will be glad to demonstrate
these things and let you have a meal
cooked by electricity entirely.
The work of our development in
the west is necessarily in it's infancy.
AS have said, we have in Idaho
1900 900 acres of land, 20,000.000
anres in forest reserves. We have
over 100000 acres withdrawn for
water power sites and things of that
character; over 100000 acres with
drawn for Indian reservations, max
ing over 21,9000.000 acres taken
away from us in which we have no
control as state. The great Snake
liver traverses our state from east to
the west, and over half the length of
our western border This river is the
seventh largest river in the world,
"rd with its mahy tributaries fur
nishes more water for irrigation pur-
poses than any other river In Amer
lea. And If what you gentlemen say
here is true. and we believe it is true,
that the government has no title to
that water, they are simply retarding
the development of our country, be-
cause man must have permit from
the state engineer before he can use
that water, and We are not going to
give a permit to any trust or monop-
oily, whether it be trust of financial
men or trust of the government
there.
We have, in addition, great phos-
phate beds in Idaho. We have de-
veloped there a whole mountain of
We have phosphate |
enough in the mountains of Idaho,
around Soda Springs and in that !
vicinity to fertilize every acre of land |
west of the Rocky Mountains. Our
coal beds are yet practically unde-
veloped, but we have the same veins
that Wyoming has; we have the same |
veins they have developed and from
which they have furnished the coal |
for all our western country for years.
FIND all these resources taken to-
gether tend to build up our great
system of life under irrigation.
Now we are asked, first. to pay
royalty of rs cents to 81 a horse
power per annum on our water pow
ers. Last year our forest reserves
earned from rentals of pasture and
things of that character approx
mately 100000. We gave to the
United States government $148,0O0
Of that money, while we were spend
Ing our own money building trails
through the forest reserves to protect
our timber from fire and loss.
If we 60 on at the same rate with
our phosphate beds and our coal
DDS and our water powers, within
ten years, at the present rate of de-
velopment, we will be paying tax
TO the national government of over
81 100000 year. We do not ask
hat this money be turned over to
use; we do not ask
hat this money be turned over to
any man or set of men. but we do
ask you, gentlemen, II it is not fair
hat it should be used for the erec-
ion Of school houses, the education
If our children and the building of
Dads through those 100000 acres
If lands, leading to the homes of
men. II
Not sixty days ago l rode in a