The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1910-08-30

Il I At.j
rights; and as to these believe in
states rights. But there are large
| classes OF cases where only the au-
thority of the natlona: government
will secure the rights of the people;
and where this is the case | am a
convinced and thorough-going be-
lever in the rights of the national
government. Big business, for in
stance, is no longer an affair of any
one state; big business mas become
nationalized, and the only effective
way OF controlling and directing it.
and preventing abuses in connection
with it, is by having the people ma
tionalize this control in order to
prevent their being exploited by the
individuals who have na;ionaIized the
business. All commerce on scale
sufficiently large to warrant any con
troll over it by the government is
nowadays interstate or foreign com.
merce; and until this fact Is heartily
acknowledged and acted upon by
both courts and legislative bodies,
national and state alike, the interest
Of the people will suffer.
In the matter of conservation. I
heartily approve Of state action where
under our form of government the
state only, has the power to act;
cordially join with those who desire
10 see the state, within it's own
sphere. take the most advanced posi-
ton in regard to the whole matter
OF conservation. | haze taken ex-
actly this attitude In my own state OF
New York. Where the state alone had
power to act, | have done all could
to get ii to act in the most advanced
manner; and where the nation could
act, | have done all I could to get
national action in the same direction
Unfortunately. in the east we lave
In this matter paid the penalty of not
having our forest land under national
CONTROL and the penalty has been
severe. Most OF the states--althougn
they are old states-have not protect
ed their forests, each falling to act
by itself, because the action was
really the common concern of all;
and where action is the common con
Germ of all, experience has shown that
il can only be profitably undertaken
by the national government.
AS result OF the impossibility of
getting such wise action by the sew
eral state governments in the east,
we are doing our best to get national
legislation under which, the national
government, at the expense of mil.
lions OF dollars, shall undertake to do
as regards the Appalachians and
White Mountains of the east what
1t is now doing In the Rocky Noun
tains here out west. II would be
both a calamity and an absurdity for
the national government now to do
IN the west the very thing that at a
heavy pecuniary cost IL is trying to
undo in the east. BY actual expert.
|ence in the east we have found to our
cost that the nation, and not the sew.
eral states, can best guard the inter
ests OF the people in the matter OF
the forests and the waters, and that
II it 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
so late. cannot be so well done as If
1t had been begun earlier.
Water Power.
Take the question of the control
of the water power sites, The enor.
nous 'mnortarce of water power sites
to the future industrial development
OF this country has only been realized
within a very few years. Unfortunate.
ly, 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 1t our duty to see that here.
after the power sites are kept under
the control OF the general govern.
ment, for the use of the people as
whole. The fee should remain with
the people as whole, while the use
IS leased on terms which shall secure
an ample reward to the lessees.
which shall encourage the develop