Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1910-01-20

as they become States, inclnded tba
water-power in the rivers excent q
far as that owned by riparian nrc.
prietors. / do not think It necessar,,
to go into a discussion Of this some
what mooted question Of law. +
seems to me sufficient to say that the
man who owns and controls the Land
along the stream from which tha
power is to be converted and trans
mltted, owns land which is ind;snan-
sable to the conversion and nse of
that power. [ cannot conceive how
the power in streams fowino
through public lands can be made
available at all except by using the
land itself as the site for the con-
structlon Of the plant by which the
power is generated and converted
and securing a right-of-way there
over for transmission lines. Under
these conditions, if the government
owns the adjacent land-indeed. If
the government is the riparian own
er-lt may control the use of the
water-power by imposing proper con-
dltlons on the disposition Of the land
necessary in the creation and utili-
cation of the water-power.
To Thwart Monopoly.
The development in electrical b
planes for the conversion Of the.
water-power into electricity to be
transmitted long distances has pro-
crossed SO far that it is. no longer
problematical, but it is 8 certain IN
ference that in the future the power
Of the water falling in the streams
to a large extent will take the place
Of natural fuels. In the disposition
of the domain already granted, many
water-power sites have come under
absolute ownership, and may drift in
to one ownership, so that all the
wa~ter-power under private ownership
shall be a monopoly. If, however,
the water-power sites now owned by
the government-and there are enough
Of them-shall be disposed of to
private persons for the investment of
their capital in such a way as to pre-
vent their union for purposes of mon
opoly with other water-power sites,
and under conditions that shall limit
the right of use to not exceeding
thirty years with renewal privileges
and some equitable means for fixing
terms of rental and with proper
means for determining a reasonable
graduated rental, it would seem en-
tlrely possible to prevent the absorp-
ton OF these most useful lands by a
power monopoly. AS long as the
government retains control and can
prevent their improver union with
other plants, competition must be
maintained and prices kept reason
able.
Drainage of Swamp Lands.
A work of the utmost Importance
to inform an dinstruct the public on
this chief branch of the conservation
of our resources is being carried ON
successfully in the Department of
Agriculture; but it ought not to
escape public attention that State
action in addition to that of the De-
partment Of Agriculture Gas for in
stance in the drainage of swamp
lands) is essential to the best treat
ment Of the soils in the matter above
named.
Dry Farming.
The act by which in semi-arid
parts of the public domain the area
Of the homestead has been enlarged
from 100 to 800 acres has resulted
most benefcially in the extension of
"dry farming" and in the demon
1~Stration which has been made Of the
II possibility, through a variation in
the character and mode of culture,
of raising substantial crops without
the presence of such a supply of
water has been heretofore thought
to be necessary for agriculture. :.
But theer are millions Of acres of
completely arid lands in the public
domain which, by the establishment
Of reservoirs for the storing Of water
and the irrigation Of the lands, may
be made much more fruitful and pro-
ductive than the best lands in a eli
mate where the moisture comes from
the clouds. Congress recognizes the
Importance Of this method of artif-
cial distribution of water on the ario
lands by the passage Of the recla,
nation act. The proceeds Of the pub.
1IC 1dllUo CICdUCO CuC LULU W OuAAC
the works needed to store and fur
nish the necessary water, and it was
. left to the Secretary Of the interior
to determine what projects should bt
selected among those suggested, ane
!. to direct the Reclamation Service
with the funds at hand and through
; the engineers in it's employ, to con
struct the works.
) Recommends $50, 900, 90 in Bonds.
! One Of the difficulties which ha'
! arisen is that too many projects il
/ view Of the available funds have beer
set on foot. The funds available I'm
der the reclamation statute are in
$ adequate to complete these project
: within a reasonable time. And we
e the projects have been begun; set
tiers have been invited to take III
and, in many instances, have takel
r up, the public land within the pro
) jects, relying upon their promp
TN L