The Mena weekly star., 1910-09-01

25.
 md the waters. and that if it fails to attempt this duty at the outset it wIli ater an nave to pay heavily in order to ee allowed to take up the work which because it Is done so late, cannot be 80 well done as If 1t had been begun earlier
 Water Power.
 Take the question of the control of tho water power sites, The enormous impor- tance of water power sites to the future lndustrial development of this country has only been realized within a very few years. Unfortunatly. the realization has come too late regards many of the power sites; but many vet 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 government. for the use of the 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 lessees. which shall encourage the de- vclopmcnt and use of the water power but which shall not create a permanent monopoly or permit the development to be anti issocial to be in any respect hostile to the public good The Nation alone has
 
 for this reason that you will find those corporations which wish to gain improper advantage and to he freed from efficient control on the part of the public. doing all that they can to secure the substltu- ton of state for National action.
 There Is something fairly comic in the appr-l made by many of these men in favor of state control when you realize hat the great corporations seeking the privileges of developing the water power Tn any given state are at least as apt to he owned outside that state as within it. Tn this country. nowadays. capital has a National md not a state use. The great corporations which. are managed and largely owned in the older states are those which are most fn evidence in de- -eiop'ng and nsins the u'nes and water powers and forests of the new territories md tho new states. from Alaska to Ari- -cua. have been genuinely amused du- ring the past two months at having argu- nents presented to me on behalf of cer- tain rich men from New York and Ohio. far instance as to why Colorado and oth- TT Rocky Mountain states should manage their own water power sites. Now these men may be good citizens according to their lights. but naturally enough their special Interest ohscures their sense of the public need and ns their object is to escape an efficient control. exercised Tn the interest of all the people of thc coun- try. they ciamor to be put uIsler tho sia' instend of under the Nation. If we arr foolish enough to grant their requests. we shah have ourselves to blame when we wake up to find that we have permitted another privilege to inirench Itself and another portion of what should be kept for the public good to be turned over to individuals for purposes of private en- richment. During the Inst session of IA f..~ the water power sites in the National Forests and the Public Domain to the control of the states. I cannot state too strongly my belief that these measures are unwise and that fl would be a!sas- tr0us to enact them into law. In sub stance their effect would be to free these great special interests from all effective control Tho passage of such bill would be a victory of the special interests over the general welfare. and a long backward step down the hill of progress we have of late been climbing,
 Our people have for many years pro ceeded upon the assumption that the Nation should control the public land. II i Is to this assumption of National outlook that we owe our wisest land Legislation. l from the Homestoad Law to the Irrigation | Law. The wise use of our public domain | has always been conditioned upon Ma | tional action The states can greatly help. l but the Nation must take the lead, as re- | gards 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.
 l The same principle applies with pecu- | liar force to the coal lands. and especially | to the coal lands in Alaska. whose pro- l tection and ownership by the Federal | government is so necessary, both for full | and free industrial development in the | west. and for the needs of our fleet In the | Pacific. The coal mines sh old be leased. not sold. and those who mine the coal should pay back a part of the proft to | the people. II Is the right and duty of the people to demand the most vigilant trus- teeship on that part of that branch of the Federal government in charge of the | fuel resources of the United States.
 The Neutral Ground.
 Remember nlso that many of the men | who protest loudly against effective national action would be the first to turn round and protest against state action if such action in It's turn became effective. and would then unhesitating iy invoke the law 10 show that the state had no constitutional power to | act. Long experience has shown that 1t is by no means impossible. in cases of constitutional doubt. to get one set of Judicial decisions which render II difficult for the nation to act and an other set which render 1t impossible for the state 10 act. In each case the privileged benefciaries of the decision invoke the aid of those who treat the Constitution, not as a healthy aid te growth. but as a fetish to prevent I growth; and they assail the advocates | of wise and cautious progress as beine | opponents of the Constitution. AS have said before. am strong believ' | CT in efficient national action, wher' such action offers the best hope ot se, curing and protecting the interest ol the whole people as against the inter'
 est os few. Bus l am emphaueaiis l in favor of state action. where stat' action will best serve this purpose; anS
 ain no less emphaticaiiy m taVor o
 cordial and hearty cooperation pc tween the nation and tho states wher'
 their duties are Identical or overlap.
 If there is one thing which IS mor'
 unwise than another 1t is the ereato'
 by legislative by executive or U. ] Judicial action of a neutral srouhu v
 which neither the state nor the hauo'
 has power, and which can serve as
 place of refuge for the lawiess man ana especially for the iawiess man Q
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