Judith Gap journal. [volume] (Judith Gap, Mont.) 1908-19??, 1910-09-16

the individual secured and encouraged
as long as consistent with this welfare
and curbed when It becomes inrrn-
sistent Herewith 1t Is aeccssary to in
woke the aid Of the government. There
are points In which this governmental
aid can best be rendered by the states:
that Is, where the exercise OF state
rights helps to secure popular rights.
and as to these q believe in state
rights.
But there are tlursye classes of cases
where only the authority of the ma
tionai government will secure the
rights Of the people. and where this IA
the case am a convinced and a thor
oughgoing believer in the rights of the
national government. Big business,
for instance, is no longer an affair Of
any one state. Big business has be-
come nationalized, and the only eff
fectivc way of controlling and direct
ing it and preventing abuses in con-
nection with it is by having the people
natiOnalize this control in order to
prevent their being exploited by the
individuals who have nationalized the
business. All commerce on scale suf-
ficiently large to warrant any control
over 1t by the government is nova
days interstate or foreign commerce.
aud until this fact is heartily acknowl-
edged and acted upon by both courts
and legislative bodies. national anu
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. and the state only. has the
power to act. I cordially joiu with
those who desire to see the state.
within its own sphere. take the most
advanced position in regard to the
whole matter of conservation.
have taken exactly this attitude in
my own state Of New York Where
the state alone had power to act I
have done all could to get it to act
in the most advanced manner. and
where the natioa could act have
done all / could t. rot national action
in the same direction.
Unfortunately in the east we have in
this matter paid the penalty Of not
having our forest land under national
control, and the penalty has been Sc
we're: Most Of the states. although
they are old states, have not protected
their forests, each failing to net by
itself. because the action was really
the common concern of all, and where
action is the common concern of all
experience has shown that 1t can only
he probably undertaken by the ma
tional 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 leg
islation under which the national gov
eminent, at the expense of millions of
dollars, shall undertake to do as re.
CARDS the Appalachians and White
mountains OF the east what 1t Is now
doing in the Rocky mountains here
out west.
Water Power.
Take the question Of the control OF
the water power sites. The enormous
Importance of water power sites to
the future industrial development of
this country has only been realized
within very few years. Unfortunate
~ the realization has come too late as
"cc.."., '.. : INV Of the power sit"s ~,
nliny yet remain with which OUT
hands are free to deal. We should
make 1t our duty to see that hereafter
the power sites are kept hinder the con
use Of the people as a whole.
The fee should remain with the Tieo-
! pie as n whole, while the use Is leased
on terms which SHAH secure an ample
reward to the lessees. which shall en-.
courage the development and use OF
the water power. but which shall not
create II permanent monopoly '6r per
NIT the development to be aiifi-socihi.
to he in any respect hostile 70 The pub
lie good.
The nation alone has the power to
do this effectively. and, it Is for this
reason that you will find those corpo-
rations which wish to gain improper
advantage and to be freed from etti
Client control on the part of the public
doing all that they can to secure the
substitution Of state for national &C
ton.
There is something fairly comic In
the appeal made by many OF these
men in favor OF state control whel
you realize that the great corporations
seeking the privileges of developing
the water power in any given state ar,
at least rs apt to be owned outside
that state as within It, In this conn
try nowadays capital has a nationa
and not Il state use.
The great corporations which ar,
managed and largely owned In tn,
older states are those which are mos
in evidence In developing and usin,
the mines and water powers and for
ests OF the new territories and the new