Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1910-02-04
NEED Is. SHOWN FOR DEFINITE
POLICY IN THE UNITED
STATES.
PROGRESS IN HANDLING
PROBLEM IN EUROPE
Corporate Abuses Recognized and
There 10 Menace in Present Situation
lin Thi. country-Ultim.ts Govern
me,t Control nevitabIe-other News
Of the Day.
Especial Correspondence

Especial Correspondence
Washington, Feb. 3.-"The Public
Utility Of Water Powers and their
Government Regulation" bulletin
just of the government presses, is a
timely discussion Of the present legis-
lative status Of water powers and of
the tendency In the United States and
in Europe toward the concentration, Of
ownership in water power and the
monopoly Of this natural resource by
capitalistic interests. The report is
written by the chief engineer of the
department of public works Of France
NJ. Rene Tavernier, and the chief ny
drographer of the United States geo.
logical survey :Mr. Marshall o. Leigh
ton.
M. Taverniers contribution is dis
cussion of the advance which has been
made during the past ten years by the
governments of France, Switzerland,
and. Italy toward the solution of the
water power problem and Of the present
and proposed legislation necessitated
by the rapidly changing conditions in
Europe due to the recognition Of flow
ing water as an energy producer and to
the recent improvement in methods Of
electrical transmission making possible
the conveyance Of power to points hun
dreds Of miles distant from the seat
of production. in these countries, M
Tavernier states, water power is now
generally recognized as public util-
ity while the political and economic
problems growing out Of hydroelec-
trfcal development have reached a
stage necessitating national considr
Grafton of the entire question of water
rights. In some instances. notably in
Switzerland and Italy, advanced action
in the matter of federal regulation has
already been taken. These European
countries are thus with respect to the
water power problem far ahead Of us in
America where the public utility of
water power has been barely perceived.
M. Tavernier presents facts which
should be Of high value to ourselves in
treating a problem which, practically
unrecogniZed, has within few years
grown to dominant proportions. One
Of the striking features of his discus
sion. which Is entirely applicable to our
own conditions is the universal appre-
citation in the countries mentioned, of
the fact that the question has two
sides.
Corporate Abuses Recognized.
Corporate abuses, past, present and
prospective, are fully recognized and
the need for restrictive legislation is
spractically undisputed; but on the
aother hand, even the most jealous of
the foreign advocates OF governmental
control admit that intervention should
not entail repression.
In his preface to the bulletin, Mr..
Leighton states impartially the situa-
tion as it exists in this country. Mod
ern water power development, in the
United States he says in effect, has
hardly passed its experimental stage
yet the problem before the country
looms large with complexity of en-
tanglements. Hydro electric proper
ties have not yet, as class, returned
to the investor succession of swol-
len dividends. The industry is sub
ject to the same exigencies as are other
industries and except in few cases,
Notwithstanding the testimony of many
popular magazine articles, it bears no
resemblance to Aladdin's lamp as a
revenue producer.
On the other hand, he states, there
Is q real menace in the present stu
alton. Certain great consultations of
water-power interests have taken place
during the last few years, and these.
with the appearance of the names of
few persons among the officers or in
the directorate of large number of
companies operating water-power
plants, making new installations, or
manufacturing or marketing water
power or electric machinery, point un-
mistakably to a concentration of own
ership in several groups which might
consolidate or at least effect a COM
munity Of agreement.
The Menace in the Situation.
The menace in the prospect. however,
lies not so much in this probability as
in the power which such combina-
ton would possess to manipulate un-
righteously the public interest. The
menace while thus far only specula-
tive, does not obviate the necessity for
Observation-Disclosures therefore to pre-
vent crimes and abuses, since expert
ence shows that in the present state Of
society mankind is yet frail.
But what kind of legislation? Con-
solidatian Is inevitable. Water power
: e ma tnrAl monopoly by reason of the
natural law of stream flow. There is
10 virtue in preventing consolidation
IL economy in maintenance and opera
tion IL thereby prevented; and console
dalton does secure distinct and unusual
economies, SO that if the consumer re-
ceives the benefits, he gains by the
consolidation. Therefore the solution
Of the problem lies in legislative reg
ulation Of water power development
and maintenance to the end that the
consumer shall pay only a fair and rea-
sonable price for power. In the old
world 1t has been decided proper
function Of the government to declare
water powers Of public utility and to
place them under appropriate laws, the
assumption being that the public has
dominant interest in the development
of this great natural resource.
Government Control Inevitable.
Several states, Mr.. Leighton notes,
have already begun to realize the need
S for legislation and have enacted laws OF