Omaha daily bee., 1910-09-07

raw material. while they will increasingly
desire to meet that demand In commercial
exchange The more we buy from them,
the more we shall sell to them. Their
prosperity Is inseparably involved with our
own. Thank Heaven we Of this continent
are now beginning to realize what, in the
end the whole world will realize, that
normally it is q good thing for a nation
to have its neighbor nations prosper We
OF the United States are genuinely and
heartily pleased to see growth and pros
perity Of Canada, In Mexico, In South
America
1T is clear that unless the governments
Of our southern neighbors take steps in the
near future by wise legislationg to control
the development and use of their natural
resources they will probably fall into the
hands of concessionaires and promoters.
whose single purpose, without regard to
the permaHent welfare Of the land in which
they work. will be TO make the most pos
slble money I'm the shortest possible time.
There will be a shameful waste, destruo-
tive loss and short-sighted disregard OF
the future, as we have learned by bitter
experience here at home.
UNLESS the governments of all the Amer
lean republics, including our own, enact
in time, such laws as will both protect their
natural wealth and promote their egiti-
mate and reasonable development. future
generations will owe their misfortunes to
us OF today. A great patriotic duty calls
upon us. We owe II to ourselves and to
them to give the American republics all
the help we can The cases in which we
have failed should be no less instructive
than the cases in which we have sue
ceeded. With prompt action and good will
the task of saving the resources for the
people is full Of hope for all of us.
But while we Of the United States are
anxious, as / believe we are able, TO be Of
assistance to others, there are problems
OF our own which we must not overlook.
One of the most important conservation
questions of the moment relates to the
control Of water power monopoly in the
public interest. There Ia apparent to the
judicious observer a distinct tendency on
the part of our opponents to cloud the is
sue by raising the question Of state as
against federal jurisdiction We are ready
to meet that issue IL it is forced upon us.
But there is no hope for the plain people
in such conflicts of jurisdictions. The es-
sential question is not one of hair-splitting
legal technicalities. 1t is simply this: Who
Sah pesl regulate tne epeclal interests OF
the public good? Most Of the predatory
corporations are interstate or have inter
state affiliations. Therefore they are
largely out of reach Of effective state con-
troll, and fall of necessity within the federal
Jurisdiction. One of the prime objects OF
those among them that are grasping and
greedy Is to avoid any effective control
either by state or nation; and they advo-
rat NJ II, he.
cause they believe it to be the least ef-
fective. In the great fight of the people
to drive the special interests from the do
minion Of our government, the nation is
stronger and its Jurisdiction is more ef-
fective than that of any state. The most
effective weapon against these great cor
porations, most of which are financed and
| owned on the Atlantic coast will be fed
| eral laws and the federal executive. Thai
| Is why l so strongly oppose the demand
to turn these matters over to the states
1t is fundamentally demand against the
interest of the plain people, of the people