The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-01-15
TAFT SENDS
 CONSERVATION MESSAGE
Necessity of Legislation For the Protection of the Natural Re of the United States Is Detailed Very Fully and Suggestions Made For the Necessary
 Laws On the Subject

the confusion fraud and contention which
 mas existed In the past has arisen from the lack of an official and determinative eiassiheation of the public lands and their contents
 It is now proposed to dispose of agri- cultural lands, as such, and at the same tune to reserve for other disposition the treasure of coal oil, asphaltum, natural gas and phosphate contained therein This may be best accomplished by separating the right to mine from the title to the surface, giving the necessary use of so much of the latter as may be required Tor the extraction of the deposits. The surface might be disposed of as agricul- turai land, under the general agricul- tural statutes, while the coal or other mineral, could be disposed of by lease on royalty basis. with provisions requiring a certain amount of development each year. and in order to prevent the use and cession of such lands with others of similar character. so as to constitute a monopoly forbidden by law, the lease should contain suitable provisions. sub Jeeting to forfeiture the interest of per- sons participating in such monopoly. Such law should apply to Alaska as well as to the United States.
 Soaring Investors.
 It is exceedingly difficult to frame a statute to retain government control over property to be developed by pri- vate capital in such manner as to se- cure the governmental purpose and at the same time might frighten away the investment of the necessary capital Hence, it may be necessary, by laws that are really only experimental. to determine from their practical operation, what Is the best method of securing the result aimed at. r
 The extent of the value of phosphate is hardly realized and with the need that there will be for 1t as the years roll on and the necessity for fertilizing the land shall become more acute, this will be a product which will probably attract the greed of monopolists.
 With respect to the public land which lies along the streams offering opportunity to convert water power into transmissible electricity, another im- portant phase of the public land ques- ton Is presented. There are valuable water power sites through all the pub lie land states. The opinion Is held that tho transfer of sovereignty from the federal government to the terri torial governments as they become states, included the water power in tn e rivers except so far as that owned by riparian proprietors. I don't think it necessary to go into a discussion of this somewhat mooted question of law. It seems to me sufficient to say that the man who owns and controls the land along the stream rom which the power Is to be converted and trans mitted, owns land which is indispensa- ble to the conversion and use of that power.
 Use of Running Streams.
 I cannot conceive how the power in streams flowing through public lands can be made available at all except by using the land itself as the site for the construction of the plant for which the power is generated and converted and securing a right of way thereover for transmission lines. Under these conditions. if the government owns the adjacent land--indeed, if the govern nent is the riparian owner-it may , control the use of the water power. by imposing proper conditions on the dis position of the land necessary in the l creation and utilization of the water power.
 The development in electrical appli- ances for the conversion of water pow CT into electricity to be transmitted long distances has progressed so far that 1t is no longer problematical, but it is a certain inference 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 into one ownership so that all the water power under government ownership shall be monoply.
 If, however, the water power sites now owned by the government-and there are enough of them-shall be dis posed of to private persons for the in vestment of their capital in such a way as to prevent their union for purposes of monopoly with other water power sites, and under conditions that shall limit the right of use to not exceeding 50 years with proper means for de- termining reasonable graduated rental and with some equitable pro- vision for fixing terms of renewal it would seem entirely possible to pre- vent the absorption of these most use- ful lands by a power monoply. As long as the government retains control and can prevent their improper union with other plants, competition must be maintained and prices kept reasonable.
 Conservation of Soil.
 In considering the conservation of the natural resources of the country, the feat ure that transcends all others, including woods waters, minerals, is the soil of the country. It is incumbent upon the gov ernment to foster by all available means the sources of the country that produce the food of the people. To this end the conservation of the soils of the country should be cared for with all means at the governments disposal. Their productive powers should have the attention of our scientists that we may conserve the new sols improve the old soils, drain wet soils ditch swamp soils, levee river over flow soils, grow trees on thin soils, pas ture hillside soils, rotate crops on all soils. discover methods for cropping dry land soils fond grasses and legumes for all soils, feed grain and mill feeds on the farm where they originate that the soils from which they come may be en- riched.
 A work of the utmost importance to in- form and instruct the public on this chief ! branch of the conservation of our re-
 sources Is being carried on successfully in the department of agriculture; but 1t 1 ought not to escape public attention that l state action in addition to that of the 1 department of agriculture Gas, for insance
 in the drainage of swamp lands) is es-
 sential to the best treatment of the soils 1 in the manner above indicated.
 Dry Farming.
 l The act by which, in semi-arid parts oi | the public domain, the area of the home. | stead has been enlarged from 160 to 32' l acres has resulted most benefcially 1T the extension of "dry farming and 1T l the demonstration which has been made l of the possibility, through variation IT the character and mode Of culture o