The Watertown weekly leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1912-1917, 1912-05-03

| FRANCIS E. M'COVERN
Governor of Wisconsin
this law dealt thus awaits further legisla-
| tive action.
The topic is no longer novel. Out of
| all the discussion however has come
agreement that water power legislation is
desirable for the accomplishment of at
least three principal objects.
! First Is the need of public control of
| the location, obstruction height and
| strength of dams, their sluices and spill
ways. in the interest OF improvement in
navigation and safety to life. health and
! property. With the facts of the catas
trophe at Black River Falls still fresh in
| the public mind, caused as it was by the
| breaking of improperly built dams at DellS
and Hatfield, the Importance of this con
Sideration needs no argument. Privately
| built and privately owned as these dams
! were, the public is now called upon to
! foot the bill of expense incurred by reason
of their faulty construction, while in ad-
| dition irreparable harm has been done to
innocent individuals and distant cOmmun-
| 1tles. The incident is not isolated in the
! history of the country and the lesson is
| obvious. There should be no recurrence
OF it in Wisconsin. In the exercise of its
police power the state has ample authority
to regulate the whole subject in the inter
est of public safety and the general wei
| fare.
The second reason for legislation upon
this subject at the present time is the de-
STABILITY of providing a way now for at
tanning ultimate ownership and operation
by the public of all water powers in the
state whenever the people shall so desire.
This object can be accomplished by pro-
| viding just and satisfactory means for the
condemnation of dams water power sites
and riparian rights by public utilities,
municipalities and the state itself when
ever it shall have the constitutional power
| TO acquire and operate them. Naturally,
this transformation will come about slow
ly; but a beginning should be made now.
81 n far of ma =
sage of a general law for the regulation
| of water powers in lieu of the former
policy Of enact1ng a multitude of private
and local acts, is the desirability of prompt
development of water powers which in the
northern part of the state at least are now
one Of our main natural resources For
| about six years development of this sort
has been practically at standstill; at
least no permission has been granted by
the state to build a dam during this time
This delay may have been unavoidable
while the people were making up their
minds as to what should be the future
policy of the state relative to this sub
ject; but this has now been done and the
work of outlining such policy and giving
it legal recognition and sanction should no
There is no necessary conflict among
these various objects. Under the decisions
of our Supreme Court the owner of the
bank of a river is entitled to the use
of the energy of the stream between his
upper and lower boundary long as he
does not interfere with dominant public
stream to build a dam which may affect
navigation or endanger the health, life or
property of others without permission from
the state, any more than the state can
take his property without returning full
compensation to him. In the development
of every water power therefore these two
rights meet-one public and the other pri-
vate-and they should be harmOnized upon
a basis that will prove just and fair to all.
l trust that legislation having this pur
pose in view will be enacted at this special
session. The Joint Committee on Water
Powers and Conservation has had the mat
ter under consideration and is prepared [
believe to submit the result of its deliber-
ations to you.
WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.
The new weights and measures law,
chapter 566 of the Laws of 1911, was en-
acted in response to public demand for
the correction of unfair practices that had
grown up because of the lack of effective
public regulation. The legislative prob
lem then presented was how to protect the
public and secure fair dealing in trade
with the least hardship to producers and
dealers. 1t was a pioneer problem. The
mentary and there was considerable doubt
as to how the new law would operate in
practice. In the main it has worked well.
In some cases however complaints have
been made by producers and dealers to
the effect that some of the provisions of
sections 1868 and 4432 impose unneces-
sary and unexpected hardship at this time
Particularly in the, case of berry boxes
and peach baskets they say they have not
|
comply with the requirements of the new
| law. As Il rule these containers are pur-
chased long in advance of the season when
they are used and there being no uniform
ity whatever among the laws of the sew
eral states the supply for each must be
bought separately. 1t appears also that
some of the provisions of the sections just
mentioned are unnecessarily severe, and
that there is uncertainty and ambiguity in
some of the penalties imposed. These com
. plants have received the careful consid
!, | is
sioner who has recommended amendments
to these sections which it seems to me
should be adopted. They propose no abate-
ment of the protective features of the law
but will relieve it of harsh and unneces-
sary requirements.
SALE OF PUBLIC LANDS
In the enactment of Chapter 452 Of the
Laws of 1911 it was undoubtedly the in
/, | tention of the legislature to restrict the
sale of public lands to actual settlers. But
, the statute was not drafted so as to ex-
press this purpose and applications have
been made to the land commissioners I'M
der circumstances which justify an infer
, ence that many parcels of public land
were desired by single individuals for pur-
poses other than immediate settlement |
, recommend such amendment of the law as
win prevent all speculation in public lands
and limit sales to actual settlers.
AMENDMENT OF ELECTION LAWS
The provision of the new apportionment
,, act whereby it went into effect April 1,
! 1912. introduced an element of uncertainty
respecting the election on the following
! day of congressional district delegates to
national conventions and the nomination
and election of members Of this legislature
chosen to fill vacancies There has also
been some conflict of opinion as to what
is the proper method under existing law
of placing the names of candidates for
; delegates to national conventions upon the
official ballot. To set all such questions
| at rest 1 recommend the enactment of q
E law that will validate the nominations
! made and elections held on April End OF
! this year.
Permit me also to urge that the pro
visions of law for the placing of names
7 of candidates for delegates to national con
4 ventions upon the official ballot be sc
I amended as to remove all uncertainty in
l the future: and that the time for the meet.
ing of such delegates to nominate candi-
dates for presidential electors be changed
t | from the third Tuesday in April to the
/ | third Tuesday in September. or some othe,
s | convenient time. In attempting to comply
: with the law as it now is. the delegates 81
/ each political party met required by law
o hut found that although there was no seri.
o ous controversy as to who were entitled
: to participate in the making of these nomi
f | nations the official canvass had not beer
Q | completed as to permit the fact to be-