The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-02-03

ty for year. and comment upon
 this offer by Brigadier General Mar
 shall. late chief of engineers, United
 States army. and now consulting en-
 gineer of the reclamation service, are
 all herewith transmitted.
 Water Power Sites,
 Tn previous communications to cop-
 gress have pointed out two methods
 by which the water power sites on
 nonnavigable streams may be con
 trolled as between the state and the national government. It has seemed
 wise that the control should be con. centrated in one government or the other as the. active participant in su-
 pervising it's use by private enterprise.
 In most cases where the government owns what are called water power sites along nonnavigabIe streams. which are really riparian lots. without which the power in the stream cannot be used. we have a situation as to ownership that may be described as follows: The federal government has land without which the power in the stream cannot be transmitted into eIec- tricity and applied at a distance. while it is claimed that the state under the law of waters as it prevails in many of our western states controls the use of the water and gives the beneficial use to the first and continuous user In order to secure proper care by the state governments over these sources of power 1t has been proposed that the government shall deed the water pow CT site to the state on condition that the site and all the plant upon it shall revert to the government unless the state parts with the site only by lease. the terms of which 1t enforces and which requires q revaIuatiOn of the rental every ten years. the full term to last not more than fifty years. A failure of the state to make and en- force such leases would enable the government by an action of forfeiture to recover the power sites and all plants that might be erected thereon. and this power of penalizing those who succeed to the control would furnish a motive to compel the observance of the policy of the government
 The secretary of the interior has sug- gested another method by which the water power site shall be leased di- rectly by the government to those who exercise public franchise under pro- visions imposing a rental for the wa ter power to create d fund to be ex- pended by the general government for the improvement of the stream and the benefit of the local community where the power site is. and permitting the state to regulate the rates at which the converted power is sold The lat ter method suggested by the secretary is a more direct method for federal control. and in view of the probable union and systematic organization and welding together Of the power derived from water within radius of 300 or 400 miles. l think it better that the power of control should remain in the 1 national government than that 1t 1 should be turned over to the states. l Under such q system the federal gov erumeRt would have such direct super | vision !of the whole matter that any l honest administration could easily pre- vent the abuses which a monopoly of l absolute ownership in private persons | or companies would make possible.
 Bureau of National Parks.
 earnestly recommend the establish ment Of 2 bureau of national parks | Such legislation k essential to the prop 1 CT management of those wOndrouS | manifestations of nature. so startling and so beautiful that every one recog | nizes the obligations of the government | to preserve them for the edifcation and | recreation of the people. The Yellow stone park. the Yosemite. the Grand ! canyon of the Colorado. the Glacier : National park and the Mount Rainier i National park and others furnish ap- instances. In only one case have we made anything like adequate for the use of park by | the public. That case is the Yellow stone National park. Every conSidera- tiOn Of patriotism and the love of na- lure and of beauty and of art requires US to expend money enough to bring all these natural wonders within easy reach of our people. The first step in that direction is the establishment of a responsible hureau which shall take upon itself the burden of supervising the parks and of making re,-Ommenda- tiOnS aS to the hest method of improv- ing their accessibility and usefulness. International Commission on the Cost
 of Living.
 There has been a strong movement among economists. business men and others interested fin economic inveStiga- tion tO secure the appointment of m international commission to look into the cause for the high prices of the ne- cessities of life. There iS no dOIbt but that a commission could be appointed of such unprejudiced and impartial per sons. experts in investigation of eco homie facts, that great deal of very valuable light could be shed upon the reasons for the high prices that have so distressed the people of fhe world and Information given upon which action might be taken to reduce the cost of living. The very satisfactory report of the railway stock and bonds com mission indicates how useful an inves- of this kind can be when un- dertaken by men who have had ade- quate experience in economic inquiries and a levelheadedness and judgment correctly 10 apply sound principles to the facts found
 For some years past the high and