The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1913-11-20
CONSERVATION FEUD.
Secretary Houston gave the National


Conservation Congress wise maxim t
guide it's deliberations when he said
.Tf we care for the conservation or ou
people, we viii be relieved of much o
our concern about the conservation o
our natural resources.
IL was to be expected that the water
power committee would be unable 4
agree on report. The line of cleavag
is clearly drawn between the TIVE
classes OF conservationists on all th'
committees Of Congress and it is nat
ural that the fight over wator- -powei
should be taken into the convention.
Three reports were filed, one from
the majority, another from the minor
: ity, and the third onunciating certain
general principles on which the mem
bers OF the committee were unanimous
The chief point Of disagreement was
the manner of granting water-powc1
franchises The majority favored the
indeterminate franchise with no fixed
term in it. The minority declared in
favor of period not exceeding thirty
years, during which time the franchise
would be irrevocable except for cause.
The minority report, however, went
much farther in suggesting restrictions
10 be thrown around the grant of wa
tcr-power franchises
Without going into the merits of the
various contentious, it is we'll TO point
out that spirit Of suspicion and pes
simism has always marked the policy of
Clifford Pinchot and Others of his type
IN regard to conservation. There has
been something gloomy and fanntical
about Piuchot He is orc of those who
always can see the objections more
clearly than the advantages Of any
great project. II is au obIiquity Of
mental vision due to temperament
To get the proper perspective Of such
a personality, one has but to take such
a man out of his natural setting and
place him amid circumstances wholly
foreign 10 his mental makeup. For
example. who could imagine Pinchot in
the place Of Colonel Goethsls. the Ii
tan who laughs at obstacles and re-
moves mountains7 Had Pinchot been
pnt IN charge of the canal at the be-
giuniug Of the work, nc would still he
tangled hopcIcssly in red tape
The majority report h-esthcs fine
spirit of optimism. Without the text
of the report before ms, it is unwise
eitler Ia commend or condemn. Never
the'ess, the report in most forceful lan-
guagc calls attention 10 the fact that
prompt Developments our resources is
most desirable. The report points out
that the development Of water power
means triple conservation, - in that
II not only cOnscrves fuel. hut directly
serves to promote the navigabiiity OF
rivers, and, IL adds. at is csscrdial
that capital must be attracted to these
enterprises, and wbiie ne must fully
protect the interest of the public. pres.
ent and future, we are not conscrva-
tionists il we advocate the imposition
Of terms which restrict rather than en-
courage development.
The supporters of the majority report
would seem TO bc inspired by that sen.
timcnt which Secretary Houston so elo-
quently expressed. They believe that
our greatest duty IL TO ;he present gen
Grafton They do not know what fftv
or sixty years may bring forth 10 make
life more livable and the struggle for
existence easier, but as students of his
tory they can forecast with safety that
their children and their children IS chill
drcn will fare much better than those
who live today. While they should not
be guided By the folly of the spend
thrift nor the narrow spirit Of those
who would seize all for themselves, they
should do all they can to promote the
weli-being OF the present generation,
and this can be done best by wise de-
velopmcnt.
Those of US who live in the West
f'ow that this rreat region was devel-