The Washington times., 1913-11-20

tl'at were considered. DR.. Condra wa!
urged to accept the office, but declined,
Lane Substitutes for Bryan.
Secretary of the Interior Lane serveC
as substitute speaker for Secretar,
Bryan. He made an appeal to the con
servationists for aid in the campaign
for opening up Alaska.
Why shouldn't the Government
| build railroad from the southern
| coast Of Alaska to the INTERIOR" h,
asked. I'VE found that the coal land:
of Alaska were falling into the hand:
OF few and We stopped it. That in
dustry must be developed, not in a way
that the coal barons can control 1t, bu
SO that it may fall into the hands OF
small owners who will put it to use"
Touching on the ADMINISTRATOR land
policy. he said:
We want to see the lands of the
United States given into the hands OF
those who will use them for the public
We have put to the best use. This land
must not only be an opportunity for
today, but an opportunity for tomor-
row, and IL you and / can do aught to
bring that about, We will have served
our country"
Graves, Mrs. Percy V. Pennybacker.
who brought greetings from the Gen
eral Federation of Women's Clubs. Of
which she is president; Miss Mabel
Boardman. for the Red Cross, and
members of the forestry section COM
pleted the program of the morning ses-
sion.
Resolutions already completed and
ready for reference to the convention
favor the completion of reclamation
projects and the amendment of the rec
lamation act SO as to provide period
.nT !, ~
and the water power resolution will be
the most debated resolution brought be-
fore the congress.
Here is where the fight comes in the
convention today in finding answers to
the following questions and incorporat-
ing them into resolutions:
Shall the water power interests be
given indeterminate franchises. or shall
they be limited to thirty years? What
steps shall be taken to compel the big
interests now in control of practica ly
all the water power projects to develop
the power sites they are holding un-
developed for monopolistic purposes?
What share of the profits of THE water
power concerns shall be turned over to
the Government?
Reason For Fight.
The whole fight thus far has been
over the adoption of a report which
was brought into the convention with
the unanimous support OF the Federal
regulation conservationists. The op-
position to this was greater than was
expected. The State rights men, who
are opposing all three reports of the
water power committee, because all
favor Federal regulation, mustered 15I
votes against the adoption of the unan-
imous agreement to 434 for its adoption.
The unanimous report was framed be-
cause the members OF the water power
committee. though disagreeing, realized
the consequences which would follow
failure to agree on constructive
program of progress, and framed a
upon which IT could agree. This re-
port provided for granting of privilege
TO use a water power on the following
terms:
Franchise for definite period, length
not fixed.
Revocation of franchise by Govern
ment at will upon payment of physical
value.
Conditions of grant to be determined
anew at end of each ten-year period
after expiration of first period.
Such water power grant to be unas-
signable except with Government ap-
prcval.
Whole capacity OF power site must be
This is to prevent monopoly
of undeveloped resources.
Government to. share increasingly in
net profit of the enterprise.
Clifford Pinchot, former Secretary OF
War Stimson. former Secretary of the
Interior Fisher and their supporters
would go farther.
First they would fix the length of the
franchise at thirty years and have il
terminate at the end OF
tftv years, when new terms may be
fixed
They would not have the franchise
revocable by the Government at any
time, but only at the end of the thirty
year period, in order to be fair to the
investor.