The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1914-03-01
ing, milling. municipal or domestic

none or IT can De 6ertleu OF ucNeioPo'
without the use Of wator. Tho only
power granted to the federal govern
inent over water is the implied contro
of navigation under the commerce
clause. Giving to this power it's wild
est scope, it has been repeatedly hello
| by the supreme court of the United
States that tho title to the land under
navigable waters is vested in the state
or in the riparian owner, az determined
| by the laws of the state Even though
such submerged land belong to the
United States while embraced in ter
ritory, the United States is automat
ically divested Of such title, and it is
vested in accordance with the laws OF
the state, when the territory is admit
ted into the Union. But with the
waters within n state, not used in any
way for interstate commerce, the
United States has nothing whatever to
do. Nor can the United States, by vir-
tue Of its qualified proprietary inter
est in public lands within state In
directly exercise q control over the Rp-
preparation and use Of waters for pur-
poses which arc not only not granted,
but implicitly forbidden by tho federal
constitution. It's title to such lands
must be held in subordination to the
laws OF the state governing the ap'
propriation Of water; for otherwise the
laws Of the state, particularly in Utah
where such q large percentage Of its
area is still public land, would be prac-
tically nulli1led.
Just after the civil war, when the
extreme doctrine Of state rights, which
embraced the illogical right of seces-
sion, was by no means popular, an en-
lightened and liberal Republican gov
ernment recognized in tho act of July
20, 1866, that the miners should own
the mines, and that the laws which
should govern the appropriation and
use Of waters and the necessary ease
ments on the public domain were "the
local customs, laws and the decisions
Of courts" which had grown up with
the settlement and growth of the arid
and mining regions Of tho west. Such
laws, indeed, were based on the abso-
lutte necessities of the country and the
people; and for that reason the terri
tories were placed on the same footing
as the states. The right belonged to
the states under the constitution, and
was, 80 far as the act of 1868 is con-
cerned, ga pre-easting right AS to
the states that provision Of the act was
merely declaratory, and the same
rights were extended to the territories
as an act Of grace as well as neces-
sity. Without it they never could
have been settled, and therefore never
could have reached statehood.
While the bill in question has, there
fore, comparatively great merits, II
state boundaries and constitutional
limitations were wiped out, yet the
doctrine Of the constitu-
tion that purely local affairs should
be subject exclusively to local control
under local laws is far better adapted
TO the situation than any system of con-
troll by secretaries or bureaus in
Washington.
Under the local laws the public serv-
ice business and property are subject
to regulation and taxation. Aside from
the income tax to which such COM
panies are subject. the federal govern
ment should not seek to derive a reve-
nue. from this source as q special tax;
and aside from interstate business, such
companies are not, and should not be,
subject to federal regulation.
Such enterprises not only involve
tho investment Of large amounts Of
but they depend for their ex-
istence on other industries which they
must Of necessity aid and encourage
and thus directly and Indirectly, they
contribute largely to the taxable
wealth of the state.
In the interests of true conservation
such enterprises should be encouraged,
for the use Of water power is ideal
conservation. Ii it is not put to use,
it runs to waste. When used it con.
serves the coal, wood, oil, or other fuel
which would otherwise be consumed.
But the best kind Of encouragement is
that which would come from non-inter-
ference by the federal government,
from the consistent administration of
the local laws. which the wisdom of
experience has adapted to the needs of
the country. aud from the tenure based
on the fundamental ma AKIN Of the arid
region with respect TO water and the
inseparable easements for its use over
the public lands, that beneficial use
is the basis, the measure and the limit
of the right.
The question is one Ia which the
state is more vitally interested than
any individual enterprises can possibly
be, for all of its vast, undeveloped re.
sources are more or less dependent upon
the use of its waters for their devel.
opment and utilization. It's citizens.
who are also citizens Of the United
States. are in theory and in fact COM
petent TO manage their internal affairs.
and even IN extending its aid the fed