Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1916-10-13
WATER power OF
COUNTRY Wasted
Harnessed 1t Could Do Daily
Work Equal to That of
1,eoo,ooo,0oo Men.
LARGEST PART lies IN WEST
With Its Development America Would
Enter Upon Great Industrial Erai
Rarer Chemicals and Metals
Would Become Plentiful.
BY FRANKLIN X. LANE,
Secretary of the Interior.

BY FRANKLIN X. LANE,
Secretary of the Interior.
We are living today in the dawn, Of
an age in which power is the basis
for our material progress. The pro-
ductive abilities of our 100,000,000 peo-
pie are increased by the use Of prob
ably 125,000,0OO horse power Of use-
chani al energy, not including the ans
NAL power furnished by 30,000,OOG
horses and mules. Most of the me-
chanical energy Is used in the form
of electrical current. When applied
to industrial uses one electrical horse
power does the work Of ten men with
out tiring. That is, one electrical
horse power, continuously operated,
does as much work as 80 men working
in eight-hour shifts.
Conservation of human labor goes
hand in hand with utilization of me
chanical energy, and utilization of
that form of energy most cheaply and
least wastefully developed accom-
plishes the maximum in freeing man
from muscular toll and increasing his
productivity. In the last decade we
have harnessed for our utilities and
industrial needs something like 6,000,-
coo horse power of water. This means,
in terms of human energy, that
streams which before that time flowed
to waste are now doing work equiva-
| lent TO the labor of 190,000,000 men
working eight heurs day. This de-
ve4opment alone represents three
tiu8es the productive capacity of the
U aafded hand labor Of our adult popu-
n~tion.
I Immense Power Wasted.
| This accomplishments stands for real
progress, but, as conpared with our
possibilities. it is not such progress as
we shsuld have obtafaed. Although
we are utilizing tsday 100000 horse
power Cf wafer; we are annually daily
neglecti2g and, wasting ten. tinses that
amount. There' is in n@nuse la the
United States enough wafer power to
equal, if harnsssedl TO the wheels Of
industry, the daily labor OF I,SD0,000-
600 men, or' 80 dimes cur present adult
population.
We are dHpletihg orr fuel Supply In
the manufacturing sections CT the East
and riddle West, while ina the far
West are mountains sf undeveEsped
raw materials adjacent to unused, wa
| ter powers whose devsE0pmeut w8uld
mean the establishment of great aew
industries in new manufacturing, GEN.
ters.
. We are rob8ing our farm ENDS of
( fertility and f;aling to realize the ut
most of our AGRICULTURAL opportunities
because, Of our dependence uIsn, for
eigni sous6es7 o9f high-TENced supplies
4 for rgchemt2nl iplSnti foods OF fertilizers
wiliEee mowntaiTES, OF phosphate. mock
| line and MgnitF IN the West await
only the nRagicr touch os atmospheric
y nitrogen s0tractsd and fixed WITH the
aid of cI-xnp ny hyfro-elecEicfty tss fur
= nish ai,lowSFTicesS and plentiful <szErply
Of fertfffzzng elements.
u May Make Desert Hloom.
4 Mfl1fonss of acres of lands rfnet, IL
plant foo9s lie sFfd and waste irr tn,
rs western pCDantryr can be c1nEert
n ed into Yaxtile a4Rd productive farms
gardens, sAnd orchards merely byr pump
II ing ontop them the. x1ters zf tn,
! streams fowings through theml Thi
= miracle Of making tho, deserta bloom
awaits 2br~ accomplishment only tn
harnessshg of these screams SO tina
II they, can pump themselves Into. tn
II thirsty SOIL.
/ To cSnServer these vast naaural n
sources is the greatest attainment. i
D which the, craftsmanship of our da
D can supply itself.
To, be trHlN prepared fer war iss
be fuFly, prepared. for peacea
r This preparation, in its, hest sens,
Involves the fullest use AND co-ortf1nt
s ton. of all the natural resources an
J. Industrial attachments and aotisdtie
off the nation. There is NO, good. re;
son, why die United States, with II
= wealth of, RESOURCES, its, leadership |
: aesence and inrention aad its, Deerae
r a9 labor, brains and densocrat
e lSfealss should be dependent. upon ar
+ other nntiGn or country for any of Il
= things necessary to- either the. fulle
t, enjoyment. of; peace, OF the, 1nost c0s
l. plete prepars1ness far undesired Go
flict..
SIS More than 40, per- cent of the pete
lr tial water yower' OF the. United S$at
o, lies in the comparatively narrow str
# bouaded by the Cascade mouatai
I0 and Sierras; in the East. the Paci
e ocean in the West, CaHada m {
n North, AID Mexi5eo In the, South Scr
IS Of these water powers now unuse
ID are among. the cheapest in the wor
is Long distance. high-vSltage. transn
lie sion has; almost annihSfated distance
es making hydre-electrsefty available.
IS this, great western empire.
In New Is1adstrias Era Possible.
Sc Development villa open TO the W,
dh an Industrial era OF such possibflit
" as: have keen alaost uAdreansed
ThaS fuels availaole include natu
gas Oil, ifgnite and coal The CO
reduced TO coke. offers raw mater
~ TOR the rOdmction. by electric sm'
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