The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1916-11-30
WHY GIVE AWAY MILLIONS?
Legislation Under Way Would Rob
People of National Resources.
Mr.. B. H. SincelI,

| Mr.. b. II. Slnceu,
Editor, The Republican, Oakland, Nd.
DEAR Mr.. SINCELL: Congress is
about to decide, IN the session which
opens December 4, whether natural
resources belonging to the people, and
officially valued at hundreds of millions
of dollars, shall or shall not be given
away to certain special interests which
are already rich enough. Unless the
people take hand the decision is sure
to go against them.
! The iniqultous Shields waterpower
bill has passed the Senate. 1t makes a
present of the public waterpowers on our
naylgable streams to the waterpower
interests. The power thus handed over
without compensation is estimated at
sixty million horsepower, or double the
power of every kind now used to run
every train, trolley, factory, shop, mill.
boat, mine, and electric light in the
United States.
While the grant is ostensibly limited
to fifty years, it is in fact perpetual, be-
cause the conditions under which the
people might regain control of their
property are made prohibitory, as even
advocates of the bill frankly admit In
practical effect a perpetual monopoly
is given away for nothing.
This bill has also passed the House,
but in different and better form. 1t
is now in Conference. We know from
the statement of Senator Nelson on the
floor of the Senate that the friends of
the waterpower interests expect to
control the Conference. 1t is worth
nothing, therefore, that the Con-
ferees from the House and Senate
are now meeting, although Congress
does not convene until December 4.
A vigorous effort was made to pass
this indefensible raid on the public
property while public attention was
fixed on the international crisis last
winter. 1t failed because editors of the
the country came to the defense of the
public rights, and the bill was postpon-
ed until after election.
Another vicious measure is the Myers
bill, which does for waterpowers on
public lands what the Shields bill does
on navigable streams. The two are
cut from the same piece of cloth. and
have the same interests behind them.
The Myers bill is on the Senate
calendar, and will be considered early
in the coming session.
These two bills give away public
property to powerful monopolsts.
That is bad enough, but the oil land
provisions of the Phelan bill are even
worse. This bill will be taken up i'm
mediately when Congress convenes. 1t
disposes of vast areas of public oil lands
on terms unfair to the public. 1t is
almost unbelievable, but this measure
actually gives away the fuel oil reserves
of the United States Navy to claimants
whom the Supreme Court recently de-
clared to haYe no legal rights whatever.
The efficiency of the Navy. our first
and most important line of National de-
tense, is to be sacrificed to the profits
of the Standard Oil Company, the Santa
Fe Railroad interests, and q few other
claimants, who want what they have no
right to get.
As to this, the Navy Department has
officially SAID:
"Oil burning naval vessels possess
such manifold military advantages over
coal burning vessels that it would be
practically suicidal from a military
point of view for the Navy Department
to abandon the policy of building oil
burning ships; but the demand that
this legislation be enacted and the sup
port that this bill has received,
have caused the Navy Department to
seriously consider the ACCESSIBILITY of
abandoning this policy, and thus design
ships known to be inferior to ships
which country possessing an oil sup
ply can build.
These bills have made such progress
that the advantage of position is with
them and against the public. Every
effort will be made to jam them through
at the beginning of the short session of
Congress. Powerful waterpower and
oil interests are fighting for them. |
appeal to you as citizen interested in
the public welfare without regard to
politics to lend hand in defeating these
attacks on public property and on the
safety and welfare of the Navy and
the Nation.
Sincerely yours,
CLIFFORD PINCHOT,
Dissolution Notice