The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-10-10
Prominent Buffalo Attorney Analyzes Clifford Pinchot's Characterization of Candidate and Points Out One Achieve ment of Hughes In This Line, When He Gave Away Public Resources.

Sincere advocates of conservation refuse to accept Clifford Pinchot's es- timate of Charles Evans Hughes as a friend of conservation
 Norman Hapgood, writer and edi- tor, recently pointed out some of the ,palpable mis-statements in MT. Pin chot's discussion of MT. Wilson's rec ord on conservation
 Now George D. Burd, leading at torney of Buffalo. N- Y., and former member of the New, York State Leg l1slature, in public statement demon lstrates that Candidate Hughes rec ord on the subject while Governor of lNew York was ,inexcusably bad, con- s1sting of the approval of private act granting perpetuity to private Icorporation of five unknown persons. extraordinarily valuable and exclusive water rights to seven-eighths of the ISt Lawrence River.
 MT. Burd. who served in the New York Legislature at the time, has made an analysas of this law which he characterizes as the 'most gigantic rift of potential electric power ever made by any civilized government on earth"
 The Democrats in the Legislature in 1918 in response to public demand, repealed this extraordinary private act. Lawyer Burd. says it's approval by MT. Hughes constitutes practically all of the Hughes record on conser- walton. He concludes by asking: Does Mr. Pinchot approve it?"
 The statement of MT. Burd h in part as follows:
 "Mr. Hughes has no record on con sservation save his record as Cover nor.
 .sThe first year that he became Gov ernor he approved of the following bill, which constitutes Chapter 355 of the Laws of 1907. The act Is entitled: s An act to incorporate the Long sault Development Company. and to author ize said company Ito construct and maintain dams. canals. power houses and locks at or near Long Sault Is- land. for the piifpose of improving the navigation 0f the St. Lawrence River and developing power from the maintain . bridge. and carry on the manufacture of commodities.
 'By this lestslafion there was creat- cd by private act a private corpora ton consisting of five unknown per- DOIlSs \AJ 10 uAuu Lh0 ot. AdWF0nc0 River. an international boundary
 sts9 To have t6e exclusive rights to all its waters at such point which was seven-eighths of all the stream
 "(3) Receive from the State out of the Forest Reserve a deed of all the land under or near the river covered by water 50 damned. This would | ~na~n vponu fknsvua nd Of onrno
 "(4) Build . bridge and charge tolls.
 "(5) Issue bonds, or other evidences of indebtedness on all it's assets, in- c1uding franchises, for as much as it is desired, not the amount permitted by any public service commission.
 "(6) Pay for all such a gross sum not to exceed $40,000, and thereafter a fixed sum per horsepower per year, which in no case exceeded seventy five (75) cents per orse-power, and as the amount of power increased be- came as low as twenty-five (25) cents per horse power.
 These amounts for all time never to be increased. but might be lowered.
 "(7) Its existence to be perpetual.
 "(O With no provision that its power must be transmitted anywhere for any other persons, or civic bodies or promote the industries of the state..
 "N) With the power to sell all its franchises at any time.
 Now. the kernel of this whole spe- cial legislation was this. the five men named in the act as incorporators were mere dummies; the real incor- porator was the Pittsburgh Reduction Company of Pittsburgh. F.; later be- coming the Aluminium Trust of Amer ica. Al that time this company con