Evening journal., 1916-02-19
Peoples Column
RESENT ATTACK ON

CONSERVATION.
To the Editor OF THE EVENING
JOURNAL Wilmington. Del.
My Dear Sir;-l write to ask your
help to defeat a most serious attack
on our public resources. Since the
fight over the Alaska resources. was
won there has not been so pressing a
threat against Conservation policy as
the present effort in Congress TO give
our public water powers for nothing
into monopolitistic control.
The Shields Bill. now before the
Senate, gives to the power interests
without compensation the use OF wa
ter power on navigable streams. The
amount Of water power these streams
will supply is larger by far than all
| the power of every kind now in use
in the United State. It pretends to-,
but does not. enable the people to
/ take back their own property at the
end of fifty years. for in order to do
so under the bill, the Government
would have TO pay the unearned in
crement. and to take over whole light
ing systems OF cities and whole man
ufacturing plants. Private corpora
tions are authorized to seize upon any
land. private or public, they choose to
condemn.
Bills which gave away public water
powers without due compensation
were vetoed by President Roosevelt
and President Taft The Shields Bill
would do precisely the same thing to-
day.
Another water power bill, the Ferris
Bill. relating to the public lands and
National Forests, was in the main a
good bill as it passed the House. AS
reported to the Senate, II encourages
monopoly by permitting a corporation
to take as many public water power
sites as il may please. Under it the
corporations could not even be kept
from fastening upon the Grand Can
yon, the greatest natural wonder on
the continent This bill takes the care
Of water powers on National Forests
from the experienced and Competent
Forest Service. and gives it to the In
terror Department, thus entailing du-
plication and needless expense.
In my opinion, there is undue care
1essness as to the disposal of public
resources at present in Washington
The water power legislation now be-
fore the Senate is too favorable to th'
men who. as Secretary Houston's ad
mirable recent report shows, contro
through Is corporations more thar
one half OF the total water powel
used in public service throughout tn
United States The water power mel
] 10
velopment. The Houston repor
shows, on the contrary. that the mos
rapid development is in the Nationa
Forests, where conservation is bes
enforced. On the other hand, 100 pub
lie service corporations own and ar
holding undeveloped and ont OF us
an amount OF water power equal I
four-nfths Of all there is develope
and in use by all the public servic
corporations in the whole Unite
States
AS said in an open letter Of jar
uary 20. to the President:
Natural resources lies at the four
dation OF all preparedness. whethe
: for peace or for war. No plan for M
/ tional defense can be effective unlei
: It provides for adequate public col
troll of all the raw materials out {
which the defensive strength of a NJ
l tion is made. OF these raw materia
, water power-is the most essential, b
: cause. without electricity generate
from water power we can not mani
7 facture nitrates, and nitrates are Il
basis Of gunpowder. There are 4
great natural deposits Of nitrates
the United States as there are
Chilli 1t would be folly to allow u
public water powers, which can su
ply this indispensable basis
national defense. to pass out OF effe
' tive public control"
. A concerted movement is on foot
break down the Conservation polio
Feeble resistance, or none at all.
being made by official Washingto
p Unless the press and the people con
s 10 the rescue, the power interests a
|, likely to win. This is a public ma
Is ter wholly removed from polite
n partizanship. Your help is neede
IN and that of your paper. For near
ct ten years this light for the public W
ter powers has gone on. We ougl