The Washington herald., 1918-01-04

Standard Oil is to the front in
Congress. The CRY Of the oil States
is that the Walsh bill, now pend
ing in the Senate, is aimed to do
everything that that gigantic con-
cern wants done.
That is. this cry comes from those
who are opposed to it. They insist
that it is nothing more or less than
an attempt of the S. .. interests to
get one more mammoth public help
ing at the hands of Congress.
Those who favor the legislation.
however, hold that no such perni-
cious results will follow its enact
ment. They declare the measure is
full of merit, and that it is really
needed If the interest of the people
are to be safeguarded.
Former Governor KendriCk, of
Wyoming. now member of the
Senate, said with reference to the
bill the other day:
This bill offers a plan of conser-
walton which has unhappily been
delayed for more than 100 years.
Had the principles which are here
laid down been adopted when our
government was first established.
development of our resources might
to a certain extent have been de-
layed in the beginning, but the
eventual use OF the nations natural
wealth would have been along such
broad and comprehensive lines that
we would not today be veXed by
many of those problems growing
out of private and arbitrary control
of natural wealth, which have oc-
cupied the attention of this body
since the beginning of the war. We
would not be worrying today over
maximum and minimum prices, over
production and distribution, over
speculators and dictators, if the
principles of this measure had
guided our development from the
beginning.
II believe that the tremendous
benefits that will inure to the peo-
pie and to the country from the en-
actment of this measure are but
dimly understood, because there is
a very false notion abroad with re-
spect to the amount of our natural
wealth still included in the public
domain. The general assumption
seems to, be that the nation is now
dealing with the fragments of a
once glorious heritage, and in some
quarters there seems to be a dispo-
sition to cultivate the belief that so
little is left as to make it scarcely
worth while to draft a new policy.
"A continuation in the West of
the old land policy. which in the
East deprived the people not only
of the ownership. but also of the
al Nf hA l1l :
urged by those who hold this view
For purely local reasons they ar
que that the West should be per-
mitted to sduander it's resources
just as the East has done. This
argument, in my. judgment, is based
entirely on misconception, and
serves neither the interests of the
West nor of the nation itself. 1t
serves only the interests of the in
dividuals who could take advanta ge
of the old order to establish in the
West the same sort of control over
the public wealth as is now exer-
cised elsewhere in the country. 1t
will be of no advantage to the West
if by failure to meet the condi-
tions with which we are now con-
fronted we merely extend the op-
portunity of private capital to
broaden its unrestricted ownership
of our resources. These untouched
sources OF supply of the materials
needed in our industrial expansion
do not belong to East or West, to
North or South; they belong to the
whole nation"
The policy, as the Senator states,
is to make the entire nation the
beneficiary of the special resources
which exist in some parts of it.
This is the wholesome view to take.
Moreover. II is the necessary view
IL this country is to realize it's most
ailuring dreams of the days of
prosperity that are to follow the war.
In order TO prepare for that prosperity
we must undertake such steps as the
senator here outlines, at least. without
expressing ourselves on this particular