New-York tribune., 1918-07-15
Especial Dispatch to The Tribune,

WASHINGTON, July 14.-Only from
o 20 ~ per cent Of the sixty million
horsepower available in this country
mas been developed because capital
Tor development purposes cannot be
optalned under the unfair, unbusiness-
ike and restrictive terms of the Fed
eral laws now in force" Representative
bertrand II. Smell, Of New York, told
the House OF Representatives yester-
gay IN urging a more liberal policy in
me water power bill now pending.
win but two small exceptions, no
power developments and - river i'm
provements have been made by private
capltai upon navigablc streams since
l9l2; and Developments are prevented
and held back aggregating over 2, 900 900
horsepower, and which would open over
l.ooo miles of additional inland water
ways to navigation. through investment
VI pIlVate capltai, and without taxation
or appropriation of public moneys,
"The would-bc conseryatjonist has.
In my judgment, been one of the great.
est drawbacks to progressive water
power Legislation we have in the whole
country. Not one of them ever de-
veloped waterpower or has had q
particle OF actual experience in this
work They simply advance fancied
theories on the basis of state or gov
ernment ownership and want all the
oenents TO accrue to the state, all the
revenues; IN fact. absolute control, even
II pullt by private capital.
Propagates Mistake Ideas
AS result of this false propa-
ganda in regard to profits and water
power trusts, and so forth, a great MANY
people have mistaken idea about tn e
amount of easy money in waterpower
development. The idea is prevalent
mat all you have to do is to find
waterpower somewhere and the world
is yours. Let me disabuse vour Mind
OF ohat tact; for, on the other hand. it
is one OF the most uncertain and haz.
ardous unde rtakings of any line of
business ! know of, not excepting min
ing or drilling for oil, and gas.
:. .Furthermore, it takes such a lon,
t'me TO get any returns on your money
ANY medium sized power development
VIII take two to four years to develon
even II You have good luck, and then
IL may teke almost any length of time,
,ro" one to ten years, to get full mar
Het 1or your power. And there is no
KIND OF machinery that costs more or
""u oecoIiieS obsolete faster
man water wheels and general hvro
electric machinery; therefore. wear
ana tear and replacement expenses are
Almost beyond comprehension.
ne average water power is awav
from the centres of population, in
rough and undeveloped sections. and
the man who has the courage and
nerve to tackle the problem generally
mas TO build roads to it, clear ground.
bulld houses and dozen other things
mat cost an immense amount of
money that are all done away with
later, and the casual observer who
comes along after the plant is com.
pleted and looks it over has very little
conception of the work that has been
zone, the obstacles that have been
overcome, or the enormous amount Of
money that has been spent and is COW
cred up with apparently nothing to
SHOW for it.
More Than an Investment
-, 1T is on account Of this uncertainty.
the hazardous character Of the whole
work, that makes it absolutely impera-
tive, II you want to attract capital and
men of experience, energy and ability
to this kind of work (and you will need
them all before you finish a good sized
hydro-electric development), to put up
a proposition that is something more
than mere interest bearing propo-
sltlon, for they can get that without
taking all these chances.
"Still we hear men arguing on this
floor that If the developer gets interest
on a successful proposition, and so
forth. he should be satisfied. I tell
you. going out into the wilds and de-
veloping, any kind of proposition is
no simple interest game. You can be
one of these swivel chair officers we
hear SO much about nowadays and get
simple interest, but the man who takes
all the chances and goes out and actu-
ally produces something, he does not
take it away from any one; he pro-
duces something that makes the world
richer; produces something that bene-