The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1918-07-25
BIG BUS|NEssPLAhs
WATER POWER GRAB
Special interest Bill Before Con
gress Would Deprive Peo-
! pie Of Rights.

Unless the people promptly and VIZ.
orously protest, and thus create such
Q pressure Of public opinion that Con-
gress will fear to act, certain great
Wall Street interests will succeed in
monopolizing all the remaining wa
ter power resources Of the United
States. While the soldiers are at the
front and the people at home are alb
eorbed In wal questions, the selfish
power interests are quietly scheming
to put over this gigantic raid on the
peoples heritage.
The Shields bill, after passing the
Senate, was abandoned because cor.
servation exponents pitilessly exposed
its vicious character. But the Wall
Street crowd has another bill intro
duced by Congressman Raker Of Cali.
even worse than the Shields
bill. They hope to get It through
before the people : aware Of it,
provisions
e4ate Should Develop Power.
Ten years ago public opinion COM
PEELED q Federal order Withdrawing
from entry all power sitednocated on
government Land. There is scarcely
q city or town In the United States
that cannot be reached in time by
water power transmission Experts
predict that we shall have little use
for coal In tho not distant future.
Every progressive citizen, therefore,
wants to see this resource Of such
importance developed by
the government itself and the power
supplid at cost. Only thus can private
interests be kept from getting q
strangle hold on American business.
But granting that private develop
ment is to be tried for a time, the
Raker bill Is, nevertheless, q vicious
measure.
Commission 10 All Powerful.
It provides q commission Of three
10 have entire charge; it provides
Tor private sale Of this public prop
erty; It provides a minimum charge
of 10 cents per horse power per an
mum; It prevents the government
from taking over any water power
development except temporarily IN
der military necessity; 1t provides no
real time limit within which construc-
ton must be completed; It grants .
for fifty years.
A bargain between the public and
. private interest should be at least
fair. The Raker bill Is not a bargain
but q gift. The charge Of 10 cents
would not pay the expenses Of tha
Commission, and when once fixed the
charges must stand for fifty years.
6o-Year Contract Absurd.
A 50-year contract is absurd be-
cause NO one can foresee conditions
for that time. A contract that proves
Unfair to a private interest cannot be
enforced, but a contract unfair to
the public Is always sustained. The
bill allows preliminary permits with
out cost This gives the Wall Street
interests the chance to grab all the
good sites at once and to develop
them at their convenience. .
There IL nc provision for limiting
the charges to the public except our
general anti-trust. laws No independ-
0AAS WALL O0 oA1OWOO W w oily UCV01e
oping because the financial power
back Of these interests is too strong.
In q few years the profits from wa
ter power development would prob
ably more than pay the expenses OF
the Federal Government.
Monopoly VIII 20 In Saddle.
Unless this bill is defeated, the peo-
pie Of the United States will be sad
died with q monopoly that will out
live the children Of the present gem
Grafton. It IL not even a war meas
ure, as claimed, because no power
can be developed for at last three
years.
Burdened with this power monop-
oily u American business will not
be able to meet the competition OF
more progressive nations.
POLITICAL REVOLT IN EAST
Discomfort Among New York Farm.