The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1918-01-22
THE TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
GNFORMATIOM BUREAU
By RkEDERIc J. HAsKIN, Direetsr.
WashinEton. ID. O.
THE WATER POWER BILL.
We Waste Millions of Horsepower in
Our RiverS-How the President and
Congress Propose to Develop 1t,

Congress Propose to Develop It
Washington, d. c., Jan. 19.-The
amount of hydroelectric energy that
could be obtained from the rivers OF
the United States is conservatively eS-
tinated at 100000 horsepower a
year. The amount that has been de-
veloped is about 100000 horsepower.
With. the country facing its first
great coal shortage. this waste of
power gains new significance. 1t is
evident that we can no longer afford
it. The scarcity of print paper, which
threatened the lives of many period
icals not long ago, would also be re-
lieved by the development of water
power. for many of the sites are close
to an abundant supply of the kind of
timber that is used for making good
pulp.
The bill which President Wilson
laid before a conference of congress
men short time ago is an attempt to
stop this waste and obtain the develop
ment of water power resources by
making the undertaking attractive to
Capital, while at the same time safe
guarding the rights of the public, and
keeping the title to the water power
sites in the government. For water
power is one natural resource which
still remains largely within public
ownership. The western states are
estimated to contain 1875 of all the
water power, and most of the sites are
on public lands. including national
forests. which alone contain AZ per
cent of the whole. In addition to this,
much of the water power in the east
ern states, on the streams falling from
the Allegheny mountains, is controlled
by the government by reason of it's
jurisdiction over navigable waters.
Many years ago, when our lax land
laws enabled almost anyone to get title
to any sort of public land under the
- t,I la fov
agricultural purposes. some of our
water power sites were captured by
private interests. Later legislation
was passed to put a stop to this The
failure of capital to develop our water
power is commonly ascribed to the
limitations imposed by this legisla-
ton, and to the fact that three differ
ent departments of the government
share jurisdiction over the resource.
The forest service controls the water
power on the national forests; the
war department controls the navi-
gable waters; and the interior depart
ment controls the water power sites
on public lands.
The law governing the use of water
power on public lands provides that
the secretary of the interior may
grant a permit for this purpose and
that he may revoke the permit at any
time. 1t is said that this latter provi-
sion has kept out the investor. a
The divided executive control OF
water power is reflected in congress,
where three different committees have
Here the difficulty of passing an ade-
quate water power law is increased by
the fact that the Republicans and
Democrats cannot agree as to how
much control the states should have
over the water power within their
~ L, -s.,,e,
to safeguard the rights of the public.
while the senate, as always, is more
thoughtful of the financial interests
which are called upon to undertake
the work of development.
Altho the public has not heard very
much about it. congress has been
sweating over this water power prob
lem for years. Both the senate and
the house have produced bills. and
have created bulky volume of hear
ings.
The president, as usual, proposes to
cut right thru this 'tangle of conflict
ing interests, jurisdictions and digni-
ties His bill is different from those
of both the house and the senate in
that it gives control of the water pow
er to a new government commission
to be known as the Federal Power
Commission, composed of the Secre-
taries of war interior and agriculture.
power to the secretary of the interior,
and the senate to the secretary of war.
while the forest service (part of the
department of agriculture) protested
against both bills because they would
take away it's control of water power
on national forests. The administra-
ton bill is designed to obtain the nee
essary centralized control without
sighting anyone. The president also
asks for the creation of special COM
mittee of congress having to do with
water power, thus getting the same
Capitalization in the legislative branch
of the government
The administration bill. drawn by
government experts. is more scientific
than either the Shields bill of the
senate or the Ferris bill of the house.
1t is more like the house bill in that
it throws more safeguards about the
interests of the public, and is less
thoughtful of capital than the senate
bill The differences, however, are for
the most part minor
The measure provides that the fed
eral commission shall lease to citizens,
corporations, municipalities. states or
other parties for periods of fiftv
years, right to develop water power
on public lands and navigable waters.
AT the end Of the period the rights to
the power site are to revert to the gov
eihllehl Whlch may renew the lease
TO the same party, or to another one,
OF may operate the power plant itself.
The rates charged for power are to be
regulated by state commissions where
such exist. except when the mower
enters into interstate commerce. in
which case the federal commission is
to regulate the rates charged 1t will
also nave jurisdiction in states where
no commission to regulate rates exists.
These are the fundamentals of all
three bills. They vary as to details
of terms upon which the government
may take over the property at the ex-
piration of a lease. The lease cannot
be revoked as long as the lessee obeys
the law. The, government must APP
prove the plans of the lessee for con-
struction; and he must develop the
water power adequately and COM
pletely