The Washington herald., 1918-03-19
BIG PUSH FOR
WATER POWER
TREND BILL
Every Available Source to
Be Developed for War
: Industry.

branches Of war industry through
the development Of every available
source OF water power Is sought in
the administration bill. hearings on
which were commenced yesterday
by the House Committee on Water
Power. OF which Representative
Sims. Of Tennessee. is chairman
The bill follows the recomfnenda-
tion made by President Wilson In
his war message at the opening Of
Congress for legislation to control
and develop water power through
out the United States. 1t Is hoped.
through the medium of the millions
of units of water power which
would be added to the resources Of
the country by the BILL to set the
wheels of industry in motion in
many places where power for manu-
featuring purposes Is not available
Federal Control Planned.
In addition to the added stimulus
to power development which the
measure would give, there would be
a system of control by the Federal
government which would unity and
regulate all users of water for
power purposes. The effect of this
would be to link the entire scheme
Of water power development into
one organization in somewhat the
same manner as the railway sys-
tens have been co-ordinated under
Federal management.
The bill would not AFFECT power
projects already in existence, nor
Iystems operating under irrevocable
permits granted by special acts of
Congress 1t would be operative
however, in relation to every at
tempted use of water from naviga-
ole or mountain streams.
In the hearing before the commit
tee yesterday an explanation Of the
terms of the bill was made by o.
g. Merrill, of the Department Of Ag-
riculture. He told the committee
that the demand for power is in
Creasing at such an extremely ab-
normal rate that development Of the
water sources is a matter Of extreme
necessity. The difficulty of obtain
ing coal, oil and other kinds Of fuel.
he said. added to the increasing cost
and scarcity of building materials,
makes it essential that the streams
should be harnessed in order to add
TO the governments equipment for
the war.
The government is the greatest
single user of power" Mr.. Merrill
said. ''and it is essential that steps
should be taken to utilize every bit
of power in existence"
Mr.. Merrill explained that the con-
ditions in war industries require the
maintenance of every factory and
plant at its maximum capacity most
Of the time. During the lax period
the equipment is idle.
IF all the power plants in the
country. from coast to coast, were
connected up under a unified sys-
tenn" he continued, machinery which
ordinarily lies idle would be kept
running all the time, for the maxi
mum demand in one section of the
country comes at a different period
from that OF another section. In
other words, the entire development
of power would be elastic so as to
be readily transferred from a plant
not in immediate need of power to
another which was in great need of
it"
The bill provides for a Federal
Power Commission to be composed
of the Secretaries of War. Agricul-
ture and Interior. The administra-
tive head of the commission would
be executive officer, at a salary of
$4,000. The commission would be
authorized to issue permits for the
development of power from streams,
the permits to run for fifty years.
Mr.. Merrill was closely question
ed by members of the committee
on the terms of the bill. Represen-
tative Raker. of California, asked
a number of questions designed to
bring out the effect passage of the
bill might have upon municipal pro-
jects. His interest was due to the
Hetch Hetchy development, which
is to furnish San Francisco with
water and power.
Mr.. Merrill explained that the bill
is not retroactive and would affect
only permits applied for after pas
sage of the act.
-NayIgabIe" Definition Sought.
Representative Anderson, of Min
nesota, inquired whether the bill
made any definition of "navigable
streams and how this would apply
to streams which have been declared
navigable by an act of a State legis-
lature. Mr.. Merrill replied that he
believed II a State has declared a
stream to be navigable, the Federal
Commission would be obliged to reco-
ognize this act.
Mr.. Anderson rejected this idea
and declared that the bill would
have to be amended to make
impossible a conflict of author
ity between the State and Federal
officials. He suggested that unless
specific definition Of a navigable
stream is made in the bill the Su-
preme Court will have to settle the
question.
The hearing will be continued to-
day. Secretaries Lane and Houston
are expected to appear before the
committee in support of the bill, and
the committee will also hear Clifford
Pinchot in favor OF II.
A large number of representatives
of power companies attended the
hearing, but have not as yet indi-
Gated any opposition to the provisions
Of the measure.