Evening star., 1920-06-03
WATER POWER BILL
| SEEN AS EPOCHAL
AID TO INDUSTRIES
Conservation Measure Pass
ed by Congress Sweep
ing in Effect.
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.

By DAVID LAWRENCE.
In the midst of perhaps the most
feverish period of anticipation which
political Washington has witnessed in
generation. when attention is fixed
upon thoughts of presidential nomina- :
tions. something has happened of
transcendent Importance to the in
dustrial and commercial development
or the United States that may well
De called epochal. For. after ten
years of controversy and debate. a
conservation measure - the biggest
ever attempted in the history of the
American republicans finally gone
to the White House for the signature
of President Wilson
Both houses of Congress- have iust
passed the measure which releases the
water power of the nation 10 private
development. and the President will
surely sign it, thus ending a contro-
Versy that was prolonged chiefly be-
cause It was little understood. for the
United States is, perhaps, the last nf
the big nations Of the world to h.ri
ness Its water power for Industrial
uses. %.
White Coal Available.
BY simple legislation which 1easas
the water power in streams from one
part OF the country TO the other
Wnlle coal, as electrical energy is
calied oy engineers. suddenly i'll be-
come an important competitor of
olack coai. Power is made available
ior industrial development not merely
in the manufacturing centers of the
east out in all parts of the west.
Where hitherto the long haul for coal
from eastern mines has made the
building Of factories out of the oues-
ton.
This conservation legislation is the
same thing around which Clifford
P1nchot and his followers have main
tanned a constant controversy. Some
nave contended that the streams of
the nation should not be handed over
10 private interests, but should be
kept under constant government con-
trol But the present measure pro-
vldes that the Secretary of War. the
Secretary of the Interior and the Sec
retary of Agriculture shall constitute
commission which shall say what
sites may be developed, whether the
erection of dams would interfere with
the present navigability of rivers and
what the companies shall pay to the
United States government At the
end of fifty years the private compa-
nies are obliged to sell their plants
and give up their rights if the United
States government wants the prop
erty. but the government must recon-
pense the owners for their invest
ment.
Effect In Two Years.
1t probably will be two years before
the full effect of the new conserva-
ton measure is felt. because it takes
time for companies to organize and
Tor construction work to be completed.
But the effects OF the legislation are
70 ha
cial interests of every kind have been
backing the measure. 1t will. for in
stance. in the opinion of some. help
the news print situation in the United
States by providing electrical energy
for new paper mills. and at the same
time harness the waters of streams
which have a tendency to overflow
and destroy forests where wood pulp
used in making news print paper
might be obtained. The American
Newspaper Publishers Association
has for long time urged legislation
Of some kind in this general direction.
Political Credit Distributed,
Political credit for the conservation
law will be difficult to distribute.
President Wilson urged it from the
very beginning of his administration
seven and half years ago. Again
and again the measure would pass
one house of Congress only to get tied
up in the other. Then a substitute
bill would be passed and a deadlock
would be reached in the conference
between the two houses. The Presi-
dent himself has always insisted that
all factions and parties get together.
but there has been division inside the
republican as well as the democratic.
ranks.
The new measure is a combination
of various bills sponsored at differ
ent times by Senator Shields of Ten
nessee, democrat; Senator Myers of
Montana. democrat: Representative
Ferris of Oklahoma democrat; Rep
resentative Sims of Tennessee. demo-
Representative Esch, republican. of
Wisconsin. who piloted the measure
through the House. and Senator Wes-
ley Jones, republican. of Washington,
who put the bill through the Senate.
Lindley M. Garrison and his sue
cessor, Newton d. Baker, as Secre-
taries of War, had much to do with
the drafting of the legislation, ard
back of the whole thing from the
start has been the constant influence
of Franklin X. Lane. former Secre-
tary of the Interior. who managed
to keep a non-partisan atmosphere
about the legislation that helped
bring about a harmonious agreement
1t sounds like a simple piece of
legislation and, with SO many ad-
VanldSeS TO De gained from IL one
naturally wonders why all the delay
But the fear that private concerns
would make too much money out of
their control of the waters of the
country. coupled with various gov
ernmental ownership theories and
conservation quarrels in western
states, blocked the measure for a
decade. 1t is the greatest achieve
ment of the present Congress. Yet it
hardly got a ripple of applause or
passing mention as the bill went to
the White House to become law.
Long after the excitement over the
presidential campaign has died down
the conservation bill will be de-
veloping new communities and build
ing new cities in the valleys of the
country, more water will be available
for irrigation and the arid lands of
the west will be yielding crops. 1t
took ten years to get the legislation,
but the benefits will be felt for gen.
erations to come.
Copyright, 132O)