The Washington times., 1920-10-10

We OsseTos 81 to AIRY.
One OF the provisions OF the act "
to the effect that one Wishing -
make . development on any stream
not dsfinsd In The act as = naviSsbls
water may at his discretion notify
the comnatssion Of his intention ana
II the commission finds that the pro-
posed construction affects the In
terests of interstate or foreign com
mercs," or affects nayissbiIity how
ever far distant. that finding 10 con-
elusive and the development falls un-
der the turisdictisn OF the commits
sion. and 10 forbidden until licensed
under the act: IL the commission shall
not SO md applicant IL; authorized -
proceed without such license. bat
herein lies something OF joker
which for safetys sake ought not to
be overlooked. What II a man, assured
that this project does not fall withn
the Jurisdiction OF the commission.
does not notify II Of his intentionr In
such = case. II At any time the
authorities should conclude that the
development Impaired navigable ca,
pscity at any point however far dis
tant then under the drastic leKisla-
ton of 1890 and 1900. they could pro
coed by way or indictment or in
equity 20 abate the construction 1t
10 to - observed also that IL any.
even the slightest part Of the Develop
menc even transmission lAna.
touches public land At my psank
the commission acquires full jurisdjs-
tion.
UNUSUAL TERMS.
In the provision for "Tecspture" Of
1.-THE plant by the Government at The
termination OF the lease, ~ well as of
! regulating the fiscal affairs of the
licensee. the act studiediy avoids the
adoption OF established fundamental
legal terminoiogy. like "just compsn-
satton," as the basis Of the rules pre-
scribsd by 1t to determine values; tn
stead Of using aid modifying such
Technology to express the legiala~
tive meaning, II undertakes to emu
merate the elements Of value to be
included and TO define them by a re-
sort to terms Of accounting and other
technical terms having no fixed mean
Ing and whose meaning after all WfN
have to he translated finally into and
tested by judicial language.
The act also seems to be curiously
apprehensive about Yegar riding the In
terstate transmissioi and supply Of
hydro-electric energy a. interstAts
commerce and leaves the regulation
of such Interstate activity to the
agreement OF all the States concerned,
II they can agree, and extends such
Joint State Jurisdiction even to the
amount and character of the securt-
| ties to be issued by the corporations
engaged in the activity; 1t IL only
upon disagreement or dissa satisfaction
that the power commission assumes
the duty OF interstate regulatisn.
WILL CAUSE LITIGATION.
That many legal questions are apt
to arise touching the validity OF the
terms Of the license and Of material
provisions OF the act itself, cannot be
doubted: indeed, Congress itself seem
, ed to appreciate that In the exertion
OF some Of the powers prescribed 1t
was treadfnE dangerous ground, for Il
expressly invokes the consent Of the
licensee ~ . curative Of possible de-
ficiency Of power, wherein IL provides
that each license shall be conditioned
upon acceptance by the licensee OF all
| the terms. and conditions of the act
| and the further conditions admins
tratvely written into the license.
Every lawyer IL apt to query whether
such consent can give validity to pro-
visions that would otherwise be void
as being beyond tho power Of Con-
gress or the commission to prescribe.
As already said. power at certain
favorite sites can be developed by
power interests fAvorably circum-
stanced financially or otherwise, NJ
matter how onerous the conditions
| and how difficult the processes OF I'd.
ministration. II the act, as written
and administered, does not 90 far to
remedy our power shortage by induc-
ing the development Of q substantial
quantity of water power that Is now
going to waste, such . lamentable
failure Is likely to be done less to the
| substantive law Of the act than to The
| administrative machinery 1t provides
and the Administrative rules 1t con-
templates or prescribes. Administra-
ton has the opportunity nightly -
help or hinder the much-needed de-
| velopment of water power