The Washington times., 1929-12-03

question should be disposed Of.
Under present conditions the
income from these plants Is
less than could otherwise be
secured for its use, and more
especially the public is not
securing the full benefits which
could be obtained from them.
1t is my belief that such
parts Of these plants as would
be useful and the revenues
from the remainder should be
dedicated for all time to the
farmers of the United States
for investigation and expert
mentation on commercial
scale in agricultural chemistry.
BY such means advancing dis
coveries of science can be
Systematically applied to agri-
cultural need. and development
Of the chemical industry of the
Tennessee Valley can be
assured.
I do not favor the operation
by the Government of either
power or manufacturing busi-
ness except as an unavoidable
by-product of some other major
public purpose.
Any form of settlement Of
this question will imply enter
ing upon a contract or con.
tracts for the lease of the
plants either as a whole or in
parts and the reservation of
facilities, products. or income
for agricultural purposes.
The extremely technical and
involved nature of such con-
tracts dealing with chemical
and electrical enterprises, added
to the unusual difficulties sur
rounding these special plants,
and the rapid commercial
changes now in progress ir
power and synthetic nitrogen
manufacture, lead me to Sug-
gest that Congress create a
special commission. not to
investigate and report as IN
the past, but with authority to
negotiate and complete some
sort of contract or contracts on
behalf of the Government, SUP
iect, of course. to such gen
eral requirements as Congress
may Stipulate.
Boulder Dam Contracts
The Secretary of the Interior
is making satisfactory progress
in negotiation of the very com
pick contracts required for the
sale of the power to be gen.
Grated at this project. These
contracts must assure the re-
turn of all Government OUTLAWS
upon the project. I recon-
mend that the necessary funds
be appropriated for the initia-
ton of this work as soon as
the contracts are in the hands
of Congress.
Conservation Problem
Conservation of our oil and
gas resources against future
need is a. national necessity.
The working of the oil permit
system in development of oil
and gas resources on the public
domain has been subject to
great abuse. I considered it
necessary to suspend the issu.
ance of such permits and to
direct the review Of all out
standing permits as to COM
pliance of the holders with the
law.
We are also confronted with
a major problem in conServa-
ton due to the overgraZing on
public lands. The effect Of
overgrazing (Which has now
become generaD is not only to
destroy the ranges but by i'm
pairing the ground coverage
seriously to menace the water
supply in many parts of the
west through quick run-off.
spring floods and autumn
drought.
We have a third problem of
major dimensions in the recon.
Sideration of our reclamation
policy. The inclusion of most
of the available lands of the
public domain in existing or
planned reclamation projects
largely completes the original
purpose of the Reclamation
Service. There still remains
the necessity for extensive Stor-
age Of water in the arid states
which renders it desirable that
we should give a wider vision
and purpose to this service.
To provide for careful con-
Sideration of these questions
and also OF better division of
responsibilities in them as be-
tween the state and Federal
Governments including the