Evening star., 1940-08-28
Text Of Senator McNarys Speech Of Acceptance

stand today In the heart Of the last
considerable area Of virgin forest
left in the United States. the ma
jestic remnants Of nearly q billion
acres of timber that clothed this
country when the first Europeans
saw it. I was born within sight Of
the great trees that characteristic
cally dominate the Western scenes
from the Rockies to the Pacific. In
my lifetime I have witnessed the
growth of the lumber industry to its
present huge proportions and the
expansion of the social and recrea-
tional value of our forests. 1t is
but natural, therefore, that during
my years in the Senate have made
legislation affecting the forests my
special province.
Every one knows that American
timber resources are being swiftly
depleted. We take assurance for the
future, however. from the knowledge
that they may, with care and wise
governmental policies, be restored.
Happily a substantial portion of
our forest lands are being managed
and utilized In ways that best safe
guard social values, provide maxi
mum employment, guarantee future
supplies, stabilize streams and soils
and conserve our rich endowments
of natural beauty and wild life.
Yet much more can be done. The
Government equitably could assume
half the cost of abating loss from
fire, insects and disease to the de-
sirable point where forests might
become insurable risks. Credit facil-
tiles are rudimentary and made
quate. Forest taxation too often
tends, by laying too heavy an i'm
mediate burden, to compel economic
exploitation and forced liquidation.
Unproductive areas increasingly
should be acquired for public owner
ship and the exploration and re-
search arms of the forest service
should be expanded. Deserted viii
lagos and abandoned cut-over lands
are the price society pays for waste
full mutations of our forest areas.
The remedy for this ruthless policy
Is a Government encouraged pro-
gram OF perpetuating this natural
resource by regulating the volume of
the crop that annually can be har-
vested. This means balancing the
budget between the growth and the
cut.
Power-a
National Heritage.
Power is the prime requisite
of modern industrial existence. A
measure of Americas industrial
magnitude may be found in the fact
that one-half the installed horse
power in the world is developed
within our borders. Steam power
made England the industrial colos-
sus of the nineteenth century; steam
plus electrical power has made the
United States the industrial giant
of the twentieth. Yet Americas
water power resources are still large
ly undeveloped. In the mountainous
parts of the Pacific West, where
strong rivers run unimpaired to the
sea, a ma jor portion of the countrys
potential hydroelectric power still
waits to be harnessed. Fortunately,
the principle on which this power
may be made available has long
been recognized The Federal Gov
ernment accepts the obligation to
control floods and assure navigation.
Out of these services flows the by
product of power.
Unfalteringly, the Congress has
granted to the public preferential
rights to power generated from nav
igable streams. Such power should
be a common heritage. The Gov
ernment, having made this power
available, should have an indisput-
able right to control its utilization
and distribution. Maximum bene-
fits for domestic consumers. farmers
and small users of power should be
the yardstick by which we measure
the usefulness and serviceability OF
every Federal development. More
over, rates should be maintained
at the lowest level consistent with
sound amortization. Where irrecon-
cilable conflicts arise between public
and private interests in the develop
ment and distribution of power,
private holdings should not be con-
fscated and we now have working
precedent for such fair treatment
in the recent acquisition by pur-
(See TEXT Page A-1q)