The people's voice. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1939-1969, 1946-11-22
FPC Orders Montana Power To Take Out
Federal Licenses On Missouri Dams

titled to floating large RATS of logs
upstream from Fort Benton and that
river craft has travelled as far as
Townsend in past years.
There can be no question about the
Missouri river being held navigable by
law. The status of the Missouri river
as a navigable stream is definitely
established by Act of Congress, ap-
proved June 4, 1872 providing for the
government Of the Territory of Mis-
souri,, which included at that time the
present state of Montana Section Is
of that act provides:
"And be it further enacted, That :.
the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers
and the navigable waters flowing into
them, and carrying places between the
same, shall be common highways and
forever free to the people of the said
territory and to the citizens of the
United States, without any tax, duty
or impost therefor
Always Held NavigabIe
The navigability of the Missouri
was even unquestioned in the North
western Compact in the ordinance of
July 10, 1897, for the government of
the territory northwest of the Ohio
river. That ordinance declared:
"The navigable waters leading into
the Mississippi and st. Lawrence and
the carrying places between the same,
shall be common highways, and for
ever free as well to the inhabitants
of the said territory as to the citizens
Of the United States, and those of any
other states that may be admitted to
the confederacy, without any tax, i'm
post or duty thereof"
Power Company Political Squeeze
Political influence of the Montana
Power Company is evident in the pres
ence of the county attorneys of Cas-
cade Gallatin and Lewis and Clark
as intervenors in its behalf.
Their Intervention is based on a con-
.ention that if the federal government
walled itself Of the recapture clause
It the expiration of the licensing pc
iod, the counties would lose taxes
md that new bridges might have to
,e constructed to permit navigation
learance. In the hearings on the
pening day (Monday) the attorney
or the power commission called to
he attention of the county attorneys
hat they should be more interested
n electricity rates not based on in
lated company values, Mr.. Glover,
ttorney for the power company re-
1onstrated with the attorney for the
over commission saying that his re-
marks reflected on the Montana pub
ic service commission which approves
ates. Evidently Mr.. Glover wanted
o convey the impression that the pub
ic service commission was above crit
cism.
Scheduled for Courts
The general opinion is that the Fed
raj Power Commission will hold the
Iams of the Montana Power Company
N the Missouri subject to federal IL
ense and that the company may take
he issue into the federal courts. In
ase it does, the company will en-
ounter two obstacles in the way of
wo opinions already found by the
United States supreme court. One is
he case Of the rights of power com
any to maintain a dam in the Des
laines River at Joliet, Illinois, in
hitch the supreme court held that the
,aters of the Chicago-Des PLANES
linois route constituted one of the
outes intended by the Ordinance of
1877 to be maintained as a public
ighway.
The other case is the New River
ase in which the United States en-
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