Show ASKS LAWS FOR conservation OF OUR RESOURCES special message Is ig sent to congress by president urging action by lawmakers CONTROL OF WATER POWER elc autive recommends leasing of valuable privileges on government domain to private interests under conditions that would prevent monopoly question n of fostering soils most important reclamation and irrigation of arld arid lands also aiso treated upon preservation of bf our oue forests washington the president transmitted to congress a special message nies gage on the subject of the conservation of the nations its natural resources in in substance it was as follows to the ilia senate and house of representatives in my annual message I 1 reserved the subject of the conservation of our national resources for disposition in a special me merhage shage as follows in several departments there la Is presented tile the necessity for legislation looking to the further conservation of our national resources and the subject Is one ot of such importance as to require a more detailed and extended discussion than can be entered upon in this communication for that hat reason I 1 shall take an early opportunity to send a special message to congress on the subject 0 of tho the improvement of our waterways upon the and irrigate irrigation ton of arid semiarid and swamp lands upon the preservation of our forests and the re fo resting of suitable areas upon the re tion of the public domain with a view of separating from agricultural settlement mineral coal and phosphate lands andl ands sites belonging to the government bordering on streams suitable for the utilization cutill of water power in 1860 wo we had a public domain ot of auw acres we have now acres confined largely to the me mountain u etain ranges andt and the hearld abild and semiarid semi arid p plains lains we have tn in addition acres of land in alaska A I 1 as a disbursement of public lands tho the public lands were during the earliest ad administrations ml ions treated as a national asset set for the liquidation of the public debt and as a source of reward for our soldiers and sailors later on they were donated in large amounts in aid of the construction of wagon roads and railways in order to open up regions in the west then almost inaccessible all the principal principal rin cipal land statutes were enacted more mora fh than an a quarter of a century ago the horn homestead estead act the preemption pre emption and ti tim M ber culture act the coal land and the mining acts were among these fraudulent titles the truth Is that title to millions of acres of public lands was fraudulently obtained and that the right to recover a large part of such lands for the government long ions atrice ceased by reason of statutes of limitations there has developed in recent years a deep concern in the public mind respecting the preservation and proper use of our natural res resources burces this has been particularly directed toward the conservation of the resources of the public domain dom A vast amount of discussion has appeared in the public prints in generalized form on tills this subject but there has been little practical suggestion it has been easy to say that the n natural a tural resources resources in fuel supply in forests forest s in water power and in other public utilities must be saved from waste monopoly and other ab abuses ilses and the general public Is in accord with this reposition proposition P as they are with most m 0 st truisms trul sms the problem however Is how to save and how bow to utilize how to conserve and still develop for no sane person can contend that it t Is for tho the common good that natures blessings are only for unborn generations noteworthy reforms among the most noteworthy reforms initiated by my distinguished predecessor were the vigorous prosecution of land frauds and th bringing to public attention of the necessity tor for preserving the remaining public domain from further a spoliation pol lation for the maintenance and extension of our forest resources and tor for the enactment of laws amending the obsolete statutes so as to retain governmental control over that part of the public domain in which there are valuable deposits of coal of oil and of phosphate te arid and 1 in addition thereto to preserve control under conditions favorable to the public of the lands along the streams in which the fall of water can ie be made to generate p power er to be transmitted in the form of electricity many miles to the tha point pointon of its use known as water power sites ites the present statutes except so far as an they dispose of the precious metals and alid the purely agricultural lands are not adapted to carry out the modern view of the best beat disposition of public lands to private ownership under conditions private 0 offering ering on the one hand band sufficient inducement to tn private capital to take them over for proper development with restrictive conditions on the other which shall hall secure to the public that character of control which will prevent a monopoly or misuse of the lands or their products the athe power of the secretary of the interior to withdraw from the operation of existing statutes tracts of land the disposition of which under such auch statutes would be detrimental to the public interests Is not clear or satisfactory this power has been exercised in the interest of the public with the hope that congress might affirm the action of the executive by laws adapted to the now new conditions unfortunately congress has not thus far fully acted on the recommendations dat I 1 ons of the executive becu lye and the question as a to what the executive la Is to do I 1 Is under the tha circumstances tull full of difficulty it seems to ne me that it la Is the duty ot of congress now by a B statute to validate the withdrawals which have been made by the secretary of 0 the interior anti anil the president and to use tho the secretary or the interior temp temporary orar ily ly to withdraw lands pending submission to t cont concar rpsa su of recommendations as t to 0 lopi legislation IRI slat lon to meet conditions or e emergencies merken cles a aa 13 they arise public land along streams with respect to tile the public land which lies along alone the streams offering nc 0 opportunity p port unity to convert water power into n t 0 transmissible electricity another important m 0 r tant phase of the pub public to laud land qu question t I 1 n Is ia p resented presented there aro are valuable water power sites through all the public land states the opinion Is held field that the transfer of sovereignty front from the federal government to the territorial governments as a 9 they become states included tile water wa t er power in the rivers except so 90 far its as that owned by riparian proprietors I 1 do not think it necessary to go into of this somewhat mooted question of law it seems to me sufficient to say that the man who owns owna and controls the land along the stream from which the power Is to bo be converted and transmitted owns land which Is iridis indispensable pens 11 ble to thi the 0 conversion donver ston and use of eliat ablat power I 1 cannot conceive how tile power in streams flowing through public lands can be made available at all except by using the land itself as the site silo for the construction of the plant by which the power la Is generated and converted concerted and securing secures a right of way for transmission lints under these condition if the government owns tile the adjacent landi indeed it if tile the government Is the riparian owner it may control the use of the water power by imposing proper conditions on tho the disposition of the land necessary in tile creation and utilization of the water power value of water power the development in electrical appliances for the conversion of tile the water power into electricity to be transmitted ions distances has progressed so tar far that it Is no longer problematical but itla it Is a certain inference that in the future the power of the water falling in the streams to a large extent will take the place of natural fuels in the disposition 0 of f ahr the a domain already grants granted many water wate sites have come U under ider abdol absolute ute ownership and may drift into one ownership so BO that all the water power tinder private ownership shall bo be a monopoly it if however the water power power sites now owned by the government and there are enough of them shall be disposed of to private persons for thel the InVest investment of their capital in such a way as to prevent their union for purposes of monopoly with other water power sites and under conditions that shall limit the right of use to not exceeding thirty years with renewal privileges find and some equitable means of fixing terms of rental and with proper means for determining a reasonable graduated rental it would seem ep entirely possible to prevent the a sorption absorption b of these most useful lands by a power monopoly As long as tl alo 0 government retains control and can prevent their improper union with other plants competition must be maintained and p prices ces kept reasonable soils must be conserved in considering the conservation of the natural resources of the tafe country the feature that transcends all others including woods waters minerals la Is the soil of tile the country it Is ii incumbent upon the dovw government to foster by all aval available lable jneane the resources of the country that produce the food of the people to this end the conservation of the soils of the country countr Y 6 should hould be cared for ath all means at the governments disposal their product productive lve po powers should have the attention afoul of our scientists a clentis ts that we may conserve tie new soils bolla improve the old soils drain wet soils bolls ditch swamp soils levee river overflow solla soils grow trees on thin bolls ilon pasi pas i ture lure hillside soils rotate crops crop s on all soils discover lb cover methods for cropping dry land soils find grasses brasses and legumes for all soils teed feed grains and mill feeds on the terms farms where they originate nati that tile lie soils front from which they coma may be enriched A work of the utmost importance to inform and instruct the public on this chief branch of the conservation of our resources Is being carried on successfully in the department of agriculture but it ought not to escape public attention that state action in addition to that of the department part ment of airi agriculture culture as aa for instance in the drainage of swamp lands la Is a essential to the best treatment of the soils in the manner above indicated the net act by which in semiarid semi arid parts of kofl the public domain the area of the homestead has been enlarged from to acres haa resulted most beneficially in the extension of dry farming and in the demonstration which has been made of the possibility through a variation in the character and mode of culture of raising substantial crops without the pre presence pence of such a supply of water 4 as s has been heretofore thought to be necessary tor for agriculture no one one can visit the far west and the country of arid and semiarid semi arid arld lands without being convinced that this la Is one of the most important methods of the conservation of our natural resources that the government haa entered upon it would appear that over 30 80 projects have been undertaken and that a few of these are likely to be unsuccessful because of lack of water or for other rea i sons but generally the work which has been done has been well done and many important engineering problems have been met and solved funds inadequate for service h one of the difficulties which has haa arisen Is that too many projects in view of the aval available lable funds have ben been set on foot the funds available under tinder the reclamation statute are inadequate to complete these projects proJect si within a i reasonable time and yet the projects have been begun settlers haye been invited to take up and in many instances have bave taken up the public land within the projects relying upon their prompt completion the failure to complete the projects for their benefit is in in effect a breach of faith and leaves them in a most distressed condition I 1 urge that the nation ought to afford the means to lift them out of the m very desperate condition in which they now are t this condition does not indicate any excessive waste or any corrupt corruption loh on the part of the reclamation service it only indicates an overzealous over zealous desire to extend the benefit of reclamation to as aa many acres and as many states as an possible pos elble I 1 recommend commend re therefore that authority be given to issue not exceeding of bonds from fram time to time as the secretary of the interior shall find it t necessary the proe proceeds eeds to be applied to the completion of the projects already and their proper exton extension alon and tile the bonds bonde running ten years year a or mori to be taken wk n up vy by tho the proceeds ot of returns to t 0 tho rec reclamation la mation fund which ret returns as aa the years bears go fro on will lher increase ease rapidly in iii amount now new law requisite the comparatively small timbered areas on oh tho public domain not included in national forests because bee all so of their isolation or their special aaltio for agricultural or mineral purposes it Is apparent from the avila resulting by virtue 0 of the imperfections Imperfect io of existing laws law a for the tha disposition of 0 timber 11 ber lands that tha t tile the acts ot of june jine 3 1878 should be re pealed and a law enacted for the tha disposition of tho the timber at public sale the lafida after the removal or of the tha timber to bo be subject to appropriation tinder tander the agricultural or mineral land laws what I 1 have hae said Is really an epitome of the recommendations of the secretary secret of the interior in respect to the future conservation of tile the public domain in ills hla present annual report ile he lies has given close attention to the problem of disposition of lands under such conditions as aa to invite tile the private capital necessary to their development dov nt on the one liand hand and the maintenance inal ce of tho restrictions necessary oary to prevent monopoly and abuse from absolute ownership on the other these theme recommendation are incorporated abed in bills lie has prepared arid and they are at tho the disposition of the congress I 1 earnest ly recommend that all the tha atis which lie lifts lias made with respect r tp to these lands shall be embodied in statutes and especially that th he withdrawals withdraw ala already made shall be validated so far ua as necessary and that doubt as to tile authority of the secretary 0 of tile the interior to with i draw lands corthe for the purpose ot 0 suU submitting recommendations as to future ills disposition position of them where new legislation Is needed shall be made completo and disposition of forest reserves the forest reserves of tile the united states stute 4 some acres in ill extent art are under the control of the department of agriculture with authority to preserve them and to extend weir their gr ei E i far as that may afie be practicable the tha importance of the maintenance ut of our forests cannot bo be exaggerated the vila possibility of a treatment of f corenti 0 r e li Us so 80 that they shall be made to yield a large return in umber timber without really re r ducong the supply lias bai been demonstrated lemontt le rated in other co countries un tries arid and wo we should wark orl toward the fhe standard set by n as aa far as their methods are ae applicable to our conditions improvement of river 1 I 1 come noy novy to td the improvement of tho inland waterways lie would be |