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Show PINCHOT WANTS POWER USED But He Don't Want It Given - Away or Wasted By Private Interests November 12, 1917. Editor The News, Milford", Utah. Dear Sir: The great war in which our nation na-tion is engaged will be won not alone by food and men, but by mechanical power as well. Without mechanical power we could not make or move the weapons with which we fight guns, ammunition, ships and supplies. sup-plies. Our national resources of power, whether from coal, oil, or waterpower, are national war necessities. neces-sities. We need them to win the war. In this gigantic struggle our security se-curity requires us to use all these great resources, and to use them wisely and well. The people of the United States own some fifty million undeveloped water horsepower, or about enough to run every train, trolley, factory, mill, mine, and electric elec-tric nnwpr nlnnt wp have For ten years the friends of conservation con-servation have urged the development develop-ment of public waterpowers in the public interest. But development has been held back by a little group of waterpower. magnates and their friends in Congress who have blocked block-ed all legislation which would not give them these valuable properties forever for nothing.- Today, when the nation needs all its resources, the same men who have been blocking reasonable waterpower waterpow-er legislation own and are holding millions of water horsepower undeveloped unde-veloped and out of use while clamoring clamor-ing for more. The time has come when such obstruction ob-struction threatens the nation's safety and success. We need the development de-velopment of these powers in war even more than in peace. At the coming session of Congress sound waterpower legislation should be enacted en-acted as a war measure, based upon principles fair to all sides. These principles I believe to be briefly as follows: 1. The thing to do with water-power water-power is to develop it. Whatever retards or restricts the development of public waterpowers on terms fair to the public is against public policy poli-cy and hostile to the general welfare. 2. Waterpower belongs to the people. peo-ple. The sites where it is produced should always be held in public hands, for only so can effective control con-trol In the general interest be secured. se-cured. 3. Where public development is not desired, the right to use water-power water-power sites should beleased for periods per-iods long enough to permit sound, attractive and profitable investment, but never longer than titty years. At the end of each lease all rights should return to the people who gave them. 4. In order to protect the consumer con-sumer against extortion, rates and service should be regulated by federal fed-eral authority when state or local authorities fail to do so. 6. Reasonably prompt and complete com-plete development and continuous operation, subject, to market conditions, condi-tions, should be required. Already millions of water horsepower ' are belli out of use to further monopoly by private corporations. 6. Corporations or individuals who make money out of rights granted grant-ed by the people should share their profits with the people. 7. The public has a right to complete com-plete information about every business busi-ness based on the use of public property. prop-erty. - These are the principles for which the friends of conservation have been contending. Many waterpower men believe them to be fair and sound. They will. I hope, commend themselves to you as wise and reasonable. rea-sonable. I am writing to ask your support for immediate legislation, based upon them, when Congress meets. This is no time to-give away public pub-lic assets necessary for the welfare of our people both in the war and after the war; and we should no longer lon-ger tolerate the selfishness of private interests which take the dog-in-the-manger position that they must have these waterpowers on their owu terms, or no one shall use them at all. As the President has said: "The supreme test of the nation has come. We must all speak, act, and serve together." to-gether." Sincerely yours, GIFFORD PINCHOT. |