XATIOXAL CUXSER\ATI()X COXiiRESS 



57') 



public be in on the ground floor at the start, 

 for at the start the public must grant the 

 power and for all time the public will be the 

 party chiefly interested in its use. 



"Specifically : 



"First — The status quo of powers still con 

 trolled by the nation or state should be 

 maintained until we know what we have, 

 an*d can act intelligently thereon. 



"Second — No grant sh(niM lie made ex- 

 cept for a fixed period, with at least the re- 

 served right to readjust terms at the end 

 thereof. That period, however, should be 

 long enough to permit adequate financing 

 and complete development. 



"Third — Complete publicity of accounts 

 and transactions should be required as well 

 as a record of cost_. and the real relation of 

 investment to stock and bond issues, 



"Fourth — Power to revoke the grant for 

 breach of conditions should be lodged in a 

 soecified authority. Otherwise there will 

 always be the possibility of protracted litiga- 

 tion to determine the status. 



"Fifth — So far as is possilile. direct nro 

 vision should be made against excessive 

 charges and monopolistic abuse. 



"Sixth — Public authorities should reserve 

 such constitutional compensation or rental 

 as will establish the principle of underlying 

 public interest. 



"Seventh — All public easements of naviga 

 tion, fisheries, etc., should be safeguarded. 



"Eighth — In the case of new grants, all 

 these provisions should be made conditions 

 of the erant. 



"Finally, the purpose and probable effect 

 on the public of any grant should first be 

 fully ascertained and carefully considered, in 

 order to determine whether nublic interest 

 justifies beyond a reasonable doubt the sur 

 render by the nublic of even a part of its 

 DOwer over this great public resource. 

 Where reasonable doubt exists, the status 

 quo should be maintained." 



The next address of the afternoon 

 was by James R. Garfield, former Sec- 

 retary of the Interior, on the govern- 

 ment's relation to conservation. This 

 was an exceptionally able paper defining 

 the general powers of the President and 

 of the other executive officers, showing 

 that the problem is not siinplv to distri- 

 bute what remains of the public domain, 

 but to do it so as to prevent giving the 

 big special interests control over timber, 

 water, fuel and phosphates. Hitherto, 

 privileges and opportunitiesi of great 

 value have been given away, often ille- 

 gally, and such frauds can only be pre- 

 vented by vigorous executive action, 

 the practical need of which. Mr. Gar- 

 field said, has been clearly shown in 



public land matters. "Often the most 

 ])erfect paper proof of claim covers the 

 greatest violation of the law. The dut\- 

 of the executive is neglected and tlu' 

 rights of the public jeopardized unless 

 the spirit as well as the letter of the law 

 i:: enforced." 



]\]r. Garfield denied that there had 

 been any executive usurpation in recent 

 years, as has been so frequently charge '. 

 "The courts are open to test such a case 

 but none has been brought.'" He made 

 this plain and emphatic declaration : 



"The critics of honest, vigorous enforce- 

 ment of the land laws, and the opponents 

 of the measures proposed to improve the 

 land laws, are not really interested in the 

 abstract theory of executive power. They 

 objected to the new order of things because 

 it prevented them from stealing public 

 lands." 



One pregnant statement was that "the 

 general welfare clause is not a mere 

 phrase." and this he sustained by ample 

 citations. Upon the question of state 

 rights and the development of water 

 powers, he said : 



"Exactly as the cry of executive usurpa- 

 tion was raised, so now the ghost of states' 

 rights is dragged out to frighten the public. 

 There is no real conflict between nation and 

 states in dealing with the public lands, and 

 the use of natural resources. Each juris- 

 diction has great interests to safeguard, 

 great duties to perform for the common 

 good, and, whenever the jurisdictions over- 

 lap, neither should withdraw, but by co- 

 operation provide for such regulation as will 

 prevent private and special interests from 

 escaping effective public regulation and su- 

 pervision. 



"For example, the proposition to transfer 

 to the several states all pulilic lands adapted 

 to use for reservoir or dam sites is abso- 

 lutely wrone. Tt is not an infringement of 

 the rights of the states for the nation to keep 

 and orovide for the use of such lands, but 

 would be a flagrant violation of duty if the 

 nation gave away its power to safeguard the 

 ;)ublic interests against the aggression of tin- 

 special interests that are seeking to control 

 and monopolize the water powers of the 

 country. 



"The retention of such lands by the nation 

 does not mean any improper retarding of 

 needed development, but does mean that 

 development shall be encouraged under con- 

 ditions that will yield a just and ample profit 

 to the private interest undertaking it, and at 

 the same time yield fair compensation to the 

 public, prevent extortion upon the consiuner. 



