WATER-POWER 



651 



i::s, and the consequent increase in the 

 price of fuel, will drive us to water- 

 power. It is, therefore, proper to ask 

 whether or not the water resources of 

 the country are sufficient to meet future 

 demands. It is recog"nized that the de- 

 mand for power must have future in- 

 crease, even greater than that of the 

 past. Therefore, let no one underesti- 

 mate the task of providing a substitute 

 for steam. Notwithstanding this, the 

 prospect to one who has looked broadly 

 into the country's water-power re- 

 sources, is altogether pleasing. No one 

 can tell at present just how extensive 

 are those resources ; although, in a few 

 months, approximate figures will be at 

 hand. Yet if we estimate from infor- 

 mation now available, there is a wealth 

 of conservation in the statement that 

 50,000,000 horse-powers may be pro- 

 duced from our rivers. Nor would 

 there be any surprise on the part of the 

 author if the final surveys show that 

 with maximum conservation, three 

 .times the above amount may be real- 

 ized. In any event the demands of a 

 goodly number of generations will be 

 amply serx^ed. 



Our duty to ourselves and to pos- 

 terity in the stewardship of our natural 

 resources is not ended with the accom- 

 plishment of great achievements. Be- 

 cause we may, by wise procedure, en- 

 sure unto the fifth or sixth generation 

 an abundant supply of this or that 

 necessity, the obligations imposed by 

 our stewardship are in no wise satis- 

 fied. Yet if, by conserving all water- 

 power that can be made available on de- 

 mand, we can look ahead to a suffi- 



ciency for that fifth or sixth generation, 

 we shall have accomplished a duty man- 

 fully and well. Having done all that 

 we can, our responsibility, at any rate, 

 will have been discharged. It will not 

 suffice merely to know that the United 

 States affords 50,000,000 or 150,000,000 

 water horse-powers. Like riches, horse- 

 powers have wings. Present possession 

 provides no guaranty of future avail- 

 ability. Our duty lies in securing those 

 horse-powers using what we need and 

 placing the remainder in safe deposit. 

 Thus would a private corporation do. 

 Why, then, should not a public corpor- 

 ation do likewise? The same economic 

 principle controls both. 



Present practices, all too familiar, 

 will finally so dissipate our water- 

 power resources that they will not be 

 sufficient even for present demands. 

 Therefore, the precept is utterly con- 

 vincing that the first duty of the people 

 is to study these resources and provide 

 corrective measures for those practices. 

 Thus shall we not only achieve power 

 in more than one sense, but we shall 

 consequentially provide for all other 

 lines of water utilization and conserve 

 our most valuable mineral deposits. 

 There is but one great problem invol- 

 ved ; to break it into parts, to pursue 

 one object to the disregard of another 

 merely betrays a narrow and obsolete 

 view-point. Water-power is but one 

 factor, although the most important, in 

 a vital and world-wide problem, the so- 

 lution of which has fallen to us. So 

 far our shirking has been ingenious. 

 The process has been easy, but even 

 now we are paying the price. 



