1908 



EDITORIAL 



183 



a length of time sufficient to allow 

 them to conduct their business profit- 

 ably. A reasonable charge should of 

 course be made for valuable rights and 

 privileges which they obtain from the 

 National Government. The values for 

 which this charge is made will ulti- 

 mately, through the natural growth 

 and orderly development of our popu- 

 lation and industries, reach enormous 

 amounts. A fair share of the increase 

 should be safeguarded for the benefit 

 of the people, from whose labor it 

 springs. The proceeds thus secured, 

 after the cost of administration and 

 improvement has been met, should 

 naturally be devoted to the develop- 

 m.ent of our inland waterways." 



The bills to which, pre- 

 Designaticns sumably, reference is 



above made are as fol- 

 lows, the letter following each num- 

 ber being introduced for convenience 

 in reference in this editorial : H. R. 

 212 (A),H.R. 3907(B), S. 435 (C), 

 S. 2661 (D), H. R. 11356 (E), H. R. 

 [2887 (F), S. 4060 (G), H. R. 17306 

 (H), S. 4179 (I)- 



Some or all of these bills would 

 operate, if enacted, as modification of 

 the Act of February 15, 1901 (31 

 Stat., 750). By this, the Secretary of 

 the Interior is authorized and empow- 

 ered to grant licenses within the Na- 

 tional Forests, provided these be not 

 incompatible with the public interest. 

 Further, these licenses are revocable 

 by the Secretary of the Interior (now, 

 so far as the National Forests are con- 

 cerned, the Secretary of Agriculture) 

 in his discretion. Further, it is ex- 

 pressly provided that these licenses 

 ■^'shall not be held to confer any right, 

 or easement, or interest in, to or over 

 any public land, reservation or park." 

 These limitations are evidently irk- 

 some to certain great concerns desir- 

 ing free access to the public property 

 known as National Forests. Several of 

 these bills grant easements and rights 

 of way, as the following quotations 

 show : 



Perpetual ^^" '"^ P^^^^^^^^ "^^at 



Privileges permanent easements 

 and rights of way are 

 hereby granted for the construction, 

 use, maintenance and operation of 

 roads and highways, canals, ditches, 

 reservoirs, telephone . and telegraph 

 lines, and lines for the transmission of 

 electric light and power within and 

 through the various forest reserves.'' 

 The bill further provides, it is true, 

 that these easements and rights of wav 

 are granted "under such rules and 

 regulations as the Secretary of Agri- 

 culture shall prescribe ;" but it will be 

 observed that, when granted, they are 

 "permanent." 



Bill B provides likewise for the 

 granting of "rights of way through 

 the public lands and reservations, ex- 

 cepting lands reserved for military or 

 naval purposes or for National ceme- 

 teries." 



Bill C grants "rights of way for the 

 construction of highways over public 

 lands and lands included in forest re- 

 serves, not otherwise reserved for 

 public use." Bills D, E, F and G con- 

 tain similar provisions. Bill D pro- 

 vides "that any of the persons or cor- 

 porations referred to "may construct 

 and maintain all necessary roads and 

 trails over any of the lands referred 

 to," though such roads and trails mav 

 also be used by the Government and 

 the public. Bill E contains the same 

 provision. 



Those who recall the at- 

 Flooding tempt of certain com- 



panies to secure, by 

 legislation, from the State of New 

 York, at the last session of the legis- 

 lature of that Commonwealth, the 

 right to flood large areas of the Ad- 

 irondacks, and the storm of protest 

 raised thereby, \n\\\ read with interest, 

 in Bill B, that this measures carries 

 with it "the right to submerge and 

 flood such areas only as may be neces- 

 sary to impound the water in such 

 reservoirs." Bill D conveys "the 

 right" to submerge and flood such 

 areas as are shown and described upon 



