1 86 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



April 



off their, rivals, the waterways. But, 

 with the failure of the railroads to do 

 the business which they have thus mon- 

 opolized, for the people of the country 

 longer to put up with such a situation 

 would reflect seriously upon their ca- 

 pacity for self-government. 



That the President was not serious- 

 ly influenced by the reactionary and as- 

 tounding speech made by Speaker 

 Cannon at the banquet of the Nation- 

 al Wholesale Lumber Dealers' Asso- 

 ciation, elsewhere discussed, is shown 

 by the following passage : 



"The Congress should recognize in 

 fullest fashion the fact that the sub- 

 ject of the conservation of our natural 

 resources, with which this Commission 

 deals, is literally vital for the future 

 of the Nation." 



Following our extended editorial on 

 ^'Some Mcious Legislation/" Forestry 

 AND Irrigation hastens to chronicle 

 the following additional executive dec- 

 laration regarding these monopolistic 

 bills: 



"Numerous bills granting water- 

 power rights on navigable streams 

 have been introduced. None of them 

 give the Government the right to make 

 a reasonable charge for the valuable 



privileges so granted, in spite of the 

 fact that these water-power privileges 

 are equivalent to many thousands of 

 acres of the best coal lands for their 

 production of power. Nor is any defi- 

 nite time limit set, as should always be 

 done in such cases. 



"I shall be obliged hereafter, in ac- 

 cordance with the policy stated in a re- 

 cent message, to veto any water-power 

 bill which does not provide for a time 

 limit and for the right of the Presi- 

 dent or of the vSecretary concerned to 

 fix and collect such charge as he may 

 find to be just and reasonable in each 

 case." 



The fact that the President would 

 veto such legislation is reassuring, but 

 for the fact, elsewhere suggested, that 

 it may come in the shape of a rider up- 

 on the agricultural appropriation bill. 

 It ought to be possible for an execu- 

 tive, Federal or State, to veto a portion 

 of a bill without vetoing the whole. 

 As law now stands, however, this is 

 impossible for the President of the 

 United States. It therefore behooves 

 all friends of the forests to be on their 

 guard against these power bills and to 

 mark every Congressman who sup- 

 ports any one of them in any form. 



See page 196 



The mahogany as a shade tree 



