"LOOKING SQUARELY AT THE WATERPOWER PROBLEM" 



1127 



of the past eight years, has been right and who has been wrong. 

 The cause is bigger than any man or group of men. Let us 

 forget the past and start new. 



"We are sure of a few things : 



"1. That it is not safe nor ultimately profitable to conduct an 

 industry in a wrongful manner; this is one of the axioms of 

 modern business and the successful waterpower business rests 

 absolutely upon it. 



"2. That the waterpower men do not expect to get from the 

 Government more than is fair, and they do not expect to conduct 

 their business in a wrongful manner. If they had other expecta- 

 tions or intentions, Congress would see to the one and public 

 service commissions to the other. 



"3. That there will be no waterpower development commen- 

 surate with the resources of the country unless congressional 

 legislation will so safeguard development as to encourage in- 

 vestors to put their savings into waterpower enterprises and thus 

 permit waterpower companies to obtain ample capital at rea- 

 sonable rates. 



"4. That Congress and the various State legislatures can con- 

 trol waterpower companies engaging in public service business — 

 can control their rates and service — and it is not necessary to 

 impose conditions hindering or restricting development and the 

 acquisition of capital in order to insure fair treatment of the 

 consumer. 



"5. That every petty burden and every irritating limitation 

 placed on a waterpower development for the purpose of 'pro- 

 tecting the public' is and must be paid for by the public. There- 

 fore, in setting up these things for the public good, it is always 

 well to ascertain whether or not some of the many obstructions 

 really are for the public good and whether in each case the good 

 derived is commensurate with the cost. It is only when the 

 benefits equal or exceed the cost that such things are wise. 



"6. Finally and most important — waterpowers on the public 

 lands and on the navigable streams will always be commercially 

 inferior to and will lag behind those developed on non-navigable 

 streams and on private lands unless the conditions and stipula- 

 tioins governing the former are at least as favorable as those 

 governing the latter." 



The work closes with appendixes giving full reports 

 and analyses of the national legislation considered by 

 Congress at its last session — the Adamson Bill and the 

 Adanison-Shields Bill, the Ferris Bill, the Jones Bill and 

 the Works Bill. 



YOSEMITE PARK IMPROVEMENTS 



SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR LANE has 

 completed plans and signed contracts for hotel 

 and camp and transportation concessions in the 

 Yosemite National Park which insure its future along 

 lines of development commensurate with its scenic and 

 recreational value and in response to the new attitude of 

 appreciation on the part of the American public toward 

 their National Parks possessions. It is expected that 

 half a million dollars will be spent in the Yosemite diirirg 

 the coming year in realizing these purposes. 



Concessions have been granted to the Curry Camping 

 Company for Camp Curry, to William M. Sell, Sr. ; for 

 Camp Ahwahnee, to William M. Sell, Jr. ; for Camp Lost 

 Arrow and to the Desmond Commissary Company, which 

 operated a successful camp in the Valley last summer, 

 for its continued operation and for other developments 



from which results of interest and importance are ex- 

 pected. 



In accordance with these concessions the Desmond 

 Commissary Company will build a new and thoroughly 

 modern hotel on the floor of the Yosemite Valley which 

 will cost approximately $150,000. Operations to this 

 end will begin immediately, and, until completion, these 

 concessions will operate the old Sentinel Hotel. The new 

 hotel will inaugurate General Superintendent Daniels' 

 plan for a new Yosemite Village to gradually replace the 

 present village with one of beauty, unity of design and 

 fitness to its environment. The same company will also 

 build a hotel at Glacier Point which will cost approxi- 

 mately $35,000. This point commands one of the noblest 

 views in America, but so far has been accessible princi- 

 pally as a side trip to and from the Valley. This hotel will 

 probably be ready for patrons during the coming season. 



Four comfortable chalets will also be built for next 

 season's use. Two of these will be located on the old 

 Tioga Road which the Department of the Interior ac- 

 quired and improved last summer and which Secretary 

 Lane purposes to fully develop during the coming year. 

 It crosses the Yosemite National Park north of the Valley 

 forming a new highway over the Sierra and making 

 access with cheapness and comfort to the hitherto inac- 

 cessible scenic beauty of the northern part of the park. 

 These chalets will afford convenient stopping places for 

 motorists and other visitors, thus enabling tourists to 

 enjoy a part of the park which would involve prohibitive 

 cost were these accommodations not made available. 

 Another chalet will be built at Lake Merced and a fourth 

 in the Little Yosemite. All four will have a thoroughly 

 modern equipment and will be run in connection with the 

 two new hotels. 



\\'ork on all will begin as soon as weather conditions 

 permit. Additional chalets will be built as rapidly as the 

 demand for this class of service requires and the northern 

 part of the park becomes accessible. Transportation 

 facilities provided for in the new concessions promise 

 results of corresponding importance. It is contemplated 

 that the Desmond Coinmissary Company will take over 

 the concessions now operated between El Portal and the 

 Yosemite Valley by arrangement with the present con- 

 cessioner and will operate a motor service. This conces- 

 sioner will also operate a motor service between Crockers 

 and the Valley over the Big Oak Flat Road recently 

 turned over to the Government, and another over the 

 Tioga Road. A. B. Davis will continue his auto stage 

 line between El Portal and the Valley by way of the 

 Tuolumne Grove of Big Trees, and the Yosemite Stage 

 and Turnpike Company will continue its line between the 

 Valley and Wawona and the Mariposa Grove. All these 

 undertakings will be under strict Government supervision 

 as regards rates. One of the Department's most cherished 

 objects is to make the Yosemite available for the use 

 and enjoyment of people of moderate income, and the 

 rates will be kept as low as it consistent with good serv- 

 ice and a reasonable return on the investments of the 

 various concessioners. 



