EDITORIAL 



575 



projects much further than would have 

 been possible had it in all cases paid 

 cash for labor employed on the projects. 



The country has supposed hitherto 

 that, with the rapid taking up of the 

 public lands, one of the few opportu- 

 nities still remaining to the poor man 

 was afforded by the reclamation of the 

 arid and semi-arid lands in the West. 

 It has believed, in fact, that one of the 

 chief advantages accompanying the rec- 

 lamation work has been the possibility 

 thus afforded for relief from the con- 

 gested conditions existing in modern 

 cities, and from the increasing pressure 

 accompanying the struggle for exist- 

 ence. The statement by the secretary, 

 however, especially when coupled with 

 his overthrow of the cooperative plan 

 above described, and reenforced by the 

 statement above quoted from Former 

 Senator Wilson, one of Secretary Bal- 

 linger's leading supporters in the Irri- 

 gation Congress, would indicate that 

 these suppositions are incorrect, and 

 that once again the poor man must look 

 elsewhere for relief. 



Not all have forgotten the speech 

 made last fall by President, then candi- 

 date, Taft at Cooper Union. At its 

 close, he was questioned as to the oppor- 

 tunities which exist in the United States 

 for a man capable and willing, but un- 

 employed. The speaker could extend 

 to the inquirer no encouragement; his 

 reply being simply, "God knows." 



If the Omniscient alone knows what 

 an unemployed man can do in America, 

 if farming on irrigated land is "not a 

 poor man's proposition," and if "it is 

 the duty of the people to help the Gov- 

 ernment, and not the duty of the Gov- 

 ernment to aid the people," echoes will 

 be heard from Governor Pardee's in- 

 quiry, "When are we ever going to give 

 a chance to the common, working citi- 

 zen?" 



It will be recalled that Rome found it 

 necessary to provide for its unemployed, 

 although by means not generally to-day 

 approved. Who will say that as against 

 maintaining a body of place 1 ess nroletar- 

 ians "in noisy idleness upon the price 

 of their votes" and upon shiploads of 

 grain from the provinces, freely dis- 



tributed, it were not better for "the 

 Government to aid the people," espe- 

 cially when, by providing opportunities 

 for them to earn honest livings on re- 

 claimed lands, it can do so without a 

 penny of expense to itself or any one 

 else? 



The Water-power Trust 



NOTHING which occurred at the 

 Spokane meeting has seemingly 

 contributed more to the wide-spread 

 press discussions of that gathering than 

 Mr. Pinchot's reference to the "water- 

 power trust." This concentration, he 

 declared, is "not yet formed, but in 

 rapid process of formation." 



Among those who delight to denounce 

 "Baron" Pinchot and all his works, 

 this declaration is greeted with ridicule 

 and scorn. One writer avers that "there 

 seems to be no reason for Mr. Pinchot's 

 exploiting this bugaboo of water-power 

 monopoly, except to gain support in his 

 effort to make power plants in national 

 forests pay a charge for 'conservation' 

 of water." 



This question is one of fact. Fortu- 

 nately, we have evidence at hand. 



On January 15, 1909, President 

 Roosevelt communicated to the House 

 of Representatives a special message 

 vetoing House Bill 17,707, authorizing 

 the construction of a dam across James 

 River in Stone County, Missouri. 



Accompanying this message was a 

 letter from the Commissioner of Cor- 

 porations, under date of January 14, 

 1909, "setting forth the results of his 

 investigations and the evidence of the 

 far-reaching plans and operations of 

 the General Electric Company, the 

 Westinghouse Electric and Manufac- 

 turing Company, and other large con- 

 cerns, for consolidation of the water- 

 powers of the country under their con- 

 trol." This letter contains six pages 

 of solid facts on the subject. It closes 

 with a summary from which the fol- 

 lowing is taken : 



An estimate of the water-power, developed 

 and potential, now controlled by the General 

 Electric _ interests, admitted or sufficiently 

 proven, is about 252,000 horse-power; by the 



