EDITORIAL 



707 



The headline-writer of the Oregonian 

 informs his readers that the "transfer 

 is urged," that the "Forestry Service 

 may go to the Interior Department," 

 that "loud wails are expected," that 

 "Pinchot and the conservationists will 

 set up a howl, but if the President makes 

 the suggestion, the anti-administration 

 will lose out." 



If any such scheme is brewing, it is well 

 that it has come to the surface thus early, 

 for the cat is now out of the bag. Fore- 

 warned is forearmed. The people are 

 already on the alert ; they realize that, 

 if their interests are to be protected, 

 they, themselves, must be constantly on 

 guard, and they are getting ready for 

 the coming session of Congress. 



Following the Spokane meeting they 

 were heard from. Let the above attempt 

 be made, and to the outburst which 

 will follow, that which succeeded the 

 meeting named will be but as the pop- 

 ping of a firecracker to a cannonade. 



Power and Similar Bills 



THE attention of the public has been 

 and is being called to the impor- 

 tance of the water-power question. 



As the black coal goes, "white coal" 

 as water-power is coming to be styled 

 must more and more take its place. 



That this power may be appropriated, 

 legislation must be had and will, with- 

 out doubt, be diligently sought. 



The recent special session of the 

 Sixty-first Congress was supposed to 

 be devoted, almost exclusively, to the 

 tariff. Nevertheless, persons interested 

 in water-power and similar legislation 

 took time by the forelock. 



Twenty-three bills, some duplicates, 

 were introduced into one or the other 

 house of Congress in that session. All 

 were printed, several were read twice, 

 and all but one were referred to their 

 appropriate committees. These bills, 

 therefore, are all ready to be taken up 

 and pressed at the coming regular 

 session. 



Some of these bills may be harmless ; 

 others, however, will bear close in- 

 spection. 



No power bill should be permitted to 

 pass Congress unless it contains three 

 provisions, namely: 



1. The grant or privilege should be 

 limited in time, say to fifty years ; 



2. The recipient of the grant or 

 privilege should pay to the Govern- 

 ment a reasonable fee or charge; 



3. This fee or charge should be sub- 

 ject to revision by Congress at inter- 

 vals, say, of ten years. 



The day for grants in perpetuity is 

 past ; no more should be tolerated. The 

 attempt, in future, to secure such grants 

 should impugn the good faith of the 

 applicant. 



Since water-power is a valuable as- 

 set, and its use a source of substantial 

 revenue, the grantee should be willing 

 and should expect to pay for it a rea- 

 sonable price. 



Finally, inasmuch as, with the growth 

 of population and industry, the value of 

 a water-power site whose source is ade- 

 quately protected may be expected to 

 increase from year to year and genera- 

 tion to generation like the values of 

 lands in thriving cities, the charge for 

 its use should be subject to periodical 

 revision. A utility worth a dollar to- 

 day may be worth ten dollars or a hun- 

 dred dollars some years hence ; for this 

 reason, a long-time contract based on a 

 rate which is fair to-day may, later, be- 

 come grossly unfair. 



One of the chief scandals marking 

 the system of English land taxation is 

 the fact that, until recent years, lands 

 in London were still taxed at the valua- 

 tion fixed in the year 1692 ! 



Some of those lands have since be- 

 come worth as much as the gold sov- 

 ereigns which, placed on edge, would 

 pave them. Yet every attempt to adjust 

 the taxation to the increasing value of 

 the lands was successfully resisted. 



To establish to-day in America, in 

 connection with water-power grants of 

 inestimable value, a similar system is 

 preposterous and intolerable.' Who- 

 ever, hereafter, gets the use of a water- 

 power must be required to pay for it 

 what it is worth. Gratuities and pen- 

 sions to millionaire promoters should, 

 henceforth, be recognized as "out of 

 fashion." 



