Conservation Commission 51 



it must offer them for sale in the market where such privileges 

 are sold and brought under such laws and regulations which may 

 be necessary to protect the State from a purchaser who may be 

 inclined to deceive or wrong the State for himself. Ability for the 

 construction and organization necessary to make a project of this 

 magnitude a success is given to few men, and entrusting those out- 

 side of the limited circle with the disentangling of the complex 

 elements of this plan is not the part of either sense or wisdom. 



The great danger the future holds for the State, if some action 

 is not taken now, is the refusal of the proper interests to enter into 

 the scheme. Such things cannot be deferred too long without loss 

 to those who hold a marketable affair until the anxious become 

 indifferent and the wealth necessary for the project seeks an in- 

 vestment in quarters more tranquil and not froth with the in- 

 stability which surrounds the public contracts and franchises of 

 today. 



Whether the water privileges are as desirable now as they were 

 several years ago I do not know. Experimenting may have proved 

 otherwise. However, I believe if certain persons can be induced 

 to enter this field of enterprise success will attend their endeavors, 

 out of which the State will profit greatly. The State will be as 

 much concerned in the success of the undertaking as those who 

 make possible the scheme. The greater the success the greater the 

 value of the State water rights and the greater the profits accruing 

 to the taxpayers ; where failure to the enterprise means valueless 

 water rights to the State. 



It would seem an easy matter to draft a bill calling for the 

 highest or greatest development of all the water power of the State 

 in which the regulations surrounding and protecting the rights of 

 the people should be drawn with an eye for a commensurate return 

 to the State, in keeping with the power generated out of the waters 

 of the State. To obtain the full commercial value of the privilege 

 bestowed will prove the most important, as well as the most diffi- 

 cult, part of the transaction and, of necessity, must be adjusted 

 by men who are seeking no political favors nor building for a 

 public future. So, also, must the men entrusted to represent the 

 State in these negotiations stand away outside of the influence of 

 the corporations concerned. 



I believe a measure can be drafted protecting to the fullest every 

 interest of the State and, at the same time, not to embarrass the 

 contractor with fear and trepidation sufficient to paralyze his best 



