Conservation Commission 13 



amount to anything " or " will be a flat failure from the start," 

 and that " it will ruin private business." Obviously, these con- 

 tentions cannot both be true, and experience with the Canadian 

 hydro-electric public enterprise demonstrates that neither is true. 



It will never be possible to frame a State hydro-electric develop- 

 ment law which will please those who, for private and personal 

 reasons, do not want the State to embark upon hydro-electric de- 

 velopment. But it ought to be possible for the Legislature this 

 year, in view of the progress already achieved, to write into law a 

 measure along the general lines of the Bayne and the Murtaugh 

 bills, sacrificing not one iota of the underlying principle — that 

 the State's undeveloped water resources belong to the people and 

 should be developed by the State for the whole people, to give 

 cheaper light, heat and power. 



Construction by stages has been the policy advocated by the 

 Commission at all times. Crescent and Vischer Ferry dams were 

 selected, among other reasons, for commencing the work, because 

 the State at these points owns the entire water-power rights, and 

 the cost of making the trial would be a minimum in the Capital 

 District. The power has been created by the construction of two 

 dams erected for the purpose of canalizing two stretches of the 

 Mohawk river to form parts of the Barge canal. Unless the water 

 is made to generate power it will waste its energy in running over 

 the tops of the dams. 



The Basic Principle 



In last year's report, concerning all canal powers, we said: 

 " Important and intrinsically valuable as they are, it must be 

 kept in mind that their development and operation is a secondary 

 matter, entirely subordinate to the use of the canal as a medium 

 of commerce." This has been and will continue to be the basic 

 principle of any policy that the Commission advocates, with ref- 

 erence to canal waters. The Murtaugh hydro-electric bill em- 

 bodies full recognition of this principle and would protect the 

 canal in every way. 



Many large water powers, totalling over 100,000 H. P., have 

 become the property of the State through purchase or creation in 

 the construction of the canal system. These powers are located 



, 



