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unnecessary  waste  for  the  benefit  of  the  people,  as  soon  as  needed, 
even  if  used  up  in  the  near  future.  Such  exploitation  should  be 
by  private  individuals  or  corporations  with  sure  safeguards 
against  waste  or  harmful  monopoly.  Private  exploiters  should 
have  conditions  of  time,  charges,  et  cetera,  so  arranged  that  they 
can  reimburse  themselves  and  make  a reasonably  high  profit. 
Under  no  circumstances,  however,  should  renewable  resources, 
such  as  grazing,  timber  and  water,  be  turned  over  to  private 
ownership  for  a time  longer  than  ample  to  encourage  speedy  and 
profitable  exploitation. 
To  these  practical  principles  may  be  added  a few  legal  prin- 
ciples, to-wit : New  laws  should  be  enacted,  if  necessary,  to  se- 
cure the  above  practical  results.  No  existing  law  should  be  con- 
strued other  than  as  it  reads ; but  the  Executive  is  legally  and 
constitutionally  the  steward  of  the  people’s  property  and  should 
give  preference  to  a construction  of  the  law  which  will  conserve 
the  public  good  rather  than  a construction  which  will  help  out 
private  greed.  If  the  Executive  errs  in  such  construction,  he  is 
open  to  correction,  by  the  courts  if  a proper  case  comes  before 
them,  or  by  Congress  through  amendments  so  clearly  showing 
their  intent  that  the  Executive  does  not  need  to  construe  the  law. 
In  either  case,  the  Executive,  being  authoritatively  corrected, 
will  administer  the  law  accordingly.  The  President  has  the 
power  and  duty  to  hold  parts  of  the  public  land  and  resources 
temporarily  away  from  private  acquisition,  either  for  public  use — 
as  military,  lighthouse,  Indian  reserves,  et  cetera — or  to  prevent 
its  harmful  loss  or  deterioration  until  Congress  can  be  informed 
concerning  the  state  of  the  Union  in  respect  to  such  land  or  re- 
sources— as  coal  land,  power  site  and  other  similar  withdrawals. 
This  has  been  clearly  decided  by  the  Supreme  Court. 
Whether  or  not  these  principles  shall  prevail  as  against  the 
control  in  perpetuity  by  private  corporations  of  the  water  powers, 
the  coal,  the  minerals,  the  grazing  lands  and  the  forests  still  re- 
maining in  public  ownership,  is  the  real  question  to  be  decided. 
It  is  the  one  not  to  be  lost  sight  of  in  the  conflicting  statements 
of  individuals,  the  personal  mistakes  of  advocates,  however  well 
intentioned,  or  in  the  eddies  of  side  issues  that  in  many  cases  are 
introduced  purposely  to  distract  attention  from  the  main  question. 
The  real  fight  is  between  the  interests  of  the  people  and  the  greed 
of  the  corporations.  It  is  for  the  people  to  know  the  issue  and 
to  assert  their  rights. — Sunday  Advertiser , Sept.  9,  1909. 
A PROMISING  MANGO. 
The  Yearbook  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture  for  1908  con- 
tains some  excellent  colored  illustrations  of  promising  new  fruits. 
Of  these  the  Peters  Mango,  an  East  Indian  variety,  is  of  suf- 
ficient merit  to  warrant  general  planting.  The  Peters  does  well 
in  dry  districts  which  should  commend  it  to  certain  parts  of  the 
Islands. 
