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sides are cut into chasms by flowing water perpetually fed and replenished from the clouds. Those streams are now flowing down to the sea without turning any wheels, and they will go on idly until the hand of industry and genius places the machinery to be operated by that grand natural power. That power will be used, and unless this Government of ours becomes a greater trust than the bogeyman with which we have been threatened, it will have to be by the exertion of individuals. The people in their aggregate capacity are not going to put those powers into beneficial use; it requires individuals to do it. It is proposed by the Committee that these powers shall not be acquired for beneficial use by individuals, except for limited periods of time and upon payment of rent or taxes, so that this vast power will be made a source of income to the National Treasury perpetually, and the difference between the majority and the minority of the Committee is on this point. In other sections of the country where vast wealth has been taken from the public domain the people who have the benefit pay no such revenue to the Government. Therefore, what the Committee recommends is unequal taxation-imposing on the industries of the Western States and Alaska a burden of taxation which is not shared by the people of other sections.

This is the issue which I wish to have considered by this Congress.

In reply to Judge Hanford, Hon. Geo. C. Pardee spoke as follows:

Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen:

I, too, witnessed that wonderful sunset scene of the Olympic mountains yesterday, and as I looked out of the window I wondered then whether the people of this country and this State would enjoy the fruition and benefits of the

water powers that run through those mountains or whether they would be monopolized and used to the detriment of the people of this State.

We have come, I think, to the parting of the ways. It seems to me it were an idle thing to say that, because the people of the Eastern States have been robbed and are robbed today, we of the West should submit our shoulders. to the yoke and permit ourselves also to be robbed in perpetuity. I remember very well what the learned judge said in committee; he objected not so much to the questions of State or National interference, but he did object, and stood upon it, to the taking away of the giving to individuals and through individuals to robbing, greedy corporations the water-rights of this West in perpetuity. Perpetuity is the thing, and it is time for us to say here in the West that if there is anything left of which we have not been robbed, we want it stopped. because we want to reserve to ourselves whatever is left. It is a very fine picture that is painted to us of the driving backward of the savage, of the settling of this part of the country, of the great prosperity that has followed on the heels of individualism, because the country has given away these things; but how much fraud has been committed under this same policy of the Government which the judge says he wants continued? How many perjuries have been committed? How many men has the judge himself sent to the penitentiary, and how many hundreds and thousands of others are not in the penitentiary who belong there today? The burdens which the judge would have laid upon this Western country by giving away the remaining water power sites in perpetuity, will be greater, far greater upon the people than any tax they may pay to the Government of the United States, and in order that these burdens may not be put upon the people of this Western country, in order

that my State of California may not be burdened in perpetuity by a corporation or private individual, I am opposed absolutely to the judge's amendment to the report of the Committee.

To brush aside any misapprehensions which may have arisen in your minds concerning the report of the majority of the committee, let me read two paragraphs of it: "We urge on the States (not the United States, mark you) the enactment of comprehensive water laws, framed in accordance with the policy pursued in several Western States during recent years incorporating the principle that the waters. belong to the people. We hold that this right of the people is inherent and indefeasible. Recognizing the necessity for administering this invaluable possession of the people, we deny the right of State or Federal governments to alienate or convey water by granting franchises for the use thereof, for commercial or power purposes, in perpetuity or without just compensation in the interests of the people.

"Since the conservation of forests and waters is essential to the welfare of the people of all our States and since the Forest Service and Reclamation Service have initiated and carried forward the policy of conserving these great resources, we declare our endorsement of the aims and policies of these branches of the public service, and urge our Representatives in State Legislatures and the Federal Congress to give them adequate support. * * *

"We hold that all natural resources belong primarily to the whole people and should not be alienated by municipal, State, or National grants or franchises to individuals or corporations, except for limited periods."

To these two paragraphs of the Committee, I submit in all fairness, no one with a real patriotic regard for the people of this country should take exception, and therefore I hope that this Congress will vote down the report of the

minority of the Committee and adopt the majority report as read.

MR. E. W. Ross: I move that the Congress be now adjourned.

This motion was lost.

The minority report of the Committee was then voted upon and its adoption was lost.

The majority report was then enthusiastically adopted. CAPT. J. B. WHITE: With reference to the resolution concerning Mr. Douglas, I should like to say that Mr. Douglas is a very modest man, and I suspect that there are not a dozen, certainly not two dozen, men or women in this Congress who know him. I happen to know that he has made all this preparation and put all his energy into it at a tremendous sacrifice of his own business and almost at the sacrifice of his health, and I am sure we all appreciate the splendid services which Mr. Douglas has rendered this Congress.

The Congress then adjourned until the afternoon session at 2.00 p. m.

Before the regular afternoon session the delegates assembled in the Hawaiian Building to hear Prof. Samuel Lancaster's lecture on "The Value of Good Roads," and Don Carlos Ellis's lecture on "Saving the Forests." Both lectures were illustrated.

AFTERNOON SESSION, 2.00 P. M.

PRESIDING OFFICER, HON. O. J. SALISBURY, MEMBER OF

JOINT COMMITTEE ON CONSERVATION.

The session was called to order at 2 p. m.

MR. SALISBURY: In introducing to this meeting Secretary Ballinger, I am sure we all realize the great amount of self-sacrifice and personal effort which Mr. Ballinger has made in order to attend this Congress, and I think that not only the people of Seattle, but the delegates from all over the country in Conservation Congress assembled here will back me in extending to Secretary Ballinger the most hearty of welcomes.

Secretary Ballinger, who was received with hearty applause, said:

Ladies and Gentlemen, and Delegates of this Congress:

I esteem it a source of good fortune that I can be here this afternoon and meet with you in the closing hours of this Congress. I feel some interest in this organization as I drew the articles of incorporation which put it into existence, and I have no less interest in the organization today than I had then. Its purposes I commend and I believe they will make for the benefit of the people of this State, as well of the people of the country in general.

I heartily endorse what I read this morning from the President of the United States, what he says to you in his telegram; he voices my sentiments in connection with the conservation of the natural resources of this country. It is not alone in declarations that a man can make for the good of the country, or the development of the country, or for the conservation of the resources of the country, but by his

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