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Show extortion and monopoly upon the consuming public subject only to inadequate State regulation when the business is intrastate and with little or no regu- lation when the concern is doing an interstate busi- ness. The titles to these sites have forever passed out of the hands of the Federal Government and the people. The 1901 act delegated broad authority to the Secretary of the Interior to permit use of rights-of- way through public lands, and forests, and other reservations, "for electrical plants, poles and lines for the generation and distribution of electrical power," but without specifying conditions. It was not until 1906 that Congress put a time limit of 10 years on leases for power developed at Federal irrigation works. This period was ex- tended to 50 years in the case of the Rio Grande irrigation project in 1911. In the 1910 General Dam Act, policies de- signed to protect the people's interest in water power resources began to take form. Grants to develop power in rivers subject to congressional jurisdiction were limited to 50 years. The Gov- ernment reserved the right to revoke such grants at any time for public use upon payment of rea- sonable value of the works, exclusive of the value of the grant. Provision was made for charges for benefits from Federal headwater storage reser- voirs. By 1912, Congress authorized the Secretary of War, under legislation still effective, "to make possible the economical development of water power" at authorized navigation dams. In 1913 continuing legislation required that reports on examinations and surveys of proposed naviga- tion improvements include data concerning the development and utilization of water power for industrial and commercial purposes. Meanwhile, in 1908, the preliminary report of the Inland Waterways Commission had pointed out the necessity for combined considera- tion of power, navigation, and other uses and asserted that water power is a permanent asset "which should be utilized for the benefit of the people of the country." The Commission found basis for the claim that "the value of power would pay the costs of all engineering and other works required in such cases to control the streams for navigation and other uses." It continued that "appropriation of water power offers an un- equaled opportunity for monopolistic control of industries," and that in certain instances, unless regulated, it would result in "monopolistic con- trol of the daily life of all people in an unprece- dented degree." The 1910 Preliminary Report of the United States National Waterways Commission, com- posed of 12 members of Congress, continued this line of thinking. It emphasized the need for con- sideration of multiple uses in planning navigation improvements, recommending "greatest care in conservation of water power for the use of the people." The Commission's final report in 1912 noted the increase in practicability of flood con- trol reservoirs when associated with development of power and aid to navigation and suggested that reasonable charges should be assessed for grant of the "special privilege" of developing water power. In the same year a Senate sub- committee forcefully reported on the Govern- ment's "undoubted" right to generate power at a navigation dam, and to "lease or sell such power on such terms and for such compensation as it may deem just." Three veto messages by President Theodore Roosevelt and two by President Taft, dealing with bills to permit private construction of power dams on the Tennessee, Rainy, James, White, and Coosa Rivers, played an important part in the development of Federal water power policy. In general they noted, among other observations, that natural resources should not be granted and held in an undeveloped condition; that a definite time limit should be fixed in grants, permitting the public to retain control; that charges for the privilege should be imposed; and that, in approv- ing plans, maximum development of navigation and power should be assured. Federal Water Power Act (1920) Active debates on various legislative proposals between 1913 and 1920 finally led to the enact- ment of the Federal Water Power Act of 1920. The act, as finally passed, provided for both non- 221 |
