The Power War on the White River
A citizen writes to the editor warning that corporate legal battles over water rights could stifle industrial growth for all of Tacoma.
The case of the White River Power company against the Tacoma Industrial company (Seattle Electric company), decided by Judge Huston in favor of the Power company, has gone up on appeal to the supreme court. A peculiar and unfortunate feature of this situation is that if the Tacoma Industrial company succeeds in destroying the property of the White River Power company through the courts, they will practically destroy the river for their own use as well. Their point of contention is a technical one: that the power company is not endowed with the power of eminent domain. If the court holds to this view, the same theory will apply to any other company created for the purpose of improving the rivers for industrial purposes. The engineering plan of the Power company makes possible the development of 100,000 horsepower, while the Industrial company's plan only allows for 10,000 horsepower. It is a pity that so worthy an enterprise should be held in abeyance by a company which seeks to destroy it while the industrial development of the country is retarded.
“It is a pity that so worthy an enterprise should be held in abeyance by the selfish company which seeks to destroy it.”
Water rights and the consolidation of power remain central to the Pacific Northwest's identity. This 1900s debate regarding industrial water usage and legal eminent domain mirrors today's concerns over resource extraction and corporate monopoly.
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