Public vs. Private Ownership and Operation of Water Power Resources - Address Delivered at the Eighty-Fourth Dinner of the Economic Club of New York, March Fifth, 1928

Sep 21, 2026

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The text is a 1928 address arguing for private ownership and operation of water power resources under intelligently regulated private capital rather than government development and operation. The speaker frames the debate using two main premises: a belief in reasonable happiness for everyone and the idea that unnecessary ignorance hinders happiness. It estimates the scale and costs of moving development to government agencies and reviews broad governmental experimentation to question whether public construction can succeed where gaps remain.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages16

Reading Time40 min

AccessFree to download

Public vs. Private Ownership and Operation of Water Power Resources

Opening position and responsibility

Scale and cost of government control

Key premises for the argument

Government experimentation and unresolved issues

97-84080-6Cooper,Hugh Lincoln Public vs.private ownership and operation...[New York?] [1928] # COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY LIBRARIESPRESERVATION DIVISION BIBLIOGBAPHIC MICROFORM TARGET ORIGINAL MATERIAL AS FILMED-EXISTING BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD | | | --- | | 308
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Box 237
Cooper,Hugh Lincoln,1865-1937.
Public vs,private ownership and operation of water power
resources,by Hugh L,Cooper ...New York?1928
22 p.23吧.
“Address dellvered at the elghty-fourth dinner of the Eeonomle elub
of New York,March ffth,1928.”
1.Government ownership.2.Water-power—U.8.
I.Title.
28-10341
Library of Congress
HD3888.C6
o⁰ | Reproductions may no be made without permisslion from Columbia UniversityLibraries. RESTRICTIONS ON USE: TECHNICAL MICROFORM DATA FILM SIZE: 5mmREDUCTION RATIO: 10:7 IMAGE PLACEMENT:IA IB IB DATE FILMED: 5-8-97INITIALS: QB TRACKING\#: 23329 FILMED BY PRESERVATION RESOURCES,BETHLEHEM,PA. ①K( | | PUBLIC
V5.
PRIVATE OWNERSHIP AND
OPERATION OF WATER
POWER RESOURCES
BY
HUGH L.COOPER
CoNSULTING ENGINEER
308
X2÷7
/ | | | --- | --- | --- | | | | | 2/AUt241,6 v了 Gnt 小 3-24-28 ADDRESS DELIVERED AT THE EIGHTY-FOURTH DINNER OFTHE ECONOMIC CLUB OF NEW YORKMARCH FIFTH,1928. The time limit of thirty minutes for presenting even apartial list of my reasons for believing that our waterpowers should be developed and operated by intelligentlyregulated private capital,as opposed to government de-velopment and operation,demands that we omit amusementstory telling and plunge into our subjeet. I am solely responsible for the views I shall expressand no representative of any utility corporation has re-viewed them.What I shall say to you is based upon acontinuous labor in the hydro-electrie field of over thirty-three years,relating to over two million hydro-electrichorsepower for both government and private capital own-ership and operation.You cannot travel such a road with-out seeing rather clearly the pluses and minuses producedby these widely different schools of endearor.I believeprivate capital needs oficial chastisement from time totime,in the public interest and in its own interest,and Iam equally certain that until as human beings we are en-tirely redesigned and reconstructed on new psychologicallines,we in the United States will never witness the daywhen we can point with pride to Uncle Sam or any of hischildren engaged in business. It has occurred to me that I could hold your attentionbetter if I assumed at the outset that everyone in this splen-did audience is strongly in favor of putting government inbusiness and it was my job to try to reverse this belief 180degrees. First,let us inquire as to the approximate size of thisproposal to put water power development under govern-ment.In America we have about 12,000,000 horsepowerharnessed at this time,and we probably have 40,000,000unharnessed horse-power,requiring approximately $7,000;-000,000.00 for its generation alone and at least $2,000,000,-000.00 for its transmission to local distribution centers;or about 89,000,000,000.00 would be the amount to be handedover to the government agencies to be spent in one of themost dificult,intricate and hazardous fields of science andindustry yet developed by man. In our study of our text,let us select only four premisesof the many that are available upon which to present thiscase to you. My first premise is that we all believe in a reasonableamount of happiness for everyone,and similarly everyoneis entitled to look into the future hopefully f he usesordinarily well the talents given him by the Creator. My second premise is that the greatest hindrance tohappiness in the world at any time in the past,and today,is unne

FAQs

What position does the speaker advocate regarding water power development?

The speaker argues that water powers should be developed and operated by intelligently regulated private capital rather than by government development and operation.

How does the speaker justify the argument in terms of human well-being?

The speaker cites two premises: everyone is entitled to a reasonable amount of happiness and unnecessary ignorance is presented as a major hindrance to happiness.

Why does the speaker question government ownership and operation?

The speaker points to the large, hazardous scale of government involvement and emphasizes that government has long had unresolved problems and limited conclusive proof of best practices through extensive experimentation.

Sep 21, 2026

Uploaded by Aria