Excerpt from The Public Utility of Water Powers and Their Governmental Regulation Notwithstanding the above statements, there is a real menace in the present situation, which holds many problems that are difficult of solution. Certain consolidations of water-power interests have taken place during the last few years, and these, with the appearance of the names of a few persons among the officers or in the directorate of a large number of companies operating water-power plants, mak ing new installations, or manufacturing or marketing water power or electric machinery, point unmistakably to a concentration of owner ship and administration in several groups which, in the usual course of events, might consolidate or at least effect a community of agree ment. The menace in the prospect lies not so much in this probability as in the ability of such a combination to manipulate unrighteously the public interest. The menace is therefore speculative, but this fact does not obviate the necessity for legislation. The nation and the State are accustomed to legislate against speculative crimes and abuses, because experience shows that in the present state of society mankind is yet frail. What, then, should be the legislation necessary to meet the present conditions? About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.