774 



CONSERVATION 



The astounding conclusion under 

 consideration has resulted, evidently, 

 from the failure to distinguish between 

 expenditure which subtracts from' and 

 that which adds to the wealth of the 

 Nation. 



To be sure, the making of such dis- 

 tinctions is economic kindergarten 

 work; yet not all, unfortunately, who 

 fill space in economic discussions have 

 mastered the requirements of the eco- 

 nomic kindergarten. To meet the 

 needs of such, the subject must be pre- 

 sented in an elementary way. 



One may point out, for example, that 

 the battleship which costs millions of 

 dollars and, in a few years, rusts out 

 or goes out of date, is, during the en- 

 tire period of its existence, producing 

 not a penny's worth of wealth. The 

 best that can be said for it is that, in 

 extreme cases, it may protect the Na- 

 tion from invaders who would them- 

 selves destroy wealth and hinder pro- 

 duction. 



Over against the battleship, however, 

 let us place, for example, the great 

 Roosevelt dam across the Salt River 

 Canyon in Arizona. 



Here we have a gigantic Government- 

 built structure which will make one of 

 the largest artificial lakes in the world 

 — a body of water twenty-five miles 

 long, 1,200,000 acre- feet in capacity, 

 and capable of irrigating 200,000 acres 

 of fertile soil. 



Now, in two respects the battleship 

 and the Roosevelt dam are exactly 

 alike ; each costs a mint of money, and 

 each is paid for, in the first instance, 

 by the whole American people. 



But here the similarity stops. For 

 their expenditure on the dam the 

 American people will be repaid by those 

 who use the irrigated land; for their 

 expenditure on the battleship the peo- 

 ple will be repaid by nobody. 



So long as it floats, the ship will con- 

 tinue to cost the money of the whole 

 people ; when once turned over to the 

 water users' association, the dam will 

 cost the whole people nothing what- 

 ever. 



The function of the battleship is to 

 destroy wealth ; the function of the 

 dam is to create wealth. 



In a few brief years the ^battleship 

 will go on the scrap-heap or to the 

 bottom of the sea; the dam, however, 

 we may rest assured, will continue to 

 produce wealth for generations and 

 centuries. 



Now, the whole conservation policy, 

 rightly handled, is typified by the 

 Roosevelt dam. It will multiply wealth 

 for ages to come ; its entire cost may 

 be paid out of a fraction of its product, 

 and its sole end is to bless the race. 



And yet we are gravely warned that 

 "unless the utmost care is taken an- 

 other series of fixed charges," anala- 

 gous to those from "increased arma- 

 ments," "will be provided through con- 

 servation and waterway legislation!" 



5^ 5^ «« 

 Let the Reclamation Service Suffer No Harm 



IN A Washington paper a sensational 

 article has just appeared. It sets 

 forth, in substance, that the Senate 

 Committee on Irrigation may be ex- 

 pected to favor a reversal of the policy 

 of the Reclamation Service. 



The plan supposed to be favored re- 

 quires that the Government shall do 

 only the difficult and unremunerative 

 work and leave to individuals and cor- 

 porations the simpler and more profit- 

 able projects. 



From time to time in recent months 

 broad hints have been dropped that in- 

 fluences looking to this end were at 

 work. 



The Reclamation Service is proving 

 that irrigation pays. Whatever pays, 

 private enterprise is anxious to enter. 



It goes without saying that private 

 enterprise has a great field in connec- 

 tion with the irrigation of our western 

 arid and semi-arid lands ; the important 

 question, however, is whether Govern- 

 mental activities are to be curtniled, and 

 restricted to unprofitable operations, 

 while the plums are to be thrown to 

 private irrigation concerns. 



Inquiry seems to indicate that, what- 

 ever private individuals may desire, 

 there is little danger that the Senate 

 committee will make such a recom- 

 mendation. 



