1 84 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



April 



the maps filed, * * * "and as 

 may be necessary to impound the 

 water in such reservoirs." Bill E 

 contains the same provision. 



Competing Bill F forbids the In- 

 With terior Department "to 



Government ^^^^^^^ ^^y corporation, 



person, association of persons or set- 

 tlement or aggregation of people of 

 the United States from competing for 

 priority of right to use of the waters 

 of any natural stream within any of 

 the States and Territories of the arid 

 region, with the Government of the 

 United States, or with any other 

 claimant." Bill G contains the same 

 provision. 



Both these bills graciously permit 

 "that the Government of the United 

 States shall have right to compete for 

 priority of right to the use of the 

 water for reclamation purposes in the 

 arid States and Territories," with this 

 proviso : "But shall not. either di- 

 rectly or indirectly, prevent the citi- 

 zens of the United States from com- 

 peting for prior rights to the use of 

 waters in the arid region, nor retard 

 them therein." 



As against the provision of existing 

 law "that any permission given by the 

 Secretary of the Interior under the 

 provisions of this Act may be revoked 

 by him or his successor in his discre- 

 tion," the following interesting pro- 

 vision appears in some of these new 

 bills : 



"And any existing right 



^rj "Shair o^ w^y' license, permit 

 or privilege for any of 

 the purposes provided for in section 

 I of this Act shall, upon application, 

 be confirmed and approved by the Sec- 

 retary of the Interior" (Bill B). Bill 

 D, in prescribing that "any person, 

 association or corporation desirous of 

 securing the benefits of this act shall 

 file ■ * * * a map", adds "And if 

 the application be in accordance with 

 the terms of this act such map shall 

 be approved by the Secretary of the 

 Interior." The same Act also pro- 



vides, "That any existing right of 

 way, license, permit, or privilege for 

 any of the purposes provided for in * 

 * * this act shall, provided application^ 

 therefor be made by the grantee or 

 grantees, their successors or assigns,, 

 and only in that event, be approved by 

 the Secretary of the Interior". Bill 

 E contains the same provisions. Bill 

 D grants the beneficiary "the right to^ 

 take from the public lands adjacent to 

 such works, materials, earth, and stone 

 necessary for the construction and 

 maintenance thereof:" Bills E, F^ 

 and G contain the same provision; 

 while Bill B, apparently, by typo- 

 graphical error, grants only "the right 

 to take from the public lands and stone 

 necessary," and so forth. 



Petty 

 Payments 



It is true, however, that 

 the bills contain provis- 

 ions for partial pay- 

 ment for values received. Bill B, for 

 example, provides, "That the grantee 

 or grantees of any such right of way 

 under this act shall pay to the United 

 States the full value of all timber and 

 wood cut, used, or destroyed within 

 the right of way, in constructing and 

 maintaining said works, including 

 damages for injuries to the adjacent 

 lands of the United States". Bill D 

 contains a similar provision, as does 

 Bill E. 



Other modest payments are pro- 

 vided for. Bill B prescribing that 

 "lands covered by structures, dams and 

 reservoirs or the sites therefor," may 

 be purchased by the grantee or grant- 

 ees hereunder by the legal land subdi- 

 visions covering same, after the com- 

 pletion of such structures, dams and' 

 reservoirs, at the price of two dollars 

 and fifty cents per acre." The same pro- 

 vision is found in bills D and E. Bill 

 D further provides that the Secretary 

 of the Interior may levy charges as 

 follows: "for areas and sites for 

 buildings and other structures, includ- 

 ing reservoir sites, per acre of frac- 

 tion thereof, one dollar; for rights of 

 way," per mile of fraction thereof,. 

 one dollar." Bill E makes these fig- 



