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AMERICAN FORESTRY 



vSwain quotes from the testimony given 

 in the recent 63rd Congress the follow- 

 ing table showing approximately the 

 ' ' Percentage of the Area of far Western 

 States owned by the Federal Govern- 

 ment:" 



Total Acreage 

 State. owned by Percentage of 



United States. Total. 



.Arizona 67,097,293 92.00 



California 53,276,547 52.58 



Colorado 37,702,033 56.67 



Idaho 45,218,919 83.80 



Montana 61,049,263 65.80 



Nevada 62,219,423 87.82 



New Mexico.. 49,315,409 62.83 



Oregon 32,229,745 51.90 



Utah 43,564,645 80.18 



Washington... 17,684,198 40.00 



Wyoming 42,613,499 68.00 



This large retention by the Govern- 

 ment of lands originally embraced in 

 the public domain and contained in the 

 boundaries of the several states when 

 given statehood rights involves com- 

 ]jlicated questions of control and owner- 

 ship by the Government in such lands, 

 and of exemption from State taxation, 

 wholly different from any presented 

 in the Eastern and Middle States. 

 Dr. Swain shows that "one of the 

 most serious obstacles to the devel- 

 opment of water powers on the pub- 

 lic lands is that the Government 

 permit which must be obtained is now, 

 by law, revocable at any time at the 

 will of the Department by which it 

 is granted, and is also subject to such 

 conditions as that Department may 

 impose not only when the permit is 

 granted, but subsequent thereto." 



This evil was sought to be corrected 

 by legislation considered, but not passed 

 in the last Congress, and which will 

 doubtless be revived in the next Con- 

 gress, when Dr. Swain's masterly tech- 

 nical discussion of the whole question 

 from a purely impartial technical en- 

 gineering standpoint will be of great 

 practical value in reaching a sane 

 business conclusion. In concluding his 

 discussion of this matter Dr. Swain says, 

 "The onerous restrictions which have 

 been criticised in this chapter will not, 

 of course, entirely prevent water-power 

 development, although, in the opinion 

 of the writer and of many other en- 

 gineers, they are quite sufficient to do 



so if they were thoroughly understood 

 by investors. Undoubtedly, however, 

 they do hinder development, increase 

 the cost of financing and render neces- 

 sary a higher rate of interest than would 

 otherwise be requisite. They therefore 

 discourage true conservation in the 

 sense of use." 



Chapter VI discusses "Technical As- 

 pects of Conservation by Storage" 

 beginning with the five related problems 

 of (1) the use of water as a source of 

 power; (2) the use of water as a source 

 of water supply for communities; (3) 

 the use of water for irrigation; (4) the 

 promotion of river navigation; and (5) 

 the prevention of damage due to floods, 

 and this chapter gives a masterly 

 exposition of the steps to be taken to 

 make the flow of a stream more regular 

 by preventing the run off from being 

 discharged immediately or rapidly into 

 the streams and by promoting a gradual 

 discharge 



1. By the construction of surface 

 reservoirs. 



2. By so treating the surface of the 

 ground that rapid discharge will be 

 prevented, by preserving and increasing 

 the forested areas, especially on steep 

 slopes, or by breaking up the ground on 

 flat areas, for cultivation. 



The construction of storage reservoirs 

 is thoroughly gone into, with many 

 examples and illustrations of existing 

 dams both completed and while in 

 course of construction. In siunmarizing 

 the relative advantages and disadvan- 

 tages of steam and water power plants 

 the author again emphasizes from the 

 wealth of his experience, the need of 

 fair liberal treatment, if water power 

 plants are to be made financially 

 successful saying, "Once safely financed 

 and in operation, with a good market 

 and fair treatment, water power de- 

 velopments are very attractive on 

 account of the greater convenience, 

 the small operating expense, the small 

 amount of labor employed, the con- 

 sequent absence of labor troubles, 

 independence of fuel supply, smaller 

 depreciation, and the comparatively 

 small amount of working capital needed. 

 These advantages, however, may be 

 more than off-set if the permit is not 



