REORGANIZATION OF FEDERAL AGENCIES 167 



result, no change in the location of the conservation bureaus 

 was proposed. 



A strong plea was made by the Secretary of Agriculture 

 at the hearing before the joint committee for the inclusion 

 of all the conservation bureaus and most of the public do- 

 main bureaus in a land-utilization group in the Department 

 of Agriculture. Mr. Wallace, in speaking of the General 

 Land Office and the Bureau of Reclamation, said in part : 49 



The administration of the public domain, in so far as it is 

 agricultural, is an agricultural activity requiring technically 

 trained men, just such as are required in the Department of 

 Agriculture. Now, what I say with reference to that, I am also 

 going to say with reference to the Reclamation Service. If you 

 are going to reorganize the departments with reference to their 

 proper functioning the Reclamation Service is a Department of 

 Agriculture function. We have great land areas that re- 

 quire technical study to determine what is the best use 

 that can be made of them. All those problems are agricultural 

 problems. We have great areas that can be made available for 

 the plow if water can be gotten on them. We have other great 

 areas that will be available for farming if the water can be 

 gotten off them. 



When considering a proposed reclamation project the first 

 question to ask is, What will the land produce? That is an 

 agricultural problem. 



The second question to ask is whether a market can be found 

 for what is produced. That is also an agricultural problem. 



Continuing, he discussed the inclusion of the Bureau of 

 Fisheries in this same conservation group in the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture : 50 



49 Hearings, Joint Committee on Reorganization, op. cit., p. 278. Note 

 that this view was later adopted by President Hoover in his reorgani- 

 zation scheme, see p. 170. 



50 Ibid., p. 279. See also interesting report on proposed transfer of 

 Fish Commission to Department of Agriculture, Senate Report, $2nd 



Cong., ist Sess., 1891-92. Serial No. 2914. 



