174 IRRIGATION. 



works, and to the interference of the National and State 

 governments, and their control over the distribution of 

 the water. In favor of government control there is both 

 reason and precedent. By no other authority could the 

 conflicting interests of miners, agriculturists, and owners 

 of land to be injured or benefited by the enterprise, bo 

 properly reconciled. In Europe, the supreme control is 

 exercised by, and the ownership of the water vested in, 

 the State. The French government in 1669, by special 

 law, reserved the ownership of all rivers and streams, 

 and grants concessions to irrigating companies under re- 

 strictions. In Italy, the State has always exercised this 

 ownership, and in Venice the springs, and even the rain- 

 fall, so far as it can be stored in reservoirs, have been held 

 to be public property. In India, the springs and rainfall 

 are accumulated in reservoirs, controlled by the govern- 

 ment, and the river systems are also owned by it ; not 

 only this, but the details of the distribution of the water 

 are also directed by government officials. This is made 

 necessary, however, by the utter incapacity of the ignor- 

 ant inhabitants to manage anything for themselves, that 

 calls for more than a very low degree of intelligence. Lest, 

 however, it might be urged that government ownership and 

 supervision, is likely to lead to failure, the actual results 

 attained in India may be very properly here cited. Dur- 

 ing recent years, the British Government / has spent about 

 $70,000,000 in irrigating works, and others are in pro- 

 gress of construction which will require half as much 

 more to complete them. In almost every instance the 

 investments have been profitable, and in some cases 

 enormously so, both in the way of water rent, and in ser- 

 vice to the cultivators of the soil. The total annual 

 revenue to the government from the works, is more than 

 $5,000,000, or 7 s | 4 per cent on the cost. In one case only 

 has there been a loss. The capital expended in the 

 largest works, and the annual revenue from them, is given 



