FOKEST LANDS FOR THE PROTECTION OF WATERSHEDS. 99 



and the consumer. If private interests were to build the plant, they would 

 jicquire vested rights which would always stand in the way of future control 

 mid lead to complications if it should become necessary to terminate the 

 arrangement. With the plant in the possession of 4;he Government and the 

 users standing simply in the relation of lessees for a limited period, without 

 great initial expense on their part, and with freedom on the part of the Gov- 

 ernment to control the arrangement without the complication of private owner- 

 ship, the whole plan would stand on a simple, practical, business basis. This 

 view prevailed with the department and is now before Congress for adoption, 

 being possibly a departure in this line. 



The principle involved in this case should be given general application. In 

 addition to avoiding complications with private ownership, there are other im- 

 portant considerations. When a power is developed or a reservoir built, it 

 should be so planned from the start as to bring out its full possibilities. A 

 private company can rarely do this. Generally its scheme does not require it, 

 nor its resources permit ; but a site once occupied by an inferior work may be 

 perpetually barred from complete development. Moreover, in any such work, 

 the Government can derive a greater benefit than any private individual or 

 association. A private company must build for the immediate future; it can 

 not wait long for dividends and it can generally realize only on such applica- 

 tion of the power as is possible in the immediate vicinity. The Government, 

 on the other hand, derives all the benefits which come from the stored water 

 anywhere on its course from the reservoir to sea. These benefits arise from 

 all the powers through which the water flows; from the improvement of navi- 

 gation and the prevention of floods and from every other use to which the 

 water can be put. Furthermore, the Government is building for all time, 

 while the individual builds only for the present and near future. The case is 

 similar to that of landlord and tenant. A tenant can not afford to make im- 

 provements on the farm because it is not his and he may remain on it only 

 a short time. The most he can do is to get out of the farm what he can in 

 its actual condition. The owner, on the other hand, can put in improvements 

 which yield him no immediate return because he holds the property long 

 enough to realize upon them. So it is with the Government; it can wait for 

 realization upon its improvements much longer than a private company. In 

 forestry, for example, no individual can afford to wait from three to ten gen- 

 erations for a crop. Only the Government or a great railroad corporation can 

 do this. Likewise, in building great reservoirs, no private company can build 

 for the distant future. It is only the landlord that can make such far-reaching 

 improvements upon his estate. 



Wherever, therefore, there arises any real demand for power development at 

 the site of any government work, as a lock and dam, the judicious course would 

 seem to be for the Government to prepare a comprehensive plan for development 

 capable of being carried out progressively as the market for power may justify. 

 Let it then build the plant as fast as needed and lease it to private agencies 

 under suitable restrictions. Likewise, when the building of a reservoir prom- 

 ises to be of obvious utflity, and the conditions are such as to make it properly a 

 subject of government adoption, let the Government build it, utilizing the water 

 in its own plants below and collecting a revenue from private plants that may 

 use it. Whenever at the time of construction there is a direct return in sight 

 of 2 or 3 per cent, it should be considered justifiable from a Government point 

 of view. The certain enhancement ia the future value of such utilities and the 

 incidental advantages in flood protection and navigation make this a conserva- 

 tive proposition. 



That difficulties will be encountered in deriving the full return from its work 

 to which the Government would be entitled can not be denied. This would be 

 the case, particularly wherever it is a question of compelling existing power 

 plants to pay for the extra water they might receive through government 

 storage. This question came up before the Mississippi Reservoir Board in 

 regard to the powers at St. Anthonys Falls which derive such benefit from the 

 reservoirs. The board remarked as follows on the subject: 



" It may be urged that if the incidental benefits of the reservoirs to the water- 

 power interests are so great, these interests should be required to contribute 

 something to the maintenance of the system. There would doubtless be a will- 

 ingness to do this if a satisfactory method could be found. But there is no 

 practicable method of enforcing any charge upon the use of this water. Where 

 water is taken in a separate channel from above a dam or lock and conducted 

 to a mill, it is a simple thing to measure it and to cut it off if it is not paid for. 



