£#e Conservation of £kuntx% 



not necessarily an agricultural, industrial, or 

 commercial use, and that, as a part of the scen- 

 ery, it was being beneficially used for the general 

 welfare. The question was whether the waters 

 of a stream, which in the way of a lakelet and 

 a waterfall were among the attractions of a sum- 

 mer resort, could be diverted to the detriment 

 of the falls and used for power. The judge said 

 "No," because the waters as used, were con- 

 tributing toward the promotion of the public 

 health, rest, and recreation; and that as an 

 object of beauty — "just to be looked at" — 

 they were not running to waste but were in 

 beneficial use. He held that objects of beauty 

 have an important place in our lives and that 

 these objects should not be destroyed because 

 they are without assessable value. The judge, 

 Robert E. Lewis, said in part: — 



11 It is a beneficial use to the weary that they, 

 ailing and feeble, can have the wild beauties of 

 Nature placed at their convenient disposal. Is 

 a piece of canvas valuable only for a tentfly, but 

 worthless as a painting? Is a block of stone 

 beneficially used when put into the walls of a 



325 



