Hon. Frank D. Currier, Representative from the Second New Hampshire District 



sion. In making this citation, he showed 

 that these authorities had been mis- 

 used by Mr. Moore, who cited them in 

 his report. He also compared Mr. 

 Moore's citation of Lauda with the ac- 

 tual statement of the latter in his pa- 

 per at the Milan conference on inland 

 navigation. He introduced in evidence 

 the opinion of the eminent French sci- 

 entist. Professor Velain, of the Sor- 

 ]i nine, to the effect that the Seine flood 

 was in part due to the denudation of 

 the watersheds of the Seine and its 

 tributaries. In regard to Mr. Moore's 

 >eventh conclusion, that the run-off of 

 r.iviTs i> not materially affected by any 

 other factor than precipitation, Pro- 

 136 



fessor Swain said that this is evidently 

 ridiculous, since every one knows that 

 the slope of ground, character of soil 

 and of rock, and the elevation affect 

 the flow from the surface. With ref- 

 erence to Mr. Moore's conclusion that 

 floods or droughts are not affected by 

 the forests, he called attention to the 

 fact that, inasmuch as forest cover re- 

 tards the flow of water from the surface 

 of the ground in summer time and also 

 retards the melting of snows in the win- 

 ter time, it must be clear that in gen- 

 eral the forests regulate, and maintain 

 the even flow of streams, although they 

 may not affect the greatest floods and 

 droughts, which occur only at consid- 



