COMMITTEES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 325 



forest growth. No data or records are presented to show that floods equally 

 large did not occur in older times. 



" To make a proper report would require a certain time, as well as an appro- 

 priation to meet the expenses incurred by the committee of the academy. 



" As regards the provisions of the bill, it appears to the committee to be abso- 

 lutely essential that the Government shall have full ownership and control of all 

 reserved lands, and that these shall be in large continuous blocks. To limit such 

 ownership to detached lots, surrounded by areas held by private parties upon 

 whose concurrence success must depend, would seem to be entering on a dangerous 

 copartnership likely to result in large expenditures and litigation. 



" C. S. SARGENT, 

 " HENRY L. ABBOT, 

 "WM. H. BREWER, 

 " Committee." 



COMMITTEE ON SCIENTIFIC EXPLORATIONS OF THE 

 PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 1902 



Near the close of the year 1902, President Roosevelt sent the 

 following letter to Professor Alexander Agassiz." 8 



"WHITE HOUSE, 



" WASHINGTON, December 26, 1902. 



" MY DEAR MR. AGASSIZ : I should like much a report from the National 

 Academy of Sciences on the desirability of instituting scientific explorations of 

 the Philippine Islands and on the scope proper to such an undertaking. The 

 National Academy is the official scientific adviser of the Government, and I 

 would like its cooperation in planning a comprehensive investigation of the 

 natural resources and natural history of the islands. It will of course rest with 

 Congress to decide the extent to which such a plan can be carried through ; but I 

 should like, at any rate, to have a plan formulated and to do what I can to have 

 it adopted. 



" Sincerely yours, 



" THEODORE ROOSEVELT. 

 " PROF. ALEXANDER AGASSIZ, 



" President of the National Academy, Cambridge, Mass" 



Professor Agassiz was absent in Europe when this letter 

 reached Cambridge, and it was placed in the hands of the Vice- 

 President, Asaph Hall, who, after consulting with members of 



178 Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for 1904, p. 22. 



