148 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



April 



suiting engineer for a number of cities 

 on sewerage and water supply systems. 

 In 1897 he contributed several water 

 supply papers to the U. S. Geological 

 Survey's publications, and in 1899 and 

 1900 was one of the experts reporting 

 to the United States Department of 

 Agriculture upon irrigation and use 

 of water from rivers in California. 



Railroad Rates 

 for Reclamation 

 Service. 



In carrying on the 

 work of the Reclama- 

 tion Service, it was 

 found that the various railroad compa- 

 nies recognized the value to them of 

 the railroad traffic to be built up as a re- 

 sult of the development of the country 

 by the Government irrigation systems. 

 The companies were willing to assist 

 in every way possible, and accordingly, 

 contracts were made between various 

 western companies and the Secretary 

 of the Interior to provide for conces- 

 sion of rates for freight carried in con- 

 nection with the construction perform- 

 ed by the Reclamation Service. 



These concessions of rates were 

 made in pursuance of section 22 of 

 the Interstate Commerce Act, which 

 permits railroad companies to carry 

 free or at reduced rates any material 

 for the United States. 



These contracts provide that con- 

 tractors' plant to be used in connection 

 with these projects is to be carried at 

 certain reduced rates, and the question 

 has arisen whether such arrangements 

 are lawful. 



This question was carefully consid- 

 ered by the Department, when these 

 contracts were before the Secretary of 

 the Interior for execution, and it was 

 held that the method adopted by the 

 Reclamation Service to obtain the 

 benefit of these rates brought these 

 concessions within the law, because all 

 bidders on the construction work were 

 notified of the reduced rates and each 

 of them necessarily figured upon re- 

 duced rates to be given by the railroad 

 companies in preparing their bids for 

 the work. 



In this manner, the bids were all 

 made on the basis of the low freight 



rate and were necessarily less by an 

 amount equivalent to the concessions 

 of rates made by the railroad compa- 

 nies. 



The question has been much dis- 

 cussed in the press recently, and the 

 Interior Department has submitted the 

 entire matter of the legality of these 

 contracts to the Attorney-General. 



The amounts involved are very 

 large, as the plant and material used 

 in the construction of these projects 

 are very bulky and the freight amounts 

 to a large sum. It is estimated that on 

 the Truckee-Carson project, in Ne- 

 vada, the freights paid already amount 

 to over $100,000, and this is about 

 one-tenth of the amount expended by 

 the Government upon the construction. 

 The concessions in rates given by 

 the railroad companies vary according 

 to the nature of the material. In some 

 cases the reduction is as much as 50 

 per cent. Considering that there are 

 now under construction, or soon to be 

 undertaken, twelve different irrigation 

 systems, it is evident that the saving 

 on these freights will in a few years 

 be sufficient to enable the Reclamation 

 Service to construct an additional mil- 

 lion-dollar project solely from the sav- 

 ings on this account. 



"it is to be hoped, therefore, that the 

 views of the Interior Department to 

 the effect that the entire benefit of 

 these concessions is obtained by the 

 United States, will be found correct 

 by the Attorney-General, as it will 

 mean a very considerable increase in 

 the amount of construction which can 

 be undertaken by the Government un- 

 der the Reclamation Act. 



State foresters are 

 \vanted both in In- 

 diana and California. 

 In the first-named State his duties will 

 be to take charge of the State forest 

 reserve and to further the cause _ of 

 forestry in the State by cooperation 

 with private owners, by studies, and 

 by lectures. The salary is fixed at 

 $1,500 in the beginning. In Califor- 

 nia, a forester is wanted to execute, 

 under the supervision of the State 



State Foresters 

 Wanted 





