110 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



March 



help in establishing a chair in lumber- 

 ing at Yale. 



"There is no business in the United 

 States in which there is greater need of 

 having it carried on with a combina- 

 tion of scientific understanding and 

 practical horse sense. And, after all, 

 that is the way in which every success- 

 ful business, including the business of 

 governing, has got to be carried on." 



Nebraska 

 Notes 



The Nebraska Park and 

 Forestry Association's 

 annual meeting, held at 

 Lincoln recently, was a very successful 

 affair. Those on the program were 

 Prof. A. E. Burnett, director of the 

 Nebraska experiment station ; Mr. C. 

 S. Harrison, president of the associa- 

 tion ; Prof. N. E. Hansen, of South 

 Dakota ; Mr. E. C. Bishop, assistant 

 superintendent of public instruction 

 for Nebraska; Mrs. H. M. Bushnell, 

 president of the Nebraska Federation 

 of Women's Clubs; Prof. Charles E. 

 Bessey, Prof. R. A. Emerson, and 

 Chas. A. Scott, Wm. H. Mast and 

 Frank G. Miller, of the Forest Service. 

 The establishment of a state park and 

 a state forest nursery were among the 

 more important questions discussed. 



Mr. Charles A. Scott delivered a 

 special course of twelve lectures to the 

 students of forestry in the University 

 of Nebraska in January. The course 

 included a discussion of the methods 

 of gathering forest tree seeds, nursery 

 practice, field planting, and forest pol- 

 icy. The closing address, by special 

 request of the city teachers, was an il- 

 lustrated lecture on "Forest Indus- 

 tries." Mr. Scott has been engaged 

 for a similar course next vear. 



Fixing Control A notable bill, designed 

 of Reclama- 

 tion Work 



to prevent any possible 

 abuse of administrative 

 power, has been introduced in the 

 House of Representatives by Mr. 

 Cooper of Pennsylvania in connection 

 with the operations of the Reclamation 

 Act. There is probably no law on the 

 statute books which puts in the hands 

 of a single official of the government 

 such unlimited powers of expenditure 



as the act devoting the proceeds from 

 the sale of public lands to the construc- 

 tion of reclamation works. Prominent 

 statesmen, both inside and out of Con- 

 gress, and leading newspapers have 

 called attention to the great possibili- 

 ties for maladministration, while at the 

 same time they have joined in com- 

 mendation of the wisdom and conserv- 

 ative policy of the present Secretary of 

 the Interior. In view of the fact that 

 no one man can be expected to remain 

 indefinitely in charge of these great re- 

 sponsibilities, it seemed wise at the 

 present time while everything is pro- 

 gressing well to make a provision of 

 law such that Congress shall give at- 

 tention annually to the expenditure of 

 the reclamation fund. This fund at 

 present amounts to $30,000,000. 



With this thought in view, Mr. 

 Cooper, after an inspection of the work 

 in the field, has introduced his bill (H. 

 R. 16312), providing for the more 

 complete placing of responsibilities in 

 administration of the reclamation fund. 

 This bill confirms the present practice 

 which has proved successfuh^that is. 

 that of making the director of the Geo- 

 logical Survey the director of the Re- 

 clamation Service, and provides that 

 he shall remain as such until some 

 other person is designated by the Pres- 

 ident to fill the office of director of the 

 Reclamation Service. The bill also 

 provides that the director shall submit 

 annual estimates of expenditures to be 

 made, so that Congress may have full 

 information on this point. It in effect 

 places the responsibilities of distrib- 

 uting the fund where it belongs that 

 is, with Congress and to that extent 

 relieves the executive officers from the 

 endless worry and annoyance incident 

 to the wise apportionment of the fund. 



It is believed that Mr. Cooper's bill 

 will have the support of the leaders in 

 Congress, as well as that of the higher 

 executive officers who are conversant 

 with the established system. It is not 

 intended as a reflection upon the exist- 

 ing order of things, but, on the con- 

 trary, serves to crystallize the methods 

 which have been found to be desirable 

 and to put on the statute books a more 



