SEPTEMBER 227 



not in question. Its merits have been 

 proved. All that we need now to do is 

 to realise that it is easily and cheaply 

 applied. The dams cost very little ; the 

 wages of managing them are trifling ; and 

 the loss of the strip of land which is 

 submerged in the raising of the level 

 of any lake is quickly balanced by 

 the increased prosperity of the fisheries 

 for many miles below. Even a river 

 which is without a lake at or near its 

 source can as a rule have the system 

 of redress applied. Somewhere near its 

 source there is sure to be an area of low- 

 lying waste land in which a lake could be 

 easily set. In this matter, happily, the 

 needs of domestic civilisation, the interests 

 of sport, and the conditions which pre- 

 serve or restore the amenities of nature 

 are all in harmony. If we would have 

 our rivers in a state of natural purity, 

 we must have them in natural flow. 

 From whatever point of view the 

 problem is regarded, that is the cardinal 

 consideration. 



