December 15, 1911] 



SCIENCE 



817 



Under irrigation, where alone agricultural 

 water is measured, a five-acre farm sup- 

 plied with 60 inches of water per year will 

 sustain a family of five, including surplus 

 produce for exchange; this is at the rate 

 of five acre-feet (about 6,800 tons) per in- 

 habitant — at which rate mainland United 

 States might sustain permanently, with its 

 5,000,000,000 acre-feet of rainfall, a popu- 

 lation of 1,000,000,000; the 2,000,000,000 

 acres of land would indeed support over 

 2,000,000,000 people if occupied to the den- 

 sity of Belgium (649 per square mile) — 

 but neither land nor any other resource ex- 

 cept water affords any measure whatever 

 of the capacity of the country for produc- 

 tion, population, power, or perpetuity." 



15. As, the primary resource, water alone 

 gives value not only to land (as is clearly 

 realized in arid regions) but to all other 

 resources. It is the ultimate basis of 

 values, and can not equitably be regarded 

 as an appurtenance to land or to any other 

 subordinate resource, though in equity 

 land and other resources may be — and in 

 arid countries are commonly — considered 

 practically appurtenant to the natural 

 water. 



16. As the prime necessary of life — the 

 ultimate basis of existence for each of the 

 individuals united in the nation — ^the 

 water of the country is, under that leading 

 principle of our national existence that all 

 men are equally entitled to life, liberty and 

 the pursuit of happiness, the common and 

 indivisible possession of all — ^^a possession 

 in equity inalienable and indefeasible, 

 since no constituent of the nation could 

 alienate or divest himself of his share with- 

 out surrendering his right to life and so 

 weakening the nation. 



17. As the common property and equit- 

 able possession of all, water in any form, 



' ' ' Prospective Population of the United 

 States," Science, Vol. 34, 1911, pp. 428-435. 



together with the appurtenant lands or 

 other resources, may be administered in 

 the public interest by municipalities, 

 states and the national government ; but no 

 public agency may in equity alienate, or 

 divest the people of any part of the com- 

 mon interest in the water, nor may it 

 equitably transfer any right to use of the 

 water without just consideration in the 

 public behalf. As the prime necessary of 

 life and the primary resource, and as the 

 common possession of all, water is in itself 

 a special property, and its equitable ad- 

 ministration is rightly the most sacred 

 trust confided by the people in their 

 chosen representatives and officers. 



18. While the uses of water are diverse, 

 they are not equally essential to life and to 

 that general development of the country 

 on which its power and perpetuity must 

 rest. Since life can exist without it for 

 but a few days, the primary use of water 

 is for drink and other domestic supply, in 

 which it is consumed ; since continuous life 

 can be sustained and the generations main- 

 tained only through food and clothing pro- 

 duced by its consumption, the secondary 

 use is for agriculture, including irrigation ; 

 since the measure of industrial proficiency 

 is the conquest and use of power, the next 

 use of water in order of importance is for 

 mechanical power, in which its substance 

 (or corpus) is not consumed though its 

 movement is utilized; and since the activi- 

 ities of commerce are necessarily subordi- 

 nate to the primary industries, the least es- 

 sential use of water is for navigation, in 

 which it is not consumed and only its inert 

 corpus is utilized. Yet the several uses 

 may and should be combined, as when 

 water for domestic supply or irrigation is 

 used for power — and the development of 

 power generally promotes navigation. 



19. Since individuals are merged in 

 various business and civic organizations 



