December 15, 1911] 



SCIENCE 



821 



physical relations and the increasing value 

 of power attending the natural growth and 

 orderly development of population and in- 

 dustries, but clearly requires such exten- 

 sion in the interest of general welfare. 



26. Federal legislation touching river 

 and harbor improvements has commonly 

 been kept well within the principles laid 

 down by Marshall and Taney, has appar- 

 ently disregarded the vital principle es- 

 tablished in the Rio Grande case, and has 

 shown little progress in the development of 

 standards and ideals conformably to the 

 needs of a great and growing country 

 either for improved transportation or for 

 better use of streams ; yet a notable advance 

 has arisen in connection with the work of 

 the Mississippi River Commission which, 

 in cooperation with state officials in Miss- 

 issippi, Louisiana, and perhaps other 

 states, has extended its work from merely 

 perfunctory revetment of banks for im- 

 proving navigability in the lower Miss- 

 privileges proposed to be leased or conveyed, with 

 its exact limitations, inviting bids for the same, 

 and he may, in his discretion, then lease the same 

 for a specific term of years at so much per year, 

 to be paid semi-annually in cash into the Treasury, 

 and the Secretary of War shall reserve the right 

 to reject any or all bids." The extension in the 

 first case is covered in the amended general dam 

 act approved June 23, 1910, by the provisos 

 ' ' That . . . the Chief of Engineers and the Secre- 

 tary of War shall consider the bearing of said 

 structure upon a comprehensive plan for the im- 

 provement of the waterway over which it is to be 

 constructed with a view to the promotion of its 

 navigable quality and for the full development of 

 water-power; and . . . shall provide for improving 

 and developing navigation, and fix such charge or 

 charges for the privilege granted as may be suffi- 

 cient to restore conditions with respect to naviga- 

 bility as existing at the time such privilege be 

 granted ' ' ; and ' ' That the authority granted under 

 or in pursuance of the provisions of this Act 

 shall terminate at the end of a period not to 

 exceed fifty years from the date of the original 

 approval of the project." 



issippi to design and location of revet- 

 ments in coordination with the state work 

 for protecting adjacent lowlands, and has 

 even aided in levee construction — thereby 

 establishing (1) the principle of coopera- 

 tion between state and federal agencies, 

 and (2) a recognized duty on the part of 

 the federal government so to control regi- 

 men in navigable streams as to protect ad- 

 jacent lands. 



27. Repeated enactments by the federal 

 congress in conformity with the work and 

 reports of the administrative departments 

 seem to have established at least in in- 

 choate form a duty of the federal govern- 

 ment to take measures looking to the con- 

 trol of all the waters of the country in the 

 public interest: In the "War Department 

 the physics and hydraulics of the Miss- 

 issippi were investigated with a view to 

 control of the river; in the War Depart- 

 ment and later in the Department of Agri- 

 culture rainfall was measured with refer- 

 ence to drainage basins and stream floods, 

 while of late floods are gaged and flood 

 warnings are issued for the public benefit ; 

 in the Interior Department the hydro- 

 graphic branch of the Geological Survey is 

 gaging all the streams of the country and 

 determining their regimen (including the 

 amount of sediment in the water) with a 

 view to more complete control, the work 

 being sometimes done in cooperation with 

 states; in the same department the opera- 

 tions of the Reclamation Service in divert- 

 ing streams for irrigation, generally in 

 cooperation with individuals and states, 

 are carried forward vigorously; in several 

 bureaus of the Department of Agriculture 

 investigations and measurements of water 

 are conducted with respect to irrigation, 

 drainage, soil-plant circulation, destructive 

 erosion, etc. — indeed it may be said that 

 the function of the department in dealing 



