FORESTS, RESERVOIRS, AND STREAM FLOW 311 
users standing simply in the relation of lessees for a limited period, 
without great initial expense on their part, and with freedom on the 
part of the Government to control the arrangement without the 
complication of private ownership, the whole plan would stand on a 
simple, practical, business basis. This view prevailed with the De- 
partment and is now before Congress for adoption, being possibly 
a departure in this line. : 
The principle involved in this case should be given general appli- 
cation. In addition to avoiding complications with private ownership, 
there are other important considerations. When a power is developed 
or a reservoir built, it should be so planned from the start as to bring 
out its full possibilities. A private company can rarely do this. 
Generally its scheme does not require it, nor its resources permit; 
but a site once occupied by an inferior work may be perpetually 
barred from complete development. Moreover, in any such work, 
the Government can derive a greater benefit than any private indi- 
vidual or association. A private company must build for the imme- 
diate future; it cannot wait long for dividends, and it can generally 
realize only on such application of the power as is possible in the 
immediate vicinity. The Government, on the other hand, derives 
all the benefits which come from the stored water anywhere on its 
course from the reservoir to the sea. These benefits arise from all the 
powers through which the water flows; from the improvement of 
navigation and the prevention of floods, and from every other use to 
which the water can be put. Furthermore, the Government is build- 
ing for all time, while the individual builds only for the present 
and near future. The case is similar to that of landlord and tenant. 
A tenant cannot afford to make improvements on the farm because 
it is not his and he may remain on it only a short time. The most 
he can do is to get out of the farm what he can in its actual condi- 
tion. The owner, on the other hand, can put in improvements which 
yield him no immediate return, because he holds the property’ long 
enough to realize upon them. So it is with the Government; it can 
wait for realization upon its improvements much longer than a private 
company. In forestry, for example, no individual can afford to wait 
from three to ten generations for a crop. Only the Government or 
a great railroad corporation can do this. Likewise, in building great 
reservoirs, no private company can build for the distant future. It 
