DISCUSSION: FORESTS, RESERVOIRS, AND STREAM FLOW 349 
poses, offers fine opportunities to the enthusiastic theorist. The average Mr. Harts. 
man of intelligence is accustomed at the present time to regard pre- 
ventable waste as an almost criminal loss. The theory that the flood 
waters of our rivers, now causing so much damage, may be retained 
behind enormous dams for later profitable use at low stages is so 
plausible and attractive that it is little to be wondered at that the 
propaganda of this theory at present being persistently urged by its 
advocates should find many earnest listeners. This is especially so 
as only the merits of such a system are thus far being dilated upon. 
The public, however, is obviously entitled to the benefit of comments 
on the project as seen from the practical viewpoint. 
There are so many glittering possibilities apparently connected with 
the theory, such as the diminution of floods, the development of enor- 
mous and presumably profitable water-powers, material assistance in 
the effort to reclaim flooded areas, and increased depths for navigable 
rivers (to say nothing of incidental benefits to fisheries, irrigation, 
forestry, and other interests), that it is not strange that these possibili- 
ties should be eagerly accepted at first glance as being easily within 
reach of the people. On the other hand, any attempt to analyze and 
view in their proper proportions the enormous difficulties that must be 
overcome before even moderate success in this direction can be ex- 
pected, may be subjected to harsh criticism; but, obviously, the defects 
of the proposed system should not be concealed. 
The method of conserving the flood waters of rivers by con- 
trollable reservoirs is by no means new. It was tried on the Loire, 
in France, about two centuries ago.* In Germany and Russia, and 
also in America, this method of storing the flood waters of rivers has 
been attempted. The results, up to the present, have been such that 
its extension for flood control, in most if not all of the countries in 
which it has been tried, has been abandoned and its application con- 
demned by the highest exponents of engineering skill. Messrs. L. F. 
Vernon-Harcourt and R. Rawlinson in England, M. Malézieux in 
France, and Mr. W. Milnor Roberts, Colonel William E. Merrill, 
General H. L. Abbot, and many other distinguished engineers in 
America, have reported strongly against its adoption. The high 
reputation of these men as experienced and practical river engineers 
is well known. 
It may be claimed by the supporters of the theory that in the few 
actual applications of their principles (in each of which the natural 
conditions were especially favorable) the system has given some satis- 
faction. According to reports, it has been applied on the Volga and 
Msta Rivers, in Russia, which are provided in their upper portions 
with vast natural reservoirs in the shape of inland lakes, where the 
plan was easy to establish, requiring but few flowage rights and in- 
*“Rivers and Canals,” Vernon-Harcourt, p. 221. 
