42 CLASSIFICATION OF THE PUBLIC LANDS. 



Marcli and the early part of April, 1909. On April 23, 1909, Secre- 

 tary Ballinger directed the Geological Survey to make an investiga- 

 tion of water-power sites on the public domain and to recommend as 

 early as possible any withdrawals necessary to protect them pending 

 the enactment of legislation to be recommended by the President. 

 The first withdrawal under this order was recommended by the 

 Survey on May 3, 1909, and approved by Secretary Ballinger on the 

 following day. Since then many such power-site withdrawals have 

 been made, so that at the present time it is believed that the greater 

 number of the valuable power sites on the public domain are with- 

 drawn from entry pending legislation by Congress for their ap- 

 propriate disposal. The available information does not indicate that 

 tliere is now in existence am' all-inclusive, nation-wide water-power 

 trust such as has been feared by students of the situation. Certain 

 powerful and far-sighted interests have, however, made very deter- 

 mined attempts to acquire control of valuable sites in advance of 

 the possibility of developing a market for the power that nxight be 

 produced. The passing of these strategic points from public owner- 

 ship would seriously impair the control by public authority of water- 

 power operations, which are inherently monopolistic. As soon as 

 the Survey obtains knowledge of such sites their withdrawal is rec- 

 ommended. Field examinations have shown that certain areas with- 

 drawn were not so valuable as had at first been supposed and these 

 have been promptly restored. 



KESERVOm SITDS. 



Reference has already been made to the act of 1888 (25 Stat., 527) 

 and to the fact that certain tracts specially valuable for the con- 

 struction of reservoirs were segregated under that act and still re- 

 main withdrawn pending their restoration by Congress. In its study 

 of the water resources of the public domain the Survey found that 

 attempts were being made to obtain possession of advantageous reser- 

 voir sites, not for the purpose of development but for some infer-ior 

 use or for speculation. Pending legislation by Congress which would 

 make such acquisition impossible a number of reservoir-site with- 

 drawals have been made, the first one having been recommended by 

 the Survey on January 13, 1911, and approved by President Taft on 

 January 17, 1911. 



PTJBLIO W^ATBE HESBRVES. 



In the great semiarid grazing areas of the West watering places 

 are few and the range is, in places, monopolized by control of the 

 water holes. It has been common practice for a stock owner to file 

 some form of land scrip or State selection upon all the springs in a 

 district and thereby to exclude all other stock owners from the dis- 



