Conservation Commission. 19 



government to provide, on equal terms to all, opportunities for the 

 development and utilization of the resources of the country. 

 " Scientific management " is now the fashion in manufacturing 

 establishments. Why not apply some of its principles to the large 

 affairs of the State and Nation ? Scientific management involves 

 study and analysis of costs and conditions followed by the elimina- 

 tion of waste of materials and labor. Scientific study and analysis 

 have shown that the State of New York has undeveloped water 

 powers amounting to over 1,500,000 H. P. that are now wasting 

 their energy. The Hydro-Electric distribution system of the 

 Province of Ontario demonstrates the feasibility of statewide dis- 

 tribution of power, through the agency of government and the 

 gratifying results achieved thereby. 



Canal Powees. 



Under the Conservation Law, section 400, the Commission is 

 charged with the appraisal and lease of surplus canal waters when- 

 ever the Superintendent of Public Works shall certify to the Com- 

 mission that such surplus waters are available. Section 21 of the 

 Conservation Law also requires, among other things, that the Com- 

 mission shall investigate the use of the waters of the State for 

 power. Obeying these mandates, the production of power from 

 canal waters is being investigated by the Commission. 



The Barge Canal Act expressly limited the design so that the 

 canal was solely and primarily an instrument of transportation. 

 It was foreseen that opportunities for power development would 

 present themselves, but under the terms of the act these could not 

 be made available. The surplus waters of the canal can be made 

 valuable water-powers. On the customary basis of capitalization 

 their value will be almost one-tenth of the cost of the canal itself. 

 Important and intrinsically valuable as they are it must be kept 

 in mind that their development and operation is a secondary 

 matter, entirely subordinate to the use of the canal as a medium 

 of commerce. The experiences of the past have justified the re- 

 quirement that the generation of power must not handicap nor 

 hamper the handling of the traffic, which the canal was created to 

 carry. 



The Commission has endeavored to estimate, as accuratelv as 



