ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS. 51 
fesses to think, that the continued existence of a dam in his 
neighbourhood is detrimenta] to his interests, he does not appeal 
to the law, but adopts “the good old rule, the simple plan” of 
collecting a mob of men and proceeding to cut the dam. If the 
owner of the dam has timely warning he also, knowing the futility 
of appealing to the law, collects a mob of men if possible more 
numerous than the attacking party. This is the old style, which 
has not yet disappeared, but as it is now generally known that 
the spirit of the law is opposed to any work for conserving or 
utilising the waters which run to waste in our rivers, the risk 
involved in the construction of any work for conserving these 
waters is generally sufficient to prevent the undertaking of any 
such work. Such a state of affairs is, to say the least, most 
unsatisfactory. 
In the absence of legislation, the construction of large irriga- 
tion works which would utilize an important portion of the waters 
of our rivers cannot be proceeded with. The attention of the 
Water Conservation Department has hitherto been chiefly con- 
fined to carrying out systems of surveys and levelling, together 
with gauging the discharge of the rivers. This preliminary work, 
which may now be considered as almost complete, is shown in an 
elaborate series of contour plans, which include all the great 
alluvial plains west of the Dividing Range. The information 
thus collected must form the groundwork of all the great projects 
which can be carried out for utilizing the waters of our western 
rivers. 
The nature and scope of the schemes which are specially re- 
commended in the cases of the Murray, Murrumbidgee, Darling, 
and Macquarie Rivers have already been made public; but owing 
chiefly to the exceptionally favourable character of recent seasons, 
these schemes have attracted much less attention than their 
importance demanded. It is in some respects unfortunate that 
a very large proportion of the land which can be irrigated most 
easily and economically and with the best results has been 
alienated. This remark applies particularly to the land which 
