Notes and Correspondence. 69 



now existing. That this may be done without in any way pre- 

 venting legitimate use of all the other natural resources is 

 certain. 



The governors of sovereign States here assembled, the many 

 organizations here represented, possess the power and have the 

 opportunity to so change and guide legislation and public opinion 

 as to foster the underlying desire for public beauty, both natural 

 and urban. We have for a century stood actually, if not osten- 

 sibly, for an uglier America; let us here and now resolve, for 

 every patriotic and economic reason, to stand openly and solidly 

 for a more beautiful, and, therefore, a more prosperous America ! 



A High Price to Pay for Water. 



Apropos of the Grant of the Hetch-Hetchy Valley to San 

 Franciscx) for a Reservoir. 



[Reprinted by consent of R. U. Johnson, Esq., Associate Editor of the 

 Century Magasine.] 



Too little was said at the White House Conference of the 

 conservation of one of our chief resources, our great natural 

 scenery, though Mr. Horace McFarland made an impassioned 

 appeal for its protection as a national asset. This is in no 

 sense a local question. The Palisades and Highlands of the 

 Hudson, the White Mountains, the Adirondacks, Niagara, the 

 Yellowstone Park, the Arizona Cafion (to name but the chief 

 of such treasures), belong to the whole country, and their 

 invasion by special interests or their diversion to commercial 

 uses should be a matter of the most vigilant scrutiny. 



The Secretary of the Interior, for reasons which doubtless 

 appear to him good and sufficient, and with the approval of the 

 President, has made over to the city of San Francisco, on cer- 

 tain conditions, as a reservoir for its water supply the wonderful 

 Hetch-Hetchy Valley, one of the most beautiful gorges of the 

 Sierra, which, as part of the Yosemite Natioftal Park, was set 

 aside in 1890 by reason of its scenery for the recreation and 

 use of all the people. This action has, on the face of it, the 

 authority of a congressional provision (of February 15, 1901) 

 by which the Secretary of the Interior may grant water privi- 

 leges in the three National Parks of California, "if not incom- 

 patible with the public interest." Whether the United States 

 Supreme Court would hold that such authority extends to the 

 destruction of so large an extent of the original purpose of the 

 reserve may yet be the subject of adjudication. 



In a matter relating to public lands the presumption is in favor 

 of any course taken by President Roosevelt, Secretary Garfield, 

 and Forester Pinchot. As our readers know, we have vigor- 



