of the world, and to utilize the resources of the institution under his charge, which may be available for that purpose, to aid in the education of the public in the elements of knowledge which lead to the successful regulation of water and of the flow of rivers and the use of water in connection with agriculture and the intensive cultivation of land and in connection with other industries." It is my belief that a museum of coservation such as is contemplated in this bill can be satisfactorily established and maintained in connection with the National Museum system if adequate means are supplied for the purpose. Such a museum, which would consist largely of models, charts, maps, diagrams, and photographs, would ultimately require a considerable amount of space for its installation. In the beginning provision might be made for its accommodation in the buildings now under the control of the institution, but additional room would be called for in the near future if its rate of growth were commensurate with the scope and importance of the subject.

The preparation of the models and other exhibits, which must be accurate in detail, would require time and necessitate the employment of skilled modelers and other workmen. In the beginning it would be necessary to secure measurements, charts, photographs, etc., of typical areas in various parts of the world showing the methods and effects of conservation and reclamation and of others showing the results of neglect of such activities; also of the forms of engineering works best adapted to the purposes of conservation and of other objects and scenes illustrating the subject under consideration. In this manner an adequate basis could be obtained for accurate educational models suitable for the museum.

As regards the acquisition and dissemination of knowledge relative to the conservation of natural resources and allied topics, the Smithsonian Institution could doubtless accomplish much of what is desired through an extension of its exchange service and its system of correspondence. It would, however, in my judgment, be necessary in this connection also to send experts and agents to obtain information at first hand. It is taken for granted that much new informamtion would be desired regarding conservation operations, etc., which could only be obtained by studies made in the places in which these operations are carried on. It would be important also in connection with the subject of forestry, mentioned in this bill. to have studies made of forests which are still in an undisturbed natural condition, especially the forests of Central and South America, which are extensive and diversified and have been but little affected by human activities. The natural relations existing between forests, water supply, and soils could be studied there to better advantage perhaps than in any other part of the world.

I would call your attention to a certain inconsistency in the bill as regards the dissemination of information procured under the direction of the board. In section 11 it is made the duty of the Smithsonian Institution to disseminate this knowledge, and in section 6 the board is directed to "print, publish, and disseminate" the information, data, and facts collected and obtained by the various bureaus or offices of the Government.”

Having had a somewhat varied experience in connection with the administration of the Geological Survey, which included hydrographic work and the Recla mation Service, the early development of the Forest Service and policy, and the past five years as Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, I am submitting as appendices some general statements combining my own and experts' views on the following different points:

1. Conservation of water resources.

2. Conservation of water resources in respect to irrigation.

3. Conservation of forest resources.

Very respectfully, yours,

CHARLES D. WALCOTT, Secretary.

Mr. NEWLANDS. I will read a sentence or two from each of them to indicate how thoroughly they approve the principle of this bill. Secretary Fisher says:

This bill is based upon two principles which have not been hitherto generally recognized in the construction of public works for river improvement. These principles are: First, that a river from its source to its mouth, with all of its tributaries, is a unit in all its most important physical and functional characteristics. It should, therefore, be dealt with as a whole and not piecemeal, and

in dealing with it for any single use, such as navigation, we should not lose sight of the other uses to which it can be put, such as water supply, irrigation, power, drainage, etc.

He then declares the second principle to be that this work of waterway improvements, in its details, should be guided and determined as an administrative and not a legislative matter, and therefore that a large fund should be provided, etc.

The Secretary of War, Mr. Stimson, by mistake addressed his letter to me personally instead of to the charman of the Committee on Commerce; but it is a report upon the pending bill. It is a report prepared with great care, and contains a most valuable vindication of the policy to which I have referred. He emphatically approves the system proposed, of coordination of bureaus and services, cooperation with States, an ample fund, continuous work, and the contemporaneous development of every use to which a river can be put by the exercise of the joint powers and functions of the Nation and the States.

The letter from the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, Mr. Walcott, formerly the Director of the Geological Survey, also indorses every essential principle of this bill, as a result of the long experience of that gentleman in the scientific work of the Geological Survey, which first undertook a general study of the waters of the United States, and under whose jurisdiction the Reclamation Service was developed most efficiently.

Mr. President, I have here also numerous resolutions and comments of a public character upon this bill, which I should like to have inserted in the Record without reading. They include the indorsement of this bill by the Legislatures of California, Louisiana, and South Dakota, the indorsements of numerous waterway associations, chambers of commerce, and boards of trade.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, that order will be made.

(The matter referred to is as follows:)

Joint resolution concurred in by senate and house, Louisiana Legislature, June 6, 1912, at the request of the Louisiana Reclamation Club.

Whereas the great flood of 1912 has demonstrated that the National Government only can obviate a recurrence of such overflow disasters in the future by a national policy under which an adequate levee system will be built and maintained as national fortification against invasion and destruction by the forces of nature; and

Whereas the steadily increasing volume of the floods in the lower Mississippi Valley has been largely caused by the changed condition of the watershed in the States comprising the drainage basin of the Ohio, upper Mississippi, and Missouri Rivers; and

Whereas these causes and conditions are beyond the control of the States bordering the Mississippi from Cairo to the Gulf, and can only be controlled by the National Government: Now therefore be it

Resolved by the house of representatives of the State of Louisiana (the Senate concurring therein), That the National Government should immediately extend such temporary relief as may be necessary to repair the broken levees and to maintain them in future, and to control the river in its channel by revetments and bank protective works which will safeguard against the destruction of levees by caving banks and shifting channels.

Resolved further, That in working out plans for flood prevention and the protection of the lowlands of the Mississippi Valley from overflow, the Mississippi River and all its tributaries and source streams should be treated as a unit, and a comprehensive and adequate levee system, to be permanently maintained by the National Government, should be supplemented by a system of res

ervoirs on the headwaters of the Ohio and its tributaries, and also on the upper Mississippi, and by a system of flood-water canals and storage reservoirs in the Missouri River Valley by means of which the flood plane at Cairo would at all times be so reduced that no combination of high water in the three upper rivers would ever create a great flood in the lower Mississippi Valley, and at the same time prevent overflow and damage by floods in the valleys of the Ohio, the upper Mississippi, and Missouri Rivers.

Resolved further, That the Nation can not longer afford to permit its resources of soil, of power, of water, and of navigation to be carried as a wasteful and destructive flood to the sea, and that since the States themselves can not, in the general interest, prevent this waste, the Federal Government should conserve such floods at their sources and subject the now wasted waters to beneficial use.

Resolution of the Assembly of the State of California.

The following resolution was offered by Mr. Guiberson: "Whereas a bill has been introduced in the Senate of the United States by Hon. Francis G. Newlands, of Nevada, which, according to its title, proposes to create a board of river regulation and to provide a fund for the regulation and control of the flow of navigable rivers in aid of interstate commerce, and as a means to that end to provide for flood prevention and protection, and for the beneficial use of flood waters and for water storage, and for the protection of watersheds from denudation and erosion, and from forest fires, and for the cooperation of Government services and bureaus with each other and with States, municipalities, and other local agencies'; and "Whereas it has been proposed by the leading supporters of said bill that it be amended so as to provide for an appropriation of $5,000,000 annually for 10 years for the control of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers and their tributaries, and for a like appropriation for the control of the Colorado River; and

"Whereas this legislature is in hearty accord with the principles embodied in said bill, and believes that the money proposed to be expended under it and the cooperation provided for in it will promote the general welfare; and "Whereas the vastness and variety of the interests that will be benefited by the expenditures contemplated in the proposed amendments fully justify such participation by the National Government in the work of making the navigable streams of California as useful as possible to the public: Therefore be it

"Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, That the Congress of the United States be, and both branches of said body hereby are, requested to pass said bill, with the amendments aforesaid, and that the Representatives of California in the Senate and the House of Representatives be requested to use their best efforts to that end; and be it further

"Resolved, That the chief clerk of the assembly be, and he hereby is, directed to send a copy of this resolution to each Senator and Representative in Congress from this State, to Hon. Francis G. Newlands, to the Vice President of the United States, and to the Speaker of the House of Representatives." Adopted this 4th day of February, 1913.

L. B. MALLORY, Chief Clerk.

Joint resolution of the Legislature of South Dakota.

A joint resolution and memorial requesting the Congress of the United States to pass the Newlands bill, relating to river regulation.

Be it enacted by the Senate of the State of South Dakota (the House of Representatives concurring):

SECTION 1. That the Congress of the United States is hereby memorialized to enact during the present session the Newlands bill, providing for the creation of a board of river regulation and for the control and beneficial use of flood waters, and we urge our Senators and Representatives in Congress to employ their best efforts to accomplish this end.

STATE OF SOUTH DAKOTA,

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, State of South Dakota, ss:

DEPARTMENT OF STATE.

I, Frank Glasner, secretary of state of the State of South Dakota, do hereby certify that the annexed bill, to wit, senate joint resolution No. 14, was duly passed by the 1913 session of the Legislature of the State of South Dakota and is now in full force and effect.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the great seal of the State of South Dakota this 4th day of February, A. D. 1913.

FRANK GLASNER,
Secretary of tState.

By J. T. NELSON,
Assistant Secretary of State.

Mr. NEWLANDS. The President elect, Mr. Wilson, has also declared himself on this subject in a telegram addressed to me, as president of the recent irrigation congress, as follows:

Hon. FRANCIS G. NEWLANDS,

SEA GIRT, N. J., September 30, 1912.

President National Irrigation Congress, Salt Lake, Utah:

Please express to the National Irrigation Congress my hearty approval of the policy it is met to promote, and especially of the policy of supplementing bank and levee protection by storage of flood waters above for irrigation and water power, turning floods from a menace into a blessing and at the same time abundantly feeding navigable waters.

WOODROW WILSON.

[C. A. Woolsey Paint & Color Co., manufacturers and importers of paints and varnishes.] JERSEY CITY, N. J., December 26, 1912.

Hon. FRANK O. BRIGGS, Washington, D. C.

SIR: Communications have been received by us from a number of our customers located in the South, who have been affected by the overflowing of the Mississippi River in the recent and past floods which have occurred in that seetion, and earnestly request our cooperation for the immediate enactment of the Newlands river-regulation bill, S. 10900, Sixty-first Congress, third session, introduced in the Senate by Senator Newlands on March 1, 1911, entitled:

"A bill to create a board of river regulation and to provide a fund for the regulation and control of the flow of navigable rivers in aid of interstate commerce, and as a means to that end, and to provide for flood prevention and protection and for the beneficial use of flood waters and for water-storage and for the protection of watersheds from denudation and erosion and from forest fires and for the cooperation of Government services and bureaus with each other and with States, municipalities, and local agencies."

For the further purpose of uniting forces for an organized demand on the Congress at Washington our friends of the South have issued a call requesting friends of the movement to attend the National River Regulation and Flood Prevention Congress to be held in New Orleans January 6 and 7, 1913.

We are naturally interested in the growth, progress, and upbuilding of the South, both from a business standpoint and a feeling that the lives and property of those living in such places should be looked after to a certain extent by our Government, and we therefore respectfully refer the matter to you for your consideration, hoping that you may see your way clear to support the proposed legislation, as we believe that they are justified in looking to the country at large to help them in this matter.

Very truly, yours,

C. A. WOOLSEY PAINT & COLOR Co.,
F. WOOLSEY, President.

LIST OF SOME OF THE ORGANIZATIONS WHICH HAVE INDORSED THE NEWLANDS RIVER-REGULATION BILL SPECIFICALLY OR IN PRINCIPLE, WITH COPIES OF SOME OF THEIR RESOLUTIONS. The bill has been indorsed, among others, by the Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce, the Nineteenth National Irrigation Congress, the National Rivers and Harbors Congress (in principle), the National Drainage Congress, the New

Orleans Progressive Union, the Louisiana Reclamation Club, the Louisiana Bankers' Association, the Illinois Association of Drainage and Levee Districts, St. Louis Merchants' Exchange, City Club of Memphis, and by the following organizations in California:

California section of the National Irrigation Association; boards of supervisors of the counties of Madera, Merced, and San Joaquin; the chambers of commerce of the cities of San Francisco, Madera, Merced, Ceres, Modesto, Lodi, and Fresno, and of Stanislaus County; the La Grande Board of Trade; the Los Angeles Clearing House Association; the cities of Madera, Turlock, and Modesto; the Women's Improvement Clubs of Madera, Merced, Modesto, Livingston, Escalon, Salida, and Raymond; and the River Regulation Commission of Stockton.

LOS ANGELES CLEARING HOUSE ASSOCIATION.

Resolutions indorsing and advocating the enactment by the Congress of the Newlands river-regulation bill (Senate bill 122, introduced Apr. 6, 1911, by Senator Francis G. Newlands) entitled "A bill to create a board of river regulation, and to provide a fund for the regulation and control of the flow of navigable rivers in aid of interstate commerce, and, as a means to that end, to provide for flood prevention and protection, and for the beneficial use of flood waters and for water storage, and for the protection of watersheds from denudation and erosion and from forest fires, and for the cooperation of Government services and bureau with each other and with States, municipalities, and other local agencies":

Whereas reports made by Maj. J. W. Powell, first Director of the United States Geological Survey; Gen. Hiram M. Chittenden, of the Engineer Corps of the United States War Department; United States Engineer Ullert; and others; also through surveys and investigations made by the Pittsburgh flood commission, have shown the practicability of the storage of the flood waters of the rivers of the whole country, to the end that destructive floods may be controlled and the waters heretofore wasted may be conserved for the use of navigation and irrigation where required; also the necessity of the drainage of the swamp and overflowed lands; and

"Whereas a condition which now causes wide devastation it is shown may be controlled and transformed into a great natural resource, reclaiming millions of acres of land now uncultivatable, thus benefiting and enriching every section of the country from the Atlantic to the Pacific; and

"Whereas the Newlands river-regulation bill embodies the provisions requisite for the carrying into effective operation of the beneficial objects desired to be accomplished: Now therefore be it

Resolved, That the Los Angeles Clearing House Association hereby indorses said Newlands river-regulation bill and requests the Senators and Congressmen from this State to urge its passage by the Congress."

I certify that the foregoing is a true and correct copy of a resolution passed at a special meeting of the Los Angeles Clearing House Association held yesterday afternoon.

JAMES B. GIST, Secretary.

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OF PITTSBURGH.

[Resolution adopted Apr. 13, 1911.]

Whereas a bill was introduced in the Senate of the United States by Senator Newlands on March 1, 1911, entitled "A bill to create a board of river regulation and to provide a fund for the regulation and control of the flow of navigable rivers in aid of interstate commerce, and as a means to that end to provide for flood prevention and protection and for the beneficial use of flood waters and for water storage, and for the protection of watersheds from denudation and erosion and from forest fires, and for the cooperation of Government services and bureaus with each other and with States, municipalities, and other local agencies"; and

Whereas the primary purpose of said bill is to bring into conference and cooperation the National Government with the States, municipalities, counties, and local districts for the construction of the works necessary for the regu lation of the flow of rivers and for flood prevention and protection, and provides a fund of $50,000,000 annually for 10 years for said purpose; and