(House, 61;2).

PROTECTION OF WATERSHEDS OF NAVIGABLE STREAMS.

COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE,

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

Washington, D. C., Wednesday, February 23, 1910. The committee met at 10.30 o'clock a. m., Hon. Charles F. Scott in the chair.

The committee thereupon proceeded to the consideration of the bill (H. R. 11798) to enable any State to cooperate with any other State or States, or with the United States, for the protection of the watersheds of navigable streams, and to appoint a commission for the acquisition of lands for the purpose of conserving the navigability of navigable rivers.

The CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to an order made some days ago, the committee has met this morning to consider H. R. 11798, commonly known as the Weeks bill, relating to the protection of the watersheds of navigable streams and the purchase or acquirement in other ways of forest lands in the White Mountains and the Appalachians. Mr. Weeks called this morning to say that on account of another hearing it would be impossible for him to be present at the moment, although he hoped he might come in later. I notice, however, that Representative Currier, of New Hampshire, who is also identified with this legislation, is present, and I will ask him to make such a statement as he desires and to present other gentlemen who wish to be heard on the subject.

Let me suggest to members of the committee that the hearing will probably be expedited if gentlemen are allowed to conclude their remarks before being interrupted by questions.

Mr. CURRIER. Mr. Chairman, Mr. Weeks expects to return in a few moments, and he asked me to take charge of the hearing until he could get back.

We appear here this morning in behalf of a bill which excites a higher degree of interest in New England than any other proposition pending before Congress, and I think that is also true of the southern Atlantic States. I shall not address the committee at this time, but shall simply present to the committee certain gentlemen who desire to be heard. I will first ask Representative Peters, of Boston, Mass., to speak to the committee.

STATEMENT OF HON. ANDREW J. PETERS, REPRESENTATIVE FROM MASSACHUSETTS.

Mr. PETERS. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee, several gentlemen will address you in regard to this bill, and I shall try to confine my remarks to the phases of the situation that come particularly under my observation, and try to avoid commenting

on parts that will be presented to you more fully by men who are more capable of speaking on them.

I wish to speak, in the first place, of the intense public interest in this matter. It is one in which the people of Boston, of Massachusetts, and of New England generally, take a most keen and active interest. Editorials are appearing in our leading Boston papers, and in the papers all over New England, urging the support of this measure by Congress. I have received communications (I will read the names of just a few of them) from the Massachusetts Mutual Fire Insurance Company, the Pawtucket Gas Company, the Haverhill Board of Trade, the Appalachian Mountain Club, the Boston Merchants' Association, the American Civic Association, the Boston Chamber of Commerce, the Massachusetts Federation of Women's Clubs, the Massachusetts Civic League, the Massachusetts Wholesale Lumber Dealers' Association, the Massachusetts State Board of Trade, from instructors in our colleges and universities, and from leading citizens in Boston and in the other Massachusetts cities.

I have here an editorial from the Scientific American, which I should like to have go into the record, showing that the recent Paris flood was due to the denudation of certain of the forest lands which drain into the Seine.

(The editorial above referred to is as follows:)

CAUSES OF THE PARIS FLOOD.

[From the Scientific American, February 12, 1910.]

There appears to be a consensus of opinion among the French scientists that the causes of the recent phenomenal rise of the Seine, when it reached the record height of 31 feet 2 inches, are to be found more in geological than in The basin of the Seine and the streams that are meteorological conditions. In tributary to that river consists of a light absorbent soil; and, as the slopes are gentle, any sudden precipitation is ordinarily absorbed by the ground. winter, when the soil is either frozen or saturated with the rains, there is a risk that the run-off of a heavy precipitation will be so large and sudden as to overtax the capacity of the river channels. These conditions obtained to a marked degree during the recent continuous heavy rainfall and flood. Meunier the geologist, is of the opinion that the heavy rains preceding the flood found the soil of the watershed so thoroughly impermeable, because of saturation, that the water ran off as swiftly as it would from the surface of an asphalted or cemented street. Furthermore, it seems to be generally agreed that the denudation of the forests in the higher regions of the watershed has been a Not only do the trees assist evaporation, but contributory cause to the flood. the forest undergrowth also exerts a material influence in retarding the flow of the water.

Mr. PETERS. New England has paid its part toward the forest reserves of the country. Two hundred million acres have been taken in forest reserves in the West, for which New England has paid her part, and pays her part for maintaining them. Those 200,000,000 acres which have been put in forest reserves only affect the watershed which produces slightly over 3 per cent of the water power of the country; whereas the watershed in the White Mountain Forest Reserve (the one which it is proposed by this bill to take) affects 37 per cent of the total water power of the United States. Those figures are taken from the last census.

The importance of preserving the forests for their effect on the
go into. I will quote here from a
streams is too great a one for me to
report entitled "Commercial importance of the White Mountain for-

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ests," made by the Forest Service of the United States Department of Agriculture (Circular 168), in which it is said:

The timber supply in the White Mountain region, including spruce, which will last about twenty years, and the hard woods, which are as yet both abundant and cheap, is of importance not only to New England, but also to the country at large. These forests are near to a great population, and the pinch of scarcity in the timber supply is already felt everywhere. As the general population grows rapidly in numbers the rate of consumption increases, but the supply does not increase correspondingly. On the steep slopes the spruce forests will last only four or five years.

The protection of the mountain forests from fire is of great importance, because fire consumes the soil, rendering it in many places permanently impaired and even barren. This prevents future timber supply and greatly facilitates erosion and rapid run-off of water. Fires have already caused irreparable damage.

I shall not take up the time of the committee further. My own committee is sitting now, and I feel that I must get back to it. But I want to bring, particularly, before you the tremendous public interest in this measure. The bill was passed by Congress last year, and I think that with this public interest behind it the people who are supporting may fairly ask the committee to make a report and bring up the bill itself, so that it can be discussed before Congress by the representatives of the country.

(Mr. Peters subsequently submitted for incorporation in the record the figures above referred to by him, the same being as follows:)

Data from Page CCCXX, Volume VII, Twelfth Census, proving that the present forest reserves are situated in States which use only slightly more than 3 per cent of the country's water power, and that their beneficent influence on stream flow affects only a slightly greater percentage:

States using greatest amounts of water power, United States.

States marked (*) would have their water power benefited by the proposed White Mountain Forest Reserve.

Total horsepower of such States, 683,996.

Total horsepower used in the whole United States, 1,727,258.

Percentage benefited by proposed White Mountain Forest Reserve, 37 per cent.

States including present forest reserves, and horsepower they use.

Percentage of total horsepower used in the whole United States, 3.6 per cent. From the above it can be seen that one of the greatest benefits of forest preservation, the insured maintenance of a regular flow in the rivers, disturbed by a minimum of floods and droughts, profits only about 4 per cent of the water-power industries of the United States, because the forests reserved have been located without reference to the wants of water power already developed. We must now think of protecting such water power. Speaking purely as regards water power, we have secured something we will want in the future, undeveloped water powers, while we have hesitated to preserve what we are already using and see being gradually destroyed for us by the denudation of the watersheds, resulting in irregular flow, disastrous to power users.

Mr. CURRIER. I may say, in this connection, that the people in New England ardently favor the conservation of natural resources. They are willing to stand by great appropriations for the Reclamation Service. They are entirely willing that enormous tracts of land that would otherwise be sold, and the proceeds of which would go into the Treasury of the United States for the benefit of all the people, shall be taken for the benefit of the West. They are willing that tens of millions may be spent for the improvement of the rivers of the West, and they are entirely willing to pay their share of the outlay; but they feel that they are not being generously or fairly treated in this matter.

STATEMENT OF MR. GEORGE FILLMORE SWAIN, OF CAMBRIDGE, MASS., PROFESSOR OF CIVIL ENGINEERING AT HARVARD UNIVERSITY.

Mr. SWAIN. Mr. Chairman, I should like to say, first, that I represent at this hearing several bodies in New England. The Boston Chamber of Commerce has asked me to represent it. It numbers 3,500 members, or thereabouts, and is vitally interested in this question. I also represent the Appalachian Mountain Club, numbering a good many hundred members (I think over a thousand), who are very much interested in this question; also the Massachusetts Forestry Association and the Boston Society of Civil Engineers.

The matter of the preservation of the slopes of the mountains apparently has been surrounded with some degree of mystery by various publications which have been made about it. In reality, however, it is a simple matter, and I want to try to make it this morning just as simple as I can.

Two papers referring to this question have come out recently-one the report by Professor Moore, of the Weather Bureau, and the other the report by Colonel Chittenden, of the United States Engineers. Those documents are lengthy, especially Colonel Chittenden's, but they do not affect our case in the least. We do not urge that forests shall be planted on land which is better suited for cultivation by crops. We urge the preservation of forests on the mountains and slopes which are not suited for cultivation. The papers which have been published do not at all affect that question. I want to show you briefly this morning, if I can, that substantially all the authorities are agreed on the importance of the preservation of the slopes of forests slopes which are not suited for cultivation. Professor Moore's paper does not touch upon that matter at all; neither does Colonel Chittenden's.

The legality of your action, as I well understand, depends entirely on the relation of this question to the navigability of the streams. 'n regard to that, I want to show you that the authorities are united.