people of the distracted Republic the opportunity to set up again their own laws and their own government.

But I earnestly hope that war is not now in question. I believe that I speak for the American people when I say that we do not desire to control in any degree the affairs of our sister Republic. Our feeling for the people of Mexico is one of deep and genuine friendship, and everything that we have so far done or refrained from doing has proceeded from our desire to help them, not to hinder or embarrass them. We would not wish even to exercise the good offices of friendship without their welcome and consent. The people of Mexico are entitled to settle their own domestic affairs in their own way, and we sincerely desire to respect their right. The present situation need have none of the grave implications of interference if we deal with it promptly, firmly, and wisely.

No doubt I could do what is necessary in the circumstances to enforce respect for our Government without recourse to the Congress, and yet not exceed my constitutional powers as President; but I do not wish to act in a matter possibly of so grave consequence except in close conference and cooperation with both the Senate and House. I, therefore, come to ask your approval that I should use the armed forces of the United States in such ways and to such an extent as may be necessary to obtain from General Huerta and his adherents the fullest recognition of the rights and dignity of the United States, even amidst the distressing conditions now unhappily obtaining in Mexico.

There can in what we do be no thought of aggression or of selfish aggrandizement. We seek to maintain the dignity and authority of the United States only because we wish always to keep our great influence unimpaired for the uses of liberty, both in the United States and wherever else it may be employed for the benefit of mankind.

2d Session. 1 No. 914.

PREVENTION OF DAMAGE BY FLOODS.

LETTER

FROM

THE SECRETARY OF
OF WAR,

TRANSMITTING

REPORT OF THE BOARD OF OFFICERS OF THE CORPS OF ENGINEERS OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY APPOINTED APRIL 12, 1913, UPON THE MOST PRACTICABLE AND EFFECTIVE MEASURES FOR PREVENTION OF DAMAGE BY FLOOD TO WORKS CONSTRUCTED FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF NAVIGATION, OF INTERFERENCE WITH INTERSTATE COMMERCE, AND OTHER DISASTROUS RESULTS THEREOF.

APRIL 21, 1914.-Referred to the Committee on Rivers and Harbors and ordered to be printed.

WAR DEPARTMENT, Washington, April 15, 1914.

The SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

SIR: I have the honor to transmit herewith a report of a board of officers of the Corps of Engineers of the United States Army, appointed on April 12, 1913, following the disastrous floods in the valley of the Ohio River, and the drainage area of Lake Erie in the spring of 1913, to make a thorough inquiry and examination into existing conditions, and to report upon the most practicable and effective measures for prevention of damage by floods to works constructed for the improvement of navigation, of interference with interstate commerce, and of other disastrous results thereof.

On May 26, 1913, this board submitted a preliminary report which was published in House Document No. 246, Sixty-third Congress, first session. As contemplated in that report the board has continued its investigation, and the report herewith is the result. This report shows at length that one of the chief causes of flood damage is the obstructions placed in the flood beds of the streams.

The Federal Government through the War Department at present exercises control over obstructions in waterways under the provisions

of sections 9, 10, and 13 of act of Congress approved March 3, 1899. Sections 9 and 10, which cover obstructions built across or in waterways, apply only to navigable waterways, while section 13, covering deposits of material in streams, applies to the tributaries of navigable waterways as well as to navigable waterways themselves. In a few cases concerning dams section 9 has been construed to extend to nonnavigable tributaries or nonnavigable portions of the main streams on account of the effect of dams upon the navigable capacity of the main stream, but as a rule there has not been and can not well be comprehensive supervision, under existing law, over obstructions across or in the nonnavigable tributaries. Had sections 9 and 10 been as general in their application as section 13, much of the flood damage might have been avoided. In order to prevent still greater damage from this cause in the future the jurisdiction of the War Department over obstructions in streams should be extended to the feeders and tributaries of navigable waterways. Legislation to accomplish this is suggested in detail later in this report. The expense involved in enforcing existing legislation with respect to all navigable waters of the United States is small, and the expense due to the proposed legislation would not increase it greatly.

The board has considered many methods of flood protection and prevention, and concludes that—

1. Forestation and special methods of plowing are not usually productive of practical results to an extent that would make it profitable to consider their employment.

2. Reservoirs, both storage and impeding, may be used to advantage in certain localities, especially on the smaller streams and where good reservoir sites are obtainable at reasonable cost.

3. The method of moving structures and bulky material out of the flood area will afford prompt and certain relief both by saving the property moved and by reducing flood heights and velocities by removing the obstructions. This method should be adopted so far as practicable, and new obstructions should be prevented.

4. Auxiliary channels, both parallel channels and cut-offs, may be used to advantage in certain cases.

5. Levees when properly built in accordance with correct designs have been almost uniformly successful; they give quick relief and are equally suitable for local and extended uses.

6. No one method of flood control can be recommended to the exclusion of others. Local conditions vary so greatly between several basins that what is suitable to one stream is likely to be unsuitable for another.

The board's final conclusion is thoroughly borne out by a brief consideration of the solutions adopted or recommended in some of the localities that have already been studied.

In the opinion of the Mississippi River Commission and of the Chief of Engineers United States Army, the only practicable method of flood protection in the lower Mississippi Valley is that by construction of an adequate system of well-designed levees supplemented by bank protection. The project for flood protection in the Sacramento Valley, Cal., contemplates an extensive use of auxiliary channels. The city of Galveston, Tex., secured flood protection by raising the grade of the city. For the Miami River, Ohio, it is understood that the engineers employed by the city of Dayton, Ohio, have recommended a system of reservoirs.

PREVENTION OF DAMAGE BY FLOODS.

The board has collected a large amount of data, some of which was already available in the various district offices of the Engineer Department, but finds that additional data in the way of rainfall statistics, gauging of streams, and special maps of drainage areas must be obtained before specific plans can be prepared. The board finds that some of these data can be obtained through the regular operations of the United States Weather Bureau, the United States Geological Survey, and of the States, counties, cities, etc., in the areas involved, under the system which has existed in the past, but that a large part of it can best be obtained by field parties organized in each of the engineer districts of the area under consideration (Pittsburgh, Wheeling, Cleveland, first Cincinnati, second Cincinnati, and Louisville). The cost involved in collecting these data and preparing plans will be relatively small in comparison with the benefit to be derived, and this same method can readily be extended as necessary to the drainage areas of all rivers throughout the country which are subject to disastrous floods.

The subject of flood protection and flood prevention is one of great national import, and it is imperative that steps be taken to ameliorate conditions in the most afflicted districts in the various parts of the United States without unnecessary delay.

The interests of navigation and of interstate commerce demand that the Federal Government seek a remedy and join with the local interests in applying it. Economical and efficient cooperation on the part of local interests is extremely difficult to attain unless the Federal Government lends its unifying and guiding power. By extension of the authority conveyed by sections 9 and 10, act of 1899, recommended above, the War Department would be empowered to pass upon plans evolved by various of the communities, with a view to insuring that they do not conflict with a general plan of flood protection for the entire district to the detriment of navigation and other interests; but it is my belief that the Federal Government should go further, and that to accomplish the best results it should undertake to prepare general plans of flood prevention and protection, to pass upon and coordinate plans prepared by the various communities, to arrange for a fair and proper distribution of the cost of execution of such plans, and the portion of the work to be accomplished by each of the interested parties. The portion of the expense of the undertaking which should be borne by the Federal Government should be the value of the protection rendered to navigation, to interstate commerce, and other Federal interests.

If this work be placed under the War Department on the same basis as the river and harbor work, with which it is intimately connected, it can be accomplished with no large initial expense. No new and expensive organization need be created. Each case requiring appropriation will be presented in an intelligent, concise, and concrete manner for consideration by Congress, and with Congress will rest the decision as to which rivers shall be considered, and the rate at which they shall be appropriated for.

No new idea is involved in this arrangement; it is simply an extension of a plan that has operated successfully in several cases heretofore, notably in the California Débris Commission's project for the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys in California (H. Doc. No. 81, 62d Cong., 1st sess.). That project involves improvement of naviga