Following are quotations from testimony of Col. Biddle:

The city of San Francisco obtains its water supply at present from sources all within about 50 miles of the city. It has been recognized for some years past that these sources were insufficient and therefore San Francisco has been investigating supplies from other points. Early investigation convinced the engineers employed by the city that the most economical supply was from the upper Tuolumne River, making use of two main reservoir sites, Lake Eleanor and Hetch Hetchy Valley, lying within the Yosemite National Park. * * *

Col. Biddle recited the appointment of the Board of Army Engineers, and stated that two inspections of the reservoirs in the Yosemite Valley and other proposed sites were made, and also that very comprehensive inspections of the available sites were made. In addition, Mr. H. H. Wadsworth, assistant engineer, United States Engineer Service, was secured by the board to make further investigations and examinations. Mr. Wadsworth had been in the employ of the engineer department in California and is familiar with the rivers and reservoir sites in central California. Mr. Wadsworth spent about a year and a half on duty in connection with the work of the Army board. Resuming, Col. Biddle says:

While the city of San Francisco makes the application, the other cities on the bay are also vitally interested, as in most cases the water supply in those communities is nearing its limit of development, and the more important ones have already taken such steps as seem desirable to join San Francisco in obtaining a new water supply.

The board took into consideration all possible sources of water supply.

The Hetch Hetchy supply is estimated to cost $77,000,000 spread over a number of years. The second and third sources are estimated to cost from $97,000,000 to $99,000,000.

The data and analysis of these projects appear in the Army board report (H. Doc. No. 54) and also in the hearings before the Public Lands Committee, beginning at p. 50. Reference to these reports and hearings is hereby made.

Resuming extracts from the hearings:

Mr. TAYLOR of Colorado. If you know any reason why we should pass this bill, tell us that reason.

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Col. BIDDLE. The reason why you should is that San Francisco has to have the water; that it is a perfectly practicable way, and by far the most economical way. The power development in the Hetch Hetchy is greater than it is at any other source of supply.

Col. Biddle then analyzed the possible alternative sources, which analysis is to be found in the printed hearings, page 56 et seq. He said that all these alternative sources were much more expensive and presented greater engineering difficulties than the Hetch Hetchy. He stated further that, in his judgment, San Francisco would meet opposition from the irrigationists and others if other sources were selected. Further, Col. Biddle stated that it would take San Francisco longer to obtain water rights in other systems, whereas the city now owns the water rights in the Hetch Hetchy. He also stated that the city owns the greater part of the floor of the Hetch Hetchy Valley and a small part of the dam site.

Resuming extracts:

The CHAIRMAN. Are you acquainted with the sentiment of the people of San Francisco touching the supply they desire?

Col. BIDDLE. Yes, sir; the sentiment is overwhelmingly in favor of the Hetch Hetchy supply.

Col. BIDDLE. There is no question in my mind that the Hetch Hetchy is the best water supply for San Francisco, and that it is the most economical that can be obtained; it can be obtained more promptly, and is better in every way * * *

The CHAIRMAN. With the information before you, coupled with the results of these two investigations, if you were a member of this committee, having due regard for the rights of the irrigation people, and having due regard for the rights of the nature lovers, who believe that you should not interfere with the Yosemite National Park, and having due regard for the needs of San Francisco, which system would you vote for?

Col. BIDDLE. I would vote for the Hetch Hetchy system.

The CHAIRMAN. You would vote for the Hetch Hetchy system?

Col. BIDDLE. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. Would you feel, in casting a vote of that kind, that you had inflicted a greater wrong upon the irrigation people and the nature lovers than if you voted for one of the other systems?

Col. BIDDLE. No, sir; so far as the nature lovers are concerned, my own preference is for a valley, for the reason that the Sierras are full of beautiful lakes. While there are, of course, a number of valleys, there are very few like the Hetch Hetchy. There are very few in the whole Sierras; still it would be very beautiful as a lake. The difference between the Yosemite Valley and the Hetch Hetchy, in my opinion, is that the Yosemite is far grander than the Hetch Hetchy, but the floor of the Hetch Hetchy is more attractive. The cliffs and waterfalls of that valley are wonderful, and would not be injured by the creation of a lake. So, with this lake you would still have a wonderful piece of scenery. Then, of course, the facilities that the city would give would afford more people an opportunity to visit the valley.

I think the city of San Francisco is agreeing to do a very reasonable thing and that the roads and trails required will satisfy the demand.

The CHAIRMAN. As matters now stand, it would be pretty extravagant for poor people to undertake to go there?

Col. BIDDLE. It is impossible for them to go in there, unless they go in with kuapBacks on their backs. In the early summer the mosquitoes are very bad, and in the late summer it is too hot in the Hetch Hetchy Valley.

Col. Biddle stated that the Hetch Hetchy Lake would be 6 or 7 miles long by 14 miles wide, and would flood an area of approximately 1,100 acres.

Col. Biddle also stated that the proposed sanitary regulations “are such as should be made anyhow, if the park is to be used by any large number of people." Answering a question on this subject, Col. Biddle added:

I think that as soon as the park begins to be used to any extent it will be necessary to have the same rules for the protection of campers as for the protection of the people of San Francisco.

Discussing necessity for a long look ahead in California, on account of the general lack of water, Col. Biddle said:

Cities situated as San Francisco have to look a long time forward. Here at Washington, for instance, you have the Potomac River, and the chances are that the water situation, so far as Washington is concerned, 50 years hence will be the same as it is to-day. In the case of San Francisco, however, there will be danger of so many water rights and water use developments that it might be almost impossible 50 years from now to obtain water rights without great expense and even hardship to agricultural communities. That is the reason we take that advanced date.

Responding to the chairman, the other members of the Army board expressed their views:

Col. COSBY. I concur fully in the statement of Col. Biddle. There is only one small point of difference, and that is as to whether the Hetch Hetchy Valley would be more attractive with this reservoir in it than in its present condition. I believe that with the lake it would be even more beautiful than it is in its natural condition.

TAYLOR AND COSBY INDORSEMENTS.

Col. TAYLOR. There is not the slightest question in my mind but that this should be used as the source of water supply, and not only that, but that it will be used as a water supply in a very short time independently of whether this project is adopted or not. I think that the pressure will be so great to conserve the water up there that it will be used as a storage reservoir. It is by far the best storage reservoir in that section of the country, and water is so valuable up there that they can not afford to let it run to waste. If you deny the use of it to San Francisco, sooner or later the water will be put to other uses. Somebody will be asking for permission to utilize the Hetch Hetchy Valley as a storage reservoir for irrigation purposes. This water will certainly be used for the city of San Francisco or for irrigation purposes.

Col. COSBY. I presume the members of the committee fully understand how inaccessible the Hetch Hetchy Valley is. I think the roads will make it accessible to a greater number of people. At the present time I think that there are practically only two classes of people who use it, people who are unusually wealthy, or people who are unusually strong and healthy and are able to make the trip.

CITY'S POINT OF VIEW.

[Extract from statement of Hon. James D. Phelan, former mayor of San Francisco, and representative of Mayor James Rolph, jr., and the city of San Francisco.]

I will emphasize the fact that the needs of San Francisco are pressing and urgent. A large number of our population has been lost to Oakland, Alameda, and Berkeley by reason of the fact that we have never had adequate facilities, either of transportation or of water supply. So San Francisco, the chief Federal city on the Pacific coast, asks the Federal Government for assistance in this matter by grant and not by money. It has obligated itself to pay $70,000,000 for a water supply. We have endeavored to satisfy the needs of the irrigationists in good faith, as well as the local water monopoly, and we come this year to Washington, I think, with the good will of those heretofore opposed to us, possibly with the exception of the gentlemen who are devoted to the preservation of the beauties of nature.

As Californians, we rather resent gentlemen from different parts of the country outside of California telling us that we are invading the beautiful natural resources of the State or in any way marring or detracting from them. We have a greater pride than they in the beauties of California-in the valleys, in the big trees, in the rivers, and in the high mountains. We have the highest mountain in the United States in California, Mount Whitney, 15,000 feet above the sea, as we have the lowest land, in Death Valley, 300 feet below the sea. We have the highest tree known in the world, and the oldest tree. Its history goes back 2,000 years, I believe, judged by the internal evidences; as we have the youngest tree in the world, Luther Burbank's plumcot.

All of this is of tremendous pride, and even for a water supply we would not injure the great resources which have made our State the playground of the world. By constructing a dam at this very narrow gorge in the Hetch Hetchy Valley we create not a reservoir but a lake, because Mr. Freeman has shown that by planting trees or vines over the dam the idea of a dam, the appearance of a dam, is entirely lost; so coming upon it it will look like an emerald gem in the mountains; and one of the very few things in which California is deficient, especially in the Sierra, is lakes, and in this way we will contribute, in a large measure, to the scenic grandeur and beauty of California. I suppose nature lovers, suspecting a dam there not made by the Creator will think it of no value, in their estimation, but I submit man can imitate the Creator-a worthy examplar. I remember the story of John Hay's "Little Breeches," which describes the old fellow who, believing in nothing that was religious or good, and having been told, after his child recovered, that he had wandered away in the woods and must have been restored by the angels, said:

To restore the life of a little child
And bring him back to his own,
Is a darned sight better business
Than loafing 'round the throne.

To provide for the little children, men, and women of the 800,000 population who swarm the shores of San Francisco Bay is a matter of much greater importance than encouraging the few who, in solitary loneliness, will sit on the peak of the Sierra loafing around the throne of the God of Nature and singing his praise. A benign father loves his children above all things. There is no comparison between the

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highest use of water-the domestic supply-and the mere scenic value of the mountains. When you decide that affirmatively, as you must, and then on top of that, that we are not detracting from the scenic value of the mountains, but enhancing it, I think there is nothing left to be said.

All the Members of Congress from California were favorable to the grant to San Francisco under the provisions of the bill.

A written statement for the Turlock and Modesto Irrigation Districts was presented by the authorized representatives of said water district, which approved the bill as drafted and reserved the right to object should the conditions relating to those irrigation districts be eliminated or materially modified.

MR. WHITMAN'S VIEWS.

Mr. Edmund A. Whitman, of Boston, Mass., president of the Society for the Preservation of National Parks, presented his views to the committee.

Mr. Whitman, in response to interrogations of the chairman of the Land Committee, said that the society he represented was composed of approximately 200 members, and that not more than 25 of these members had ever visited the Hetch Hetchy.

ROUGHEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD.

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Describing the Hetch Hetchy Valley, Mr. Whitman says (p. 206): It is some of the roughest country that God ever made. You do get little places here and there where there is grass and water, but the large part of the country is the roughest sort of country, where camping is as impossible as it would be on the top of this table. The Hetch Hetchy Valley-the floor is perfectly level and grass-covered. The floor is two or three miles long and nearly half a mile wide. That is surrounded by steep cliffs, where there are gorges, out of which one may toilsomely climb to stopping places, where a few people go and camp for a short time, and it would take a strong man four days to go through those 20 miles of canyon, because it is so rough. Those who are not so strong would go as we went, over the mountain side, just above the Hetch Hetchy Valley. I HAVE GONE OUT FROM THE TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN THERE and dangled MY FEET DOWN INTO SCENERY FROM A POSITION WHERE I COULD LOOK DOWN 5,000 FEET TO THE RIVER BELOW AND ACROSS TO THE OTHER BANK A DISTANCE OF SOME * * TEN OR TWELVE THOUSAND FEET.

face of the globe.

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* There is no other place like it on the

THE BLUE LAKES.

Mr. Eugene J. Sullivan, president of the Sierra Blue Lakes Water & Power Co., appeared before the committee. For several years Mr. Sullivan and his associates have been opposing the Hetch Hetchy water system and attempting to sell to the city of San Francisco the Blue Lakes system. The fact that Mr. Sullivan and his company have nothing to sell which is of value to San Francisco has not deterred this gentleman from traducing the board of Army engineers and the city officials of San Francisco.

When announcement that the Land Committee of the House was to hold hearings on the Hetch Hetchy bill was published in San Francisco, Mr. Sullivan and his engineer, Taggart Aston, sent numerous telegrams to Members of Congress demanding delay and charging

that a "great national scandal" would follow if action was had upon. the bill. Coupled with this was a charge that the city engineer of San Francisco had suppressed data and maps which showed the Sierra Blue Lakes project to be preferable and better than the Hetch Hetchy system.

To give Mr. Sullivan a chance to make good, the Public Lands Committee took a recess of more than a week to allow him to come and make his presentation. His statement occupies 91 pages of the printed hearings, Part II.

San Francisco's_engineers investigated the Sullivan project and rejected it. The Board of Army Engineers and Mr. H. H. Wadsworth, the civilian engineer of the board, also investigated the Sullivan project, and reported adversely thereon. (See Army board report (H. Doc. 54, 63d Cong., 1st sess.).) Mr. Sullivan informed the Land Committee that Taggart Aston, his engineer, is employed on a 10 per cent contingent fee-Aston's compensation depending upon the sale of the Blue Lakes project.

Mr. Sullivan repeatedly charges that a report by Bartel, one of a hundred assistant city engineers, was suppressed. In refutation of this, members of the Army board say they personally visited the watershed which Mr. Sullivan claims to own, and further they had conferences with Bartel and the latter's superiors while the board was investigating various water-supply systems in California.

COL. BIDDLE REPORTS ON BLUE LAKES.

In the absence of Chairman Ferris, Hon. William Kent, member of the committee, sent to the members of Army board the transcript of Mr. Sullivan's testimony. Col. Biddle, chairman of the board, replies as follows:

'WAR DEPARTMENT, OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF STAFF, Washington, July 31, 1913.

MY DEAR MR. KENT: Having reference to your communication of July 21, asking for comment from the Board of Army Engineers on the testimony of Mr. E. J. Sullivan, representing the Sierra Blue Lakes water project on the Mokelumne River, proof sheets of which testimony were sent by you, the following is submitted by the whole board:

The two main questions raised by Mr. Sullivan appear to be-first, whether San Francisco needs water from the Sierras at all, and second, whether the Mokelumne River is not the best and cheapest source of such a supply.

According to the estimates made by the board, the amount of water now used by the communities surrounding San Francisco Bay is 133,000,000 gallons daily. It is estimated that by the year 2000, 540,000,000 gallons daily will be needed. The board believes that about 100,000,000 gallons daily additional can be economically developed from near-by sources and that for the remainder it will be necessary to go to some outside source, such as the Sierras. The city of San Francisco in its estimates provides for obtaining 400,000,000 gallons daily from the Sierra sources, partly because of the doubt of the city engineers that the near by sources can be developed to the amount above estimated, and partly because the full amount could be used to advantage. There can be no question, however, but that from 300,000,000 to 400,000,000 gallons daily additional will be needed by the year 2000, and on account of the situation in California, where all of the available water will be eventually used for irrigation or power, it is most desirable for San Francisco and the other cities to establish now their rights.

NO SUPPRESSION OF DATA.

As to the Mokelumne River, it is stated in the testimony of Mr. Sullivan that Gen. G. H. Mendell, Corps of Engineers, reported favorably on the Mokelumne River as a source of supply. This report was dated about 1877, and provided for only 25,000,000 gallons daily, so that, of course, it has no bearing on the present investigation. Mr.