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Show 129 was largely limited to incidental treatment of the subject in reports,9 and major responsibilities remained with local interests and agencies.10 Major floods stimulated increasing national interest in their control. After floods in 1915 and 1916, Congress authorized appropriations totaling over $50,000,000 for control of floods on the Mississippi and Sacramento Rivers.11 And the 1923 Flood Control Act authorized an additional $60,000,000 for flood-control work on the lower Mississippi.12 While enlarging the scope of federal responsibility, both statutes recognized local obligations through provision for local contributions. Moreover, the "control of floods" was one of the express pur- poses for which Congress sought information when it laid the basis for the "308 Reports" in 1925.13 Major floods in 1927 brought added impetus.14 As a result, • See, e. g., Report on Internal Commerce of the United States, H. Exec. Doc. No. 6, Part 2, 50th Cong., 1st sess., pp. 234-250, 572-577 (1887) ; Floods on thh Mississippi River, U. S. Weather Bureau (1888) ; Preliminary Report op the Inland Waterways Commission, Sen. Doc. No. 325, 60th Cong., 1st sess., pp. 22-25 (1908) ; Denudation and Erosion in the Southern Appalachian Region and the Monongahela Basin, U. S. Geological Sur- vey, Professional Paper No. 72, pp. 25-30; Report op the National Con- servation Commission, Sen. Doc. No. 676, 60th Cong., 2d sess., vol. 1, p. 24 (1909) ; Preliminary Report of the United States National Waterways Commission, Appendix I to Final Report op National Waterways Com- mission, Sen. Doc. No. 469, 62d Cong., 2d sess., pp. 82-84 (1912) ; Final Re- port to National Waterways Commission, Sen. Doc. No. 469, 62d Cong., 2d sess., p. 27 (1912) ; Prevention of Damage by Floods, H. Doc. No. 914, 63d Cong., 2d sess. (1914) ; Flood Protection and Prevention, H. Doc. No. 1792, 64th Cong., 2d sess. (1916). 10 See Report on Internal Commerce of the United States, H. Exec. Doc. No. 6, 50th Cong., 1st sess., Part 2, pp. 234-283 (1888) ; Frank, The Develop- ment of the Federal Program of Flood Control on the Mississippi River, pp. 11-44 (1930). 11 Act of March 1,1917, 39 Stat. 948. M Act of March 4,1923, 42 Stat. 1505. 13 Act of March 3, 1925, § 3, 43 Stat. 1186, 1190. See supra, pp. 92-93. 14 See President Coolidge's Annual Message discussing the 1927 flood on the Mississippi and recommending adoption of a plan to prevent a recur- ' rence, and his submittal of a letter from the Secretary of the Army recom- mending the Army Engineers' plan for flood control of the Mississippi River in its alluvial valley, 69 Gong. Rec. 7126; see also Flood Control in the Mississippi Valley, H. Rep. No. 1072, 70th Cong., 1st sess. (1928) ; Fly, The Role of the Federal Government in the Conservation and Utiliza- tion of Water Resources, 86 U. of Pa. L. Rev. 274, 283, n. 63 (1938). |