The first formal step was the creation of the Inland Waterways Commission, appointed on March 14, 1907.

In my letter appointing the Commission, I called attention to the value of our streams as great natural resources, and to the need for a progressive plan for their development and control, and said: "It is not possible to properly frame so large a plan as this for the control of our rivers without taking account of the orderly development of other natural resources.

Therefore I ask that the Inland Waterways Commission shall consider the relations of the streams to the use of all the great permanent natural resources and their conservation for the making and maintenance of prosperous homes." Over a year later, writing on the report of the Commission, I said: "The preliminary Report of the Inland Waterways Commission was excellent in every way.

It outlines a general plan of waterway improvement which when adopted will give assurance that the improvements will yield practical results in the way of increased navigation and water transportation.

In every essential feature the plan recommended by the Commission is new.