is unknown. The river and its water supply belong to the community; whatever the river does is the concern of the whole community. But for the river there would be no com- munity. Under these circumstances if government means anything it means the care of the river, which is the source of life. As a result there is a state of potential anxiety almost constantly. As a further result measures are devised for the control of all activities that bear upon the river. The govern- ment is ready to step in at any moment and exercise its right to act for the general good. It is as if a city like San Francisco, having suffered from earthquake and fire because it lies in a belt that is subject to earthquakes, should organize the ma- chinery of government in such a way as to provide for the com- ing into force of special laws and the organizing of a special police to meet the emergency conditions that might arise should another earthquake take place.
While the turno in one form or another is a subject for almost yearly consideration, there is more than one historical example of quite special interest owing to severe drought. We may take the case of 1877 for detailed examination. The extent of irrigated land at Copiapó is from 4000 to 5000 cua- dras, a cuadra being 125 meters square; and it runs in narrow tracts on both sides of the river from 75 miles up valley and from 10 to 15 miles down valley. I traversed the valley to see under what conditions water was distributed, talked with members of the city administration regarding the legal aspects of the use of the water, and from one of the mining companies obtained two striking documents bearing the seal of the “Municipalidad de Copiapó.” The texts are reproduced pho- tographically herewith (pp. 124, 126). The first, that bears the signatures of the proper city authorities, is dated March 27, 1877; the second is dated May 2 of the same year. They enable one to obtain an intimate view of the workings of the law of the turno. The first one states that there is appointed a commis- sion of alcaldes to meet in those parts of the valley most in- terested in irrigation for the purpose of changing the law of the turno in order to avoid the many difficulties and embarrass- ments into which the people of the valley have fallen and the
