that the water would be finally taken up, and the end has not yet come, yet it must be admitted that the opportunity for getting water is growing less and less every year. The only plan that is apparent, in my judgment, of securing water rights for our. State lands or school lands, if they are to be retained, is through appropriation, and these appropriations must be made with sufficient caution that the money will be available. On the other hand, it is stated that by very long leases private individuals will secure the water rights. Of course, they can not do so by encumbering the State lands or school lands; and I do not presume that a leasehold interest in these lands would be a sufficient basis upon which loans could be made. Leases of these lands are subject to too many conditions within the control of the Board of State Land Commissioners. The matter is a very grave one, which your request for an opinion presents, and it should receive the careful consideration of our Legislature, the friends of the University and the patrons of the public schools of the State. Your request for an opinion presents difficulties which exist in a most forcible manner, and I have referred to them in order that the matter might be brought to the attention of your Board of Regents. Respectfully submitted, N. C. MILLER, |