New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1866-05-12
THE FLOOD.

oyerestimste the loss which will all upon all the
attuyiort5of orr state west Of the Mississippi The
great west Baton Rouge erevssse has already sub
merged large portion of eur richest agricultural
marshes. For week. now, the flood has rushed
through that formidable opening, working its re-
i sistIess will on a wretohed and hopeless popula.
| ton. Crops have been swept away, and fami
! lies driven from their homes. The lateral out
lets flled to the utmost of their discharging ca.
pacity have, risen above their banks and threaten
to burst through the feeble barriers which restrain
the violent waters. And now comes this Nor
ganza ereyasse to complete the sum of misfortune
by the tremendous reinforcement Of superhuent
waters which it brings to the work of destruction
In = short time, the whole country from the mouth
OF Red River down, and between the Mississippi
snd the Teche, win be submerged. I'm @rial
spectator, instead Of finding his eyes delighted
with scene Of rural industry, Of broad fields
planted with cotton, and oern, and cane, would
see below him, only wide and turbid sea- The
catastrophe, though not unexpected, is not the
less appalling. We had hoped almost against
hope, that this first year of peaceful industry
would afford to our riparian population an oppor,
tunity ofretfievinga portion Of their losses, and
of at least preparing themselves for a more pro
4 NttSuiFS 5aAA prosperous lubuICs ~ A0N lOpB0
that the new Ieyees would stand the test and that
we might escape this GROWING calamity,
Nor we suppose, is it quite certain that matters
caRaot be remedied, at least in part. It is posi-
bic that the Pointe Goupee c4evasse may BE closed
aad thus something be saved from the Imminent
wreck. But it nust be confessed that the pros
poets are not favorable. The experience of the
Vest Baton Rouge crevasse does not Justify us il
41,a4
this season. We believed that the former breal
could be repaired; but for some reason or another
the Board Of Levee Commissioners came to n diff
ferent conclusion. Propositions to close it, at a
reasonable rate of payment were laid before the
Board, but were rejected for reasons which NIGH
have been satisfactory to the members, but which
did not seem jndicious to us; at all events we
thought the experiment ought to have been tried
We have been assured that one motive for refusing
to try twas the idea that closing this crevasse
would increase the danger of crezasses elsewhere
We cannot believe, however, that such was the
ruling motive. We prefer to suppose that dis
trust Of their legal powers, and want OF conf
dence in the plan, influenced the Board in reject
ing the proposals.
But, whatever may have been the causes, they
exist we presume, in the case Of the later as wen
as that of the earlier crevasse. The former one
was abandoned after short time spentupon it.
and we have no reason to confde in different Re.
suit as to the latter 1t is a melancholy antieipa
ton, that SO large, SO fertile and SO productive
portion Of the State should be surrendered to the
watery enemy; but melancholy as it is we must
look it in the face. Averted eyes and simulated
indifference would DO no good. We must prepare
in the first place to alleviate the necessities and the
misery which this misfortune will entail on a stif,
fering portion Of our people, and in the next place
we must try to profit by the hard lessons which
calamity imposes on us.
The first impression which the occurrence Of
these catastrophes produces on the mind, is that
Of the feehleness and inefficacy of human
efforts torestrain the forces of nature IT is ne
eessary above all things to Danish this idea. If
we yield to its influence we are lost In spite of
failure, in spite of misfortune, we must continue
to strive. Either we can restrain the floods of
the Mississippi or we cannot. If we cannot re-
strain them; if we persuade ourselves that all
our efforts, and all our resources must prove in
adequate to this end, we must decide to abandon
one Of the richest and most productive portions of
ne state, and to surrender a broad expanse of
fertile land to the dominion of the wild fowl ana
he alligator But it is said that the levee system
s failure that, we have never succeeded in
making our entertainments high enough, and
Itrong enough to protect the country against
hese disasters. If it is true that the levee syg-
EN- is, necessarily, failure, then we must adopt
ome other method to achieve our object We
'annot suffer the fairest portion Of Louisiana to
become a prey to the devouring waters of the
Mississippi. But, it is not true. Theproblem of
protection bgleyees may be d difficult problem,
'ut it has solution. Every physical fact,f has an
dequate physical cause. The quantity of water
Fheh is brought down by the Mississippi is large,
tut it is not infinite. Its pressure is tremendous,
Iut it is.measurable These quantities being as
ertained by rigorous calculation, it remains
0 ascertain by another calculation, what must
le the height and the strength of the
protecting leyees. We know from sad expe
ience, that some of our levees have not been high
nough, or strong enough. Then they must be
Jade higher and stronger. We know too, that as
he leTee system is extended, the height and
trength of the leyees below must be increased
ut this Is not an infinite process, The quantity
water brought down by the Mississippi at its
laximum is a finite quantity. Let it be all re-
trained within its banks by artificial embanl-
tents, and a finite height and strength in those
mbankments will suffice to contain it. Beyond
lis point it will never be necessary to go. But
lat point we must finally reach before we can Sc
ire ourselves by means of the levee system Nor
it impossible TO foretell the expense of such |
fstem, or to define Its character when treaches |
5 final contamination. The quantities involved
the problem are easily ealeulable. We have
q authority OF Gen. Humphreys and Gen. Abbot
u saying that the total cost OF system efficient
Il the protection Of the whole country below the |
oathof the Ohio-or all of it that is likely to be
be twenty-six million dollars
he same distinguished engineers have calculated
e height and thickness of all the required leyees
ON Cairo down to New Orleans Until concll-
ons thus pointed cut by science have been acted
BY fair and complete development Of the levee
stem, it cannot reasonably be said Of that system
lat it has failed. In the meantime, if there are
hers noKe promising, we are prepared to give an
le weight to any arguments that may be urged
their favor G
BgM2iER BUTLEK,-The Richmond Times eompli-
ents Butler again in this wise a |,
There il a strong probability of hummer But
< being whitewashed into d state Of lnoderate
During the past fortnight his pros
efs nave frightened very materially. Ia the
st place, TWO valiant bank officials rushed into {
INT TO vindicate Butler from all suspicion OF hay-
pqeketed the funds Of savings bank In the
cong place, the counsel for New Orleans bro