The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1874-04-27
The Mississippi Floods-Reiief and Pre-
yention.

no more rises in the air their fires having
been quenched by the incoming pitiless food,
has awakened the pity of feeling hearts in all
parts of the country, and with the character
istic benevolence Of our people, prompt con-
tributions are sent for the relief of the dis
possessed and desolate sufferers. We need
not urge q continuance of the aid which
they must receive for long time to come.
The philanthropic activity of our large cities
can always be securely relied upon when such
terrible disasters are brought fully to their
knowledge, and the faithful publication of the
news is generally sufficient exhortation to
deeds Of mercy. But while the impression
produced by this great calamity is still excit-
ing painful sympathy the time is best chosen
for discussing the means of future prevention.
There can be no doubt that these destruc-
tive, desolating inundations may be effectu-
ally provided against but it requires an ex-
penditure of capital far too great for the re-
sources of the people who would be most i'm
mediately benefited. If the banks of the
Lower Mississippi were cultivated and thickly
settled sufficient entertainments could be con-
structed and kept in repair at the expense Of
the owners without imposing an insupportable
burden But there are long stretches without
inhabitants, extensive tracts Of unreclaimed
lands which can never become fit for cultivation
until they are redeemed by q great outlay Of
money though once redeemed they would
be the garden of the Continent The safe
embankment of the Mississippi and the
reclamation of those lands is the proper work
of public authority; and it unfortu-
nately SO happens that no existing au-
thority seems adequate. Although expen-
ditures for improving the navigation
of the river are habitually made by Congress,
it has been held to be beyond the scope Of its
powers to make appropriations for the protec-
ton and benefit of private property skirting
its hanks. 1t does not seem to have been
sufficiently considered that the federal govern
ment is itself the owner of . great part of the
unreclaimed lands of the Southwestern States.
When States formed out Of the national terri
tory are brought into the Union the federal
government retains the proprietorship Of all
that part of the soil which it had not pre-
viously sold, and the greater portion of the
unreclaimed lands on the Mississippi still
belong to it. It ought at least to bear its fair
share with other proprietors in any expense
for the common benefit of the property of ALL
But the difficulty is that, being by far the
largest proprietor, the federal government
would not wish to bear expenditures not made
under its own direction, and moreover
it never permits its lands to be
taxed by the State governments So the unre-
claimed lands remain worthless and unsala-
BILE, and private owners are exposed to desc
lating ruin because they possess too small
part of the property to sustain the expense of
efficient embankments. The States which bor-
der upon the river are at present too poor to
pay even their ordinary taxes without incon-
venience, and they would, under any circum-
stances, refuse to be taxed for the benefit of
the minority who own lands subject to inun-
dation and of the unreclaimed lands which
belong to the federal government 30 these
affecting inundations continue because there
seems no governmental authority willing and
adequate to erect barriers against them. If
the country subject to inundation all lay with
in q single State the problem would seem less
unmanageable; but the river washes the
boundaries Of several States, and an efficient
system Of entertainments would require their
concert and cooperation if the work were not
done by the federal government
Now, there is a method, first suggested, we
believe, by Mr.. Calhoun in his address to the
Memphis Convention in 1845, by which all
these difficulties could be obviated. It con-
sists in REIMBURSEMENT of the public lands
to the States in which they lie, thereby
creating motive and furnishing means for
the States to make the necessary improve
ments. The sale of the reclaimed lands, after
they were fitted for the market, would defray
the expense of substantial levees and Of the
superintendent and repairs needed for keep
ing them in state of constant efficiency. The
grant of the lands ought, of course, to be
accompanied with a condition that they
should be converted to this use and
the States accepting them should enter
into an obligation to prosecute the
work at once. They would have no difficulty
in procuring loans based on the proceeds of
the coded lands. If concert between the States
should be deemed necessary for systematic
uniformity Of plan the constitution authorizes
Congress to consent to a compact between
them for that purpose.
That perfect security is attainable with
proper engineering skill is beyond all ques-
ton. We do not read in recent times of great
foundations Of the Pc, although its bed is con-
siderably higher than the plain through
which it flows, and in some places higher
than the roofs of the houses near its banks I;
and yet the Pc, like all the other rivers in that
part of Italy, is subject to great spring
foods occasioned by the melting of the snow
among the Alps. The great rivers which dis