Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1881-07-06
THE Reservoirs SYSTEM.
N, Old SscindIe in Netc ClotAes-A Means
for R0b6inD the Government oMt of NIL
lions.


for Rob6in1 the Government oMt of NIL
lions.
Madison Democrat
The last session of Congress in its weak
ness contracted for another endless piece
of fraud upon the public treasury. 1t
allowed an appropriation to go in the river
and harbor bill for the construction of
reservoirs on the head waters of certain
rivers in the pine regions of Wisconsin and
Minnesota. Already, and before the work
has begun, there comes up innumerable
claims for overaowed land. The people of
this State know right well what immense
frauds these claims for overlooked land
along the Fox and Wisconsin river i'm
provement are, and now Congress has
opened up regular bonanza of this class
of frauds Cedar swamps and other useless
marshes have increased in value manifold
in all this region, since the way has been
opened to obtain damages to the extent of
thirty dollars an acre for land not hereto
fore worth thirty cents an acre, simply be-
cause the building of these reservoirs will
overflow it little more than nature has
already submerged it. The extent of
this fraud upon the government is well
nigh appalling. Thousands of square
miles will come in for damages. Tens of
thousands of square miles in these two
States that is not now, and has not been
for century at least, anything but use
less marsh, will now be represented as
splendid meadow land, and the govern
ment will be called upon to pay damages
of from ten to fifty dollars an acre for it
on account of the overflow from the reser-
voirs The whole scheme, of
which Congressman Pound is the
author, is gigantic swim
de- In the first place the reservoirs are
at best of no benefit to anybody, except
the few gigantic logging companies which
own all the pine forests, and there is no
Justice at all in making the whole peo-
pie construct reservoirs to enable them
to get out their logs more easily. But
for all this the scheme is no worse, prob
ably, than hundred other appropriations
that annually go through the river and
harbor appropriation.
The very men, however, and the very
same corporations that own all the pine
lands, and for whose benefit these reser-
voirs are to be constructed, also own all
tuC tuOusduuo VI SQudiO ILLUS VI litoi Oh
land that will be overhowed by the reser-
voirs. Now the hasty cheek of these
logging companies in putting in their
claims for magnificent damages for
the government use of their
marshes to aid them IN
getting out their pine logs, is without
example in this countryside home of
cheeky corporations. Such cool, DELHI
crate, brazen public robbery is unpreccd-
ented. Congress will be asked each year
in the future, now that this thing has
begun, to make further appropriations
for those reservoirs. And If they were
solely for the benefit of these corpora
tions in aiding them to get out their
pine logs, the people could bear it as
well as they do the hundred other similar
steals in the annual river and harbor bill,
although there would not be any justice
in 1t. But when the greatest source of
revenue that these corporations expect
from the construction of reservoirs, isIthe
damages they expect to get from the gov
eminent for OVERLOOKING their marshes,
the thing is little too infamous.