Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1889-12-20
WHO SHOULD TREAT THE RIVER

f1dcIaLnehto river sHouiu De Dy the OnlIeu
States Government, and not by the bank
land residents or the State. That the
stream is free natural highway, the her.
itage of all the people, and therefore of
national concern.
When the institution of litigation was
considered for the purpose of stopping the
deposition in the stream and its tributaries
of matter injurious to the river, and the
consequence of which was to raise its bed,
this journal held that such proceedings
should be entered upon on the basis of the
claim of injury to navigation, which it is
the right of any citizen to demand shall be
maintained on the free waterways of the
country. That position was finally taken,
and it was stronger before the Court than
even the just claim that the bank-land
people were great sufferers by reason of the
artificial filling of the river.
Ever since we have maintained, with
such vigor as We command, that while
there should be ne neglect on the part OF
the people of the State to conserve their
interests and prevent river destruction, it
is primarily the duty of the Federal Gov
eminent to prevent the obstruction of nav
igation Of the rivers of the country, and to
preserve their naFigable capacity. 1t will
be remembered that a strong and oft
repeated illustration used in these columns
was that if an upheaval should throw a
stone dam across the channel of naviga-
bic stream, or one should stretch a rope
barrier in its current, or pile the dump
ings of mill in the river, the proper de-
partment of Government was in duty
bound to see to the removal of the obstruc-
tion, and, so far as the Federal voice could
do it, prevent the replacing of the barrier.
The Government, after long time, came
around to this position regarding the Sac
ramento, which, however, was not a
new one, since it had been its
policy in the treatment of the
Mississippi, the Ohio, the Delaware, and
other important rivers. But the policy
had not been applied to the navigable
streams of California any further than to
provide for removing snags, and here and
there doing little dredging and a good
deal of examining and surveying. Now,
it seems to be the unanimous opinion Of
press and people that whatever the duty
or the neglect of the State or the people
along the river the Government should
take hold of the thorough treatment of the
Sacramento. That this verdict has been
at last arrived at is most gratifying, and
in large part compensates for long wait
ing for the confirmation of the persistently
expressed views recited. Here now we
have the San Francisco Bulletin saying:
The lessons of the recent food should be suf-
ficiently instructive to our members in Con
gress to enable them to formulate some plan
looking to the ultimate reclamation of the Sac
ramento river. The engineering difficulties
might with propriety be left to Commission
such as has been suggested by Professor David
son. The Sacramento is the chief river of Cali
f)rnia With its tributaries it drains district
nearly as vast and quite as fertile as the valley
of the Nile. Along its banks may be cultivated
almost every edible known to mankind. Made
navigable from its head-wa' ers to its mouth, it
will constitute in time Que of the great high
ways of commerce of the nation. The valley
which bears it name instead of as now, being
made up of few small towns and wide-reach-
ing ranches, will before many decades TEEN
with dense population. All the people of
New England might find comfortable homes in
this rich valley and still have plenty of room.
Plainly a waterway which is of prime impor-
lance to such country should not belneglected
any longer.
Professor George Davidson, of the Coast
Survey, and one of the United States Com
sioners for the care and treatment of the
Mississippi, is quoted as saying:
The great trouble is (which accounts for such
breaks and floods as we've Just had that the
river IS throttled at the lower end so the water
has no room to get out, and 1t must rise and
overflow the banks. Every man who leVees an
island puts his bark as near the edge of the
island as he cam and tries to shut the river in
as closely as possible. I've ridden down the
levees of the lower Rhine and on the top of the
solid embankments constructed along the Pc,
and am sure we have much to learn. I think
there should be two leYees, one high outer one
and one lower one nearer the river. In ordi-
nary seasons the lower bank would confine the
river and the territory between it, and the high
leyee could be cultivated.
Professor Davidson then proposes a
remedy for the neglect of the river, as fol-
lows;
What we should have is a Government Com
mission for the Sacramento and San Joaquin
rivers to have full charge of navigation, levees
and all Improvements Just as the Mississippi
river is now managed l am one of the mem
bers OF that Commission. 1t consists of seven
members, appointed by the President of the
United States. General COmstOck of the Engi.
neer Corps, is Chairman. Three of the Com
mission are engineers and four civilians One
is lawyer. Congress gives US large appropria
tons, and all matters relating to the river from
its source to its mouth are under its control
levees and everything. That's the way thing:
should be here. The Sacramento is the chic
river of this great State, 1t is the direct line o
commerce. Our great ships now enter SuisuI
Bay. The Government should just as properly
leyee and care for the river as for the Missis
sippi Let the Chamber of Commerce or some
of our people take the matter up, and have thu
attention of our Representatives drawn to thu
matter There could be a Commission of thre,
members, with a Government engineer at tn;
head of it. The river could be leveed, anC
put in the way of permanent and systematic
improvement.
In this recommendation he is supported
by Colonel Mendell and other enginee
officers. There can be no doubt whateve
that Professor Davidson is right. Nor
than that, we believe that if the peopl
of California will, by concerted action
lay the matter before Congress in ii
true light, the work of systematic treat
ment according to a comprehensive ant
orlerly system, including the entire length
of the stream, and all the causes that ten'
to its Generalization, will be ordered b
Congress.
The people are now convinced of tn
folly of patchwork leveeing of the vast
of money and energy that is involved il
most of the independent district system c
protection; of the fact that the strean
cannot carry all the water discharged int
it in great flood times; that unless tn
river can be treated comprehensively fron
its head to its mouth, it will be useless t
treat it at all. There is but one authorit
for such treatment, and it is that of tn
Federal Government; there is but on
prise that should lie drawn upon for tn
cost, and that is the Government treasury
for the river is the Governments, and a
the neonle of all the nation are intereste