The Greenville times. [volume] (Greenville, Miss.) 1868-1917, 1897-12-04
UNAsHAhED AND BRAWLINH lave.
RANCE.


g @ themselves the position Of leader
'nd teachers, aud use The conidenC
reposed in them only 10 deceive an
heIra,g A torch In the hand of vii
dom may light the way but Ia that @
a mailman II becomes an engine G
calamity aud destruction. There
no greater power for the guiding Q
public. sentiment than popular news
paper, and the responsibility Is seldom
realized in It's fullest extent, either b,
The paper Itself or the readers who ar
Influenced by II. The Commercial
Appeal Of Memphis, a successful lanC
widely circulated journal, contains, II
ils issue Of Dec. Bud, two editorials
which have most appropriately been
uhlished in parallel columns, but evi
lautly without rejecting that one I,
| bitterly sarcastic comment on tn
% her; and that the article entitled
II he Influence Of the Press" is, in thu
Eyes of It's readers from Memphis to
New Orleans, = damuing arrsignmenl
f the whole policy OF the paper in re.
gard to the levee Interests of the lower
yer. In an enumeration Of the
hiugs that newspaper eau do, III,
! iluuHl i'm question saws:
l. G "a make an appeal 10 the iutelh.
seurc uf rational men, l. may throw
| fIec'ive light on the plans of the
! lnmagOgue, and open the eyes Of the
| .oople to their true Interests. 1t may
give practical aid to public movements
lay unnecessary psnics, puncturo
| NY sensations stimulate public i'm
arovemeul- and civic courage"
Yer, we'll A high aud noble pur-
,o>e when adhered to. Whether the
'ommerclaI-Appeal lives up 10 its pos
biitie- or not is another matter.
side by side with this elevated con
cepuou of nevsper duty 10 pub ished
an editorial headed. THE Lower Le-
wees" For the benefit of those whe
have not already read the article with
Indignant astonlshment, it is reproduce
ed in full az follows:
The press Of New Orleans is calling
upon congress to do something at
once for the levees near that city, |
which are in a bad way. On tho
Algiers side, for reasons wholly uu.
known to the experts and scientists,
the magnificent leVees have been cav
ing II AMI tumbing into he river.
Hundreds aud thousands Of cubic
ards have thus passed out of sigh
ana he worst may not have arrived
Ehe people are naturally very much
XCiled over the situation aud fesrs
are entertained that great deal OF
valuable property will be destroyed
What perpleXes every one most is the
act that these levees withstood the
Ssaulls of the highest floods las
priug when the angry waters ran
high aud threatened to overleap all
distractions. Now when the waters
a. y HHeNC1 alllNSl w AuCiI ~ COO 4
the banks cave and the levees tumble
in. This reminds one of Moore's ships
hat weather the fitrcest storms only
10 Ego down at sea when heaven 10 all
tranquility The expense Of replac
Ing hese levees while great is mere
rife rs compared to the harm which
must come to the leveC system gener-
ally through the loss of public confd.
'uce. The justification and surprise
upon the unusual conduct
Of the levees demonstrate that every
hing connected with the confinement
)t the waters is largely speculation.
Theories that are believed iu aud the
virtues of which are demonstrable al
III lime or one place prove fsllacious
It another time or another place ana
give force TO the quaint saying of OH
liver men that nobody but God Al
nj ghty can do anything with the Mis-
lsslppi river" If the caving in should |
ave occurred on the other side dur {
lg the prevalence OF the overflow the |
lty OF New Orleans would have been
undated and sent out of existence
, JOin Tyre, SidOn, and the lost cities
! antiquity. Who shall say that the
alamity from which New Orleans es-
aped IN the spring of 1897 may not
ONE to 1t in the sprug of 1882 The =
uestloh Is one not pleasant 10 con-
'mplat e. Whatever precautions eau i
e AIKEN against such a stupendous
'agcdy should be taken at once. Il
lythlng can be done to insure the
ltely OF the Crescent City 1t should =
done at once. Procrastiustion is
erilous. At the point mentioned
le waters have been confined be- u
7cen two walls of earth aud one of
lese walls has been undermined aud
lmbled into the stream. l. thIs to
accepted as the inevitable result iU Q
cases where the waters are 80 con.
ledE Ii so, levee.building might 40 81
ell cease and mounds be substituted ID
here animal life may be pro srved Bi
airing the prevalence of high water. d
be caving of the banks at Algiers FL
ay be explained later on and proven 81
be singular or special incident not
kelly 10 happen again, bu; the advo
lies OF the outlet system will not fail
take advantage of The occurrence
I'd point out that it is natures pro.
st against confinement OF the -
aters aud natures effort to seek new y
Id additional outlets to the sea ~
ongress should lose no time IN tax - -
g the matter in hand and doing all ~
at eau he done to prevent -prea -
the calamity or recurrence %
= L. L l.. - L. L.