The Banner-Democrat. [volume] (Lake Providence, East Carroll Parish, La.) 1892-current, 1902-02-15
A Grand Addition TO the Union

The ST. Francis basin levee is near
ing completion. after several years
work. It has been great undertake
ing. when we consider that the line OF
llevee is two hundred and ten miles IN
length. A great deal has been SAID ana
written by engineers, river men ana
Others as to the result OF the ST. Franeis
ilevee will bave on the river when COM
pleted. QnIte a number of them con-
tend that the building of this line
of levee will cause the river to go
several feet higher at Memphis,
which means several feet more water
in the Mississippi river for our levees
To hold. Others claim. however, that
the building OF the st. Francis levee
will cause the current to become
stronger. thereby deepening the bed
of the river They also say that the
water will pass to the gulf at a more
rapid rate. and there will be less dang
or of flood. We will have to wait and
see what effect the levying of this
GREAT reservoir of 3 500 square miles
will be, and whether our levees will
have 80 90 several feet higher or not
We take the following article from
the City Item on the st Francis levee !:
The reclamation in the states of MIS-
souri, and Arkansas of region en-
bracing $500 square miles, is an event
of national interest. 1t brings into
cultivation an extent of fertile territory
as large as the states of Rhode Island
and Delaware The land, which will
soon become the homes of industry in
the St. Francis basin lies on the west
bank of the Mississippi. between New
Madrid, in Missouri and, Helena, in
Arkansas. The work of reclamation
is under way. only few additional
miles of levee being necessary to COM
plete the artificial banks which are to
hold in check the flood waters of the
Mississippi. The soil is an alluvial de-
post, and, therefore. remarkably fer
tile and capable of the highest cultiva-
ton.
A comparison of the extent of the
St. Francis basin with the combined
areas of Rhode Island and Delaware
gives a good idea of its magnitude. All
of this area was recently overlooked By
the waters of the Mississippi With
the exception Of, few gaps there has
| been constructed in this work "a con-
tinus line of levees some PIP miles in
length. The work has been done I'M
der the supervision of the st. Francs
leyee boards of Missouri and Arkansas,
acting in conjunction with the United
States government. The expenditures
of the two boards together to date
amount to about 81. 500 900, while the
government has expended about $780,
900 additional. Already the reclaimed
land has appreciated in value many
times its original valuation, and is
now held at $50 an acre. Railroads
now interseet the reclaimed land in
several directions. numerous industrial
esta blishments have been built, the
population has been doubled. and a
general prosperity has appeared where
originally there were only waste
swamps.
1t is. however. not only in the ex-
tent of the undertaking that the St
Francis basin reclamation is notable.
but in the very low cost at which it has
been accomplished. The work of re-
claiming about $500 square miles of
the Nile valley IN Egypt is now being
carried out by the building of dams at
Assouan and Assiont at an. estimated
cost of $25 900 900, while the entire
reclamation of the $500 square miles
of the St. Francis basin will not cost
more than $5.000,000 all told. or only
ST. $50 per square mile, compared with
$4,000 in the Egyptian reclamation.
Here is, in effect, a new state added
to the Union st less cost than we
have been paying for outlying islands.
IL will be worth far more to the people
of the United States as home market
for our products, and as site for mil
lions OF men engaged in agriculture or
other industries, than all the territories
we have been buying at distance, 1t
needs no protection of armies or navies.
The soil is of unsurpassed fertility. and
the climate leaves nothing to be desir-
ed. The successful reclamation of
this vast region emphasizes the duty OF
the government to redeem and make
habitable the great arid regions of the
west, and the still more valuable land
still subject to the overflow of the Mis-
sissippi. BY adding such new agricul-
tural lands to our productive indust-
ries, we bring population, wealth and
commerce TO the very heart of the re-
public. instead of going across the seas
to find regions of less promise, hamp-
cred by conditions of race, habit dist
ance and need for protection by costly
armies and navies If we want colon
les. they can be had for the seeking all
along the Mississippi river from New
Orleans to ST. Louis. to say nothing OF
the imperial domain which needs only
irrigation to blossom as the rose and TO
furnish homes for ten million people,