Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1903-09-16

objections urged to this idea. What
are these objections? In the first place.
they say, the proposition Is 80 mon
strously big that the American people
cannot handle II. | don't believe II.
] do not believe there is any practical
question too big for the American peo-
pie to handle. l believe that II some
or the engineers right here today
should make careful survey OF Kaw
valley. for instance. they would find
that the loss last spring would equal
the cost OF preventing floods there.
another objection urged is that IL
viii add to the already large army Of
government employees. and that this
addition would mean great number of
men who might exert n political iniu-
ence. In this country We have many
letter carriers, postmasters, United
states marshals, etc, who are gov
eminent employees, Almost any one
can be u postmaster or United states
marshal, take Il, but II takes sclen-
know that the scientific men employed
by the government don't NEEDLE In
partisan politics.
There Is another objection urged. II
Is claimed this Is extending paternalism
too far; that the government doesn't
want to go into business; that every
thing that can be done by private cap
ital should be done that way. But the
storage of water and the prevention OF
floods enters so largely into our COM
munity life that private life cannot
handle II. IL Is purely governmental
task.
What want to know now is wheth-
or we can prevent floods. II we can
pervent Hoods the cost, no matter how
much, IL not too great to prevent this
great loss of life and property.
II have been over much of the west
ern country between the British line
and the Rio Grande, and II appears to
me as II nature had put natural de-
pressions for reservoirs all through
this great region.
MORE HOMES NEEDED.
I'VE have spent millions for rivers
and harbors, and we are ready TO spend
millions more on them and on our
navy, because we are going TO dominate
the sea as we have already subjugated
the land. And while we are preparing
to cut the isthmian canal-for we are
going to cut 1t, no matter what that
little republic down there thinks about
canal, while we are carrying to the
Philippines the principles of our nation
and while we are sending our products
to the farthest parts OF Asia, we ought
to expend our energies here for the pur-
pose of building homes for people here
In the greatest land for homes In the
world. The problem of irrigation
comes right home to the people here in
the arid and semi-arld states, and irri-
cation and flood prevention are the
great twin questions Of today"
Senator Burton read letter from
d. NJ Harrod of the Mississippi river
commission, endorsing the views al
ready expressed by him, and then con-
tlnued:
The irrigation fund belongs to irri-
CATION alone. II Is not the purpose that
any of that fund be taken to prevent
floods, at least outside the states
named In the bill What want is that
we have more money to prevent floods
and treat these questions as twin ideas.
Il do not want this congress to con-
vene next year with only 26 states and
territories represented. | want TO see
45 states and all the territories repre-
scented next year, and II you declare as
strongly In favor OF food prevention as
ioua cor,ina,tai o,,nstinn you hoya
than a onas,ion ,bat etratches fro,,
onoar 20 ocean ''''e ''
HWa have never inva,ted ev,rs
Machine and I thinL ,,e na,er Cor.
that IT, ero,,,y, 90 snaol, ohomt Nhaca,,s,,
,non,s donoi ninn is not IN there II 10
horn or, az aar,,, W. ca, no,,or ,,,oLs
,.ain hy art,GntoI ,,,aans ,rha, idae
has heen exnloded lone ogo and we
made too high up for man to reach.