The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1904-08-06

70 In other words. Of the $4,000 squal
miles Of territory which a perfect sy
TEN Of leYees could protect against
"A Hood. equal to that Of 1903. 23.0f
20 square miles were actually protecte,
My v congressional district is NJ
an exception, but a type Of the vale
~ protected by the leyees. What is tru
3 Of it Is equally true Of the whole delt;
- In 1t there are 5000 square miles whic
q" would be OVERLOOKED without pr0tet
- ton Of the leyees whenever the rive
reached the 4S.fOOt stage at Cairo. Tn
full force Of this statement will be al
pTeCiated when you recall that With.
= the past twenty years the river ha
passed the 4S-fOOt stage at Cairo foui
, teen times, and within the week jus
ended it passed above 40 feet on tina
, gnage.
In other words, that magnificent
area sweet today with the odor o
a fulEbIown spring, where Thousands
; ana tens Of thousands Of acres of the
most fertile soil in all this world are
, warming into budding beauty. seea
that have fallen upon good ground, ,
peOpled, as | believe. with the very salt
Of the earth, happy in the hope that
the seed so sOwn will, In the fullness
OF Gods providence, bring forth an
hundredfoId-tEis great valley, but for
the leyces along the lower Mississippi,
would today be L lake from l to 10
feet deep and from 20 to so miles
wide. stretching from Memphis to
F]icksburg
II would be a very difficult matter,
Mr., Chairman. to convince those pco-
pie today Chat in the treatment of the
Mississippi river the Ieyee theory Is
not justified ny experience.
In 1882, before the government had
ever appropriated any money for the
construction or maintenance of leyees.
and when the leyees then in existence
had been built exclusively BY the
States and leyee boards and individ.
uals. there were 2S2 creVasscs, which
destroyed 81 miles Of leyees. In 1897
the number of crevasses wa 20. which
destroyed 81 miles of leyees. and in
1903, the last and in many respects
the greatest OF all the floods. there
were u creyasses. which destroyed
Is miles Of leyee8. When it Is re-
memDered that the Crevasses in 1903
C"'urTed after the river had reached
us highest point and that out of
the total OF 1890 miles of leYees only
20 miles were destroyed by that food,
| submit that those who insist that
1t Is not possible to confnp the river
10 It's channel or to build a system
Of levees that will withstand the ray
ages OF the great river are running
their theories counter to Tie facts,
1t Is, however, the opinion Of the Mis-
SlsSippi River Commission and of all
he engineers Of all the layec boards
from Cairo to the Gulf that the levee
theory in the treatment Of the Mis-,
5isStppi river has been justified by
experience in all Its aspects. and tbs
should be sufficient warrant for this
House to act upon.
There is another objection some
times intorpc ed by those who are
opposed 10 appropriatlng money for
the improvement of the Nississippi
river-that the construction of Ieveps
IS not for the purpose Of improving
the channo! Of the river, and there.
by aiding in its nayigation, but that
the riparian landowners are the fay-
Ored lew who derive the benefit of
its expenditure. True, II is. these
owners are specifically benefited. 1t
is not different, however. in this re-
gard from all other appropriations,
for the common defense or for
internal improvements. This I'M.
earned Increment is always present
wherever the government spends any
considerable sum OF money for any
public work or improvement. The
whole people are Interested in and
benefited by the construction and
Of d great navy. BY the
of public buildings through
'ut the country, and by the improve
ment Of the rivers and harbors every,
where. But in every instance there
are a few who. by reason Of their pro.
ieSslon, their trade, or their I0nar.0n,
more particularly benefited than
he citizens at large. This, how
'Yer, Is no reason WIZ improvements
otherwise proper should not be made. I
There is one thought. however. |
want to suggest here. It has been as. '
serted that by reason Of the cnnstruc- \
ION OF these lcvees by the govern. {
nent land values have risen from s. I
md s. to $50 and $50 per acre and +
hat the people who are reaning this [
.aFyeSt should be required to build c
he Ievees. In the first place, there a
S no more reason why the rinarian &
anGOWners, in order to protect their I
property from floods. should nay for !
leyecs which Incidentally S
improve the navigation of the govern.
river than there is that the
government in order to improve the ,
aFigation of its river, should build /
wees which incidentally protect the Il
roperty Of the riparian landowners. G
he benefits are mutual. The bur. Q
ems should also be mutual and go ii