The San Francisco call., 1905-01-04
DUTY OF CITIZENS Who love THE FLAG TO
ENCOURAGE NATIONAL GUARD.
Maintenance Of Militia Does AWdu With
Necessity for Large Standing ARMY
in the Time OF Peace,

metals from their hiding places with
out rendering arabic areas, upon
which humanity must depend for its
food supply until time shall be no
more. untitled for human habitation.
The State Controller has submitted
the recommendation that certain
sum shall be appropriated and placed
at the disposal Of the SFte Board of
Examiners to be expended in printing
the reports of boards. commissions
and officers whose publication has not
been otherwise provided for. It ap-
pears to be necessary either to do this.
or to make separate appropriations
for general printing and for .publica-
ton Of reports for the boards and Of
ficers referred to, since under the ex-
isting conditions some of them are
unable to have their reports printed
in the State printing Office until de-
hciency appropriations have been
made for them. It would be most un-
wise. however. to go back to the old
practice of making a lump sum ap-
preparation for all State printing, be-
cause the present plan of making sep
arate appropriations for each office,
as recommended by Governors Budd
and Gage, has proved to be much
more economical.
one of the matters of greatest mag
nitude which the Legislature will be
called upon to consider is that of con-
troll of the floods of the Sacramento
River and it's tributaries and the rec-
lamation of the basin lands. Fully
twenty millions of money. public and
private, have already been expended
to accomplish this object, but the re-
suits have been unsatisfactory, and in
recent years the opinion has been
growing that the solution of the prob-
lem could be found only in compre-
hensive system of channel develop
ment and bank protection, such as is
beyond the power of accomplishment
by land owners acting individually or
through local district organizations.
The previously gradual development
of this sentiment received a great i'm
petus from the disasters of last spring,
when river floods occurred which in
f1icted damage amounting to sew
eral millions of dollars and demon>
strated the need of unified public
control of the levee system.
Almost before the full extent of the
damage had been ascertained the
owners of river lands, manifesting
their usual indomitable spirit, held a
convention, formed an association and
enlisted the cooperation of the COM
mercial organizations. Out Of this
movement there eventually came the
employment by the Commissioners of
Public Works of three eminent engi-
neers, Messrs. T. G.. Dabney of Mis-
sissippi, H. B. Richardson of Louisiana
and H. M. Chittenden of the United
States army, who. with Mr.. M. A.
Nurse, were constituted a board to
study the whole problem, and report a
plan of relief. The report, which has
recently been submitted, Is an able
document, and shows great boldness
In its conception of a system of con-
troll of the rivers.
In its analysis of the causes of the
floods the report demonstrates that
the immediate cause, though not the
primary one, is the inadequacy of the
channel of the middle and lower river
to carry off the floods poured in from
above and from both sides. The most
striking proof offered of this is the
fact that at Iron Canyon. near Red
Bluff the channel capacity of the river
is equal to 100000 cubic feet per sec>
ond, while at Collinsville. near its
mouth, the maximum flood flow is
but 10000 cubic feet. The primary
cause Of the channel conditions be-
fore mentioned Is, of course, the to-
biography Of the vallev which from
Stony Creek down to Suisun Bay offers
such very gradual descent that the
river, unaided by sufficient levees, does
not cut deep channel, as 1t does
nearer its source. In times of high
floods the channel from Stony Creek
southwark has always been INSULT
cient to carry all Of the water and in
recent times there has been a serious
channel deterioration from the mouth
of Feather River to the bay. At all
times the river. in flood periods, has
relieved itself of surplus waters by dis
charging them over the banks, or
through sloughs, into. the depressed
areas, called basins, by which 1t Is
bounded on both sides.