The Fargo forum and daily republican., 1906-03-27
GREAT GOVERNMENT /.
DRAINAGE PROJECT

The man who can provide homes tor
industrious and strong armed citizens is |
a benefactor to the race. If Representa-
1 tive Steenerson of Minnesota can push |
| his swamp reclamation measure to eil-
actment into law, he will be deserving |
OF the praise of not only this but fu-
| ture generations. His bill Is ia prac-
Itieal extension of the aldAshomestead
| idea, or rather, perliaps an application
Iof the vast areas of sofif swamp lands of |
1.-THE idea embodied iiilathe national irri-
cation law. ,.ss,sf, Il h 49,. sTfiI
/ There are in the neighborhood OF
lIoo, 100000 acres of swamp lands in the
United States, some 10000 900 OF which
have been surveyed, and the great bulk
would make splendid farms, if the ex-
oess of water were drained off. M ~
The Steenerson bill provides for the
beginning of the work of reclamation of
tthese huge areas. The measure is fram-
led after the irrigation law; it provides
THAT the receipts from the sales of pub
Ilic lands, in the non-irrigation states
lshall constitute a drainage" fund to be
texpended by the government in great
drainage works, and further, that the
lcost of such drainage shall be pro-rated
Iamong the land benefited and paid back
Iby the settlers into the sfund" to be
fused over again for additional reclana-
ltion work. nE.
| This plan of developing the internal
Iresources of the country and making
lhomes of waste places. is splendid in its
Iscope, and appears to be entirely prac-
lticable and profitable. Take for in
Istance the single example of the swamp
Hands of the Kankakee river basin in
l1ndiana and Illinois. Here are some
10000 acres of the very richest of
bottom lands, but subject to overflow.
IThey are worthless except where they
Il have been reclaimed through expensive
lprivate drainage works, when they have
ibecome worth $Ioo and $I5o an acre.
%IYet it is estimated by the government
Isurveyors and engineers that the entire
asystem could be effectively drained at
Icost in the neighborhood of $Io an acre.
The same can be said of the lands of
1.-THE Red river valley in Minnesota.
4 These include the finest grain and farm
Hands in the northwest except that they
/. sare frequently oyerhowed. 1t would be
Iworth millions Of dollars to the farmers
! and settlers who would occupy these
Hands in small tracts, to have a perfect
! system of drainage provided These
{ lextensive systems, however, especially
Iwhere they are interstate, seem to be
feasible for handling only by the gen.
! teral government.
The Steenerson bill places the entire
E management OF the work in the hands
< OF the reclamation service and the plan
$ Icf operation follows very closely the
r riirrieation work now being done by that
z tbranch Of the interior department. Gov
Iernmert lands, ceded Indian lands and
lprivate lands may be included in any
drainage project, but in each case the
Icost of the drainage Improvement is to
be borne BY the owner of the land and
i no settlers can have drainage provided
for more than 100 acres, thus insuring
1.-THE division of the tracts into small
farms which must be actually settled
3 upon and titled.
This work the reclamation service is
lqualifed to do at this very moment,
While primarily an engineering bureau il
il has, in all its great irrigation projects,
I TO deal directly with the farmer Ii
u must outline a comprehensive drainage
e system for each irrigation project, since
d there is as much danger from too much
1. irrigation as too little. and to do this
/, the service has its own farm and soil
i. iexrerts. Some of the irrigation projects
d thaye distinctively drainage features, in
L fact are almost as much drainage as
e they are irrigation projects. In the Kla-
z lmath project, 10000 acres, or more
If than half of the area of the total project
+ IS rich ttlle land covered by eight or ten
d lfeet of water, and is to be drained and
o converted into over 1000 farms The
Topographic branch of the geological sur
II livery, OF which the reclamation service is
Z also a branch, has already run its lines
N over many of the great swamp areas ol
the eastern states and as soon as the
4 Steenerson bill becomes law the geo
logical survey engineers will be ready to
launch out into immediate activity III
drainage projects. 5s III
q, The fund provided by the bill would
be small as conpafed with the irriga.
4 Ition fund-it would approximate $780,
\ tooo a year and would start off witt
about $I,ooo,ooo, the receipts from tlls
atIsales for the fiscal year 1905 being iii
ii cluded but on the other hand the COS
r. lot drainage would not be so great a.
Il that of irrigation.
tol The importance Of this work OF whole
ssi sale drainage, III order to provide home,
Il for increased population, is scarcely sec
III lond in importance to the irrigation
w work IT means that tens Of millions b
a. lacress of the most fertile lands irrlag
asI Unable, which has lain idle for ages
III may be converted from dismal ane
ot lpestilential swanps and useless bogs in
wi Ito highly prosperous homes, to becorn
Il the garden spots Of the nation
sdl The Dutch have reclaimed vast area
r- in Holland from the encroachrnents 8
th the ocean Thousands Of families liv
re and farm below sea level, gaining thei
id security BY magnificent feats of engill
eerirg and persistence. They now con
template the drainage of the Zuyde
Y Zee, reclainling some 900 additiona
lacres Of meadow land American drain
Iage ii most cases would be far NOR
simple and less expensive it is sirnpl
question as to whether the nation vii