The weekly true Democrat. (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1905-1912, 1906-09-07

II
fall election on a proposition to create a
commission that will investigate the
possibility and advisability Of draining
the Everglades, the great swamp in
Southern Florida, which covers millions
of acres Of land, believed 10 be rich and
| fertile IL the water can be drawn of.
1t is proposed to endow the commission
with great latitude of action. IL may
drain or not, as Il sees fit; It may begin
| the work at once, or defer It indefinite
| ly; it may drain what portions 1t pleases
and leave the rest unreclaimed; IL may
impose special tax of ten cents an
acre on such persons as will be bene-
flied; it may sell any and all reclaimed
land at private sale; collect taxes;
carry on irrigation work after drainage
is completed, and perform many other
duties. In other words, it has the great
powers granted to levee and drainage
boards in Louisiana and Mississippi,
and which have been found necessary
TO enable them 10 do any effective
work.
The proposition has the strong sup
port of Governor BrOward, but we are
hearing the usual objections TO the i'm
provement; and the opposition to the
proposed drainage has tried TO create a
diversion by asking the following ques-
tons:
Will the drainage Of the Everglades
cause climatic changes that will do
harm of more cost than the land TO be
reclaimed will be worth? To whom
will the land belong after it is reclaim
ed? Does the State now need the land,
or would 1t be better 10 wait until there
is a larger population? Would the
placing of so much land on the market
depreciate the value Of the other land
owned by the people? Have any thor
ough surveys been made showing the
best places for the location Of drainage
works? Would the land sell for more
if put on the market ten, twenty or
thirty years hence than if offered within
year or two?
There have been joint debates on this
subject between Governor BrOward and
the opponents Of the Improvement. 1t
is needless TO say in Louisiana, where
much work of this kind has already
been done, that the objections contained
i'm the questions asked are not worth a
moments consideration. The idea that
the drainage Of "a small section of Flor
ida will change climatic conditions is
too prepOsterOus for "A moments con-
sheraton, and it is a wonder that those
il would unfaVorably affect the moon.
We have drained twenty times as much
land along the Mississippi river in the
same condition as the Everg ladies' with
out the faintest suspicion of any eli
matte effect.
The proposition that the recovery of
so much swamp land may have a ten
dency to depreciate the value of land
already drained probably exerts more
influence in organizing an opposition. 1t
is probably feared that the Florida land
market will be Oversupplied and that
this may cause depreciation in values.
Here also we can safely tell our friends
of Florida that they have nothing to
fear. The great work of draining and
retaining lands on the Mississippi and
the Gulf coast of Louisiana, in the
Yazoo delta, the Tensas bottoms and
the swamps of Cameron, Vermilion and
Terrebonne has not only not sent down
values, but actually advanced them,
and this is the experience the world
over. Immigrants do not care to come
into section which consists mainly of
swamps. The more improved land there
is in any State or district, the higher
the value of that land ranges.
The problem of draining the Ever
klhutb HAS never DtcH tllIlGI dS ullllCuiI
or as expensive as the drainage of the
lands on the Mississippi. There is no
mighty river TO contend with, no levees
to be built. II is only necessary to pro-
vide the drains and keep them open.
Twenty years ago the Times Democrat
sent an expedition through the Ever
glades, which, while 1t by no means
settled all the problems involved, show
cd that the difficulty was largely due to
natural distinctions, which prevented
the outflow Of the rainfall in pretty
much the same way as the Atchafalaya
and Red river "rafts" formerly con-
veTted a large portion Of Louisiana into
a great swamp, interspersed with many
lakes Ii took some work and some
years to remedy this condition of af-
fairs in Louisiana, but the cost was not
great, There may be other difficulties
in the way in the case of the Ever
glades, but they are not insuperable.
The proposition ought TO carry and will
be unquestionably of great benefit to
Florida.
The assurance and facility with which
editorial writer's far distant from the
scene are prone to discuss problems and
policies with the details and conditions
Of which they are utterly unacquainted
is strikingly illustrated in the two clip
pings which we reproduce above at the
CouTtPously. worded request of Governor