Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1907-05-07
Miseellansuas 8sadins.
SWAMP LANDS NEXT.
What the Government Is Doing In
Reclamation Work.

| ISNiNSS
What the Government ls Doing In
| Reclamation Work.
I'VE literally are in an epoch where
something is being made out Of moth
ing" remarked an official Of the geolo-
gical survey, according to a Washing
ton correspondent, in discussing the
work Of the government in the recla-
nation Of arid lands. "Since time was
and since man has been looking out
for No. 1, the effort Of many has been
to get something for nothing. The
gambling spirit Is potent factor In
every day business life. Everybody
takes chances II no chances are
taken our life becomes a damned hor-
rid grind
During the past few years, the gov
ernment itself has been taking chances
or course, they are not gamblers
chances, because the work Of the gov
ernment is calculated carefully and is
based on forethought and knowledge;
but the element Of chance or expert
ment Is entering very considerably in
some Of the operations We have under
taken. Thus far. the work has proved
immensely successful. Deserts have
been reclaimed and land once consid-
cred valueless has been made to bios
som as the rose Thousands Of people
now are living comfortably on land
that only a few years ago was regard
ed as so much waste territory and the
operations Of reclamation Of such
waste lands are being pushed forward
every day.
when the first laws were enacted
by congress in 1903 providing for the
reclamation of arid lands, the govern
ment had approximately 10000
acres of what practically were desert
lands. It was not calculated that all
Of these lands could be reclaimed, but
the advocates Of reclamation main
tanned that possibly half Of them, by
proper effort on the part Of the gov
ernment, could be made not only habi-
table, but fairly productive. They
pointed out that it would require con-
siderable money to accomplish the re-
| suits to which they looked forward,
but they insisted that it would be
money we'll expended, as it would in
sure directly to the benefit Of the gov
ernment.
1T is less than five years since the
actual work Of reclamation was begun,
but immense results have been achiev-
ed in that brief period. Water has
worked marvels in the arid region. In
the sections of the west now irri-
gated by artificial means, eight towns
have been located, hundreds Of miles
of railroad have been constructed and
| thousands Of persons have established
| their homes Canals now carry the
waters of rivers; tunnels have been
constructed through mountains; and
dams have been built to conserve the
water supply of various regions. Great
crops now are being raised on lands
which, five years ago, were not worth
walking over.
This work is being extended and en-
larged to such an extent as hardly can
be realized by the American people.
Thousands Of men are being employ
ed In converting waste places into
gardens, and they are literally doing
that very thing.
1.-The success which has attended the
reclamation Of desert lands has In
duced a project for the reclamation OF
swamp lands by the government
Really, 1t is not so difficult an under
taking as the irrigation Of arid lands.
A measure will be pressed in the next
congress for the reclamation OF swamp
lands in various parts Of the country,
including the states Of Arkansas, In
diana, New Jersey, North Carolina,
South Carolina, Wisconsin and Min
nesota and, perhaps, in some other
states. Once reclaimed, 1t Is asserted
by the supporters Of the project that
the land would be worth billions OF
dollars and would support several mil
lions of people. The expense Of re-
claiming these swamp lands would be
large-very large, in fact-but 1t
would be we'll worth the governments
efforts. AS an engineering problem
It would not be 80 difficult of solution
as the irrigation Of the desert lands OF
the west. After they are reclaimed,
the lands would be worth more, as
productive factor, than the desert
lands, because the crops that could be
raised on them would be more varied