Morgan County republican. (Versailles, Mo.) 1906-1914, 1907-09-26

understand how the thrifty Yankee
came to overlook the fortunes lying
latent in the swamp land areas of the
east.
That rich rewards did await the till
or of these traCts was long ago demon.
strated. II Is no experiment that Uncle
sam is about to engage in. Thousands
of acres have already been drained by
individual effort. For many years plant.
crs on the black land farms of Ar.
kansas and Louisiana have been gath
oring In the fortunes which Dame Ma.
turc has stored there. During all the
idle centuries of the past these lands
have been gathering richness In the
silt washed down from higher levels
and in the dccayiug luxuriant vegeta
ton until an alluvium Of great depth
and fertility has formed.
Many small submerged areas
throughout he middle and eastern
states have been drained and turned
into agricultural fields, and all along
the borders Of the Kankakee swamp
In Indiana and Illinois, the Everglades
in FlOrnida, the great Dismal swamp
in Virginia and North Carolina, and
other similar tracts thrifty farmers
have run bitches, cleared the surface
of the soil and rcaped their rewards
In crops which in many cases more
than repaid the cost of the work the
first year. But the costly mistakes
incident TO the evolution of irrigation
in the west have been repeated again
and again in reclaiming the low lying
areas of the east,
There is no question as to the
propriety of government reclamation
by irrigation. Why should 1t not be
as truly a function of the government
to take water of land which is toe
wet as to put water on soil which Is
too dry? The area reclaimable by
drainage Is greater than that which
can ever be made productive by irriga-
ton. The cost Of drainage Is less. and
In such sections as the rich fruit lands
of Arkansas and southern Florida and
in the vicinity of large cities where
truck gardening is profitable the an.
nual returns per acre will compare ia.
vOrably with those In any section OF
the country.
The value of national drainage az a
purely business proposition cannot be
overestimated II would mean the an.
neXation of an empire larger than all
New England with several small east.
ern states thrown in. Assuming the
reclamation of 80. 000, 900 acres. the
taxable property Of the United States
would be increased by more than
$4,000, 000, 900. The annual income from
crops would add over 81, 500, OOO, 900 to
the wealth of the nation. If 1t were
possible to subdivide this enormous
area into 40 acre farms 1t would supply
$500, 900 families with homes and put
~, 900, 900 people upon the lands that
are now practically worthless. II Is
safe to say that those families will
spend $4,000 in houses and equipments
and improvements for their farms.
This Will mean he expenditure on the
waste lands Of today of more than
81, 200, 600, 900. An average family OF
five will spend $500 per year. That
will mean to the business interests an
increased trade If 81, 500, 900, 900 an.
nually oye what is now enjoyed.
According to the terms Of the meas.
lre now under consideration all this
can be brought about without the di.
rect appropriation of one dollar. Win
the most progressive nation on earth
remain Indifferent TO this great oppor
tunity?
The morning hours of the twentieth
century have already Witnessed the in
itiation of one of the greatest works
of internal expansion ever undertaken
the reclamation of the arid lands OF
the west. Let the great work go on
by making glad also the waste places
Of the east, adding untold millions to
the nations wealth and, what is of fal
greater value, providing countless
homes of abundance and comfort
where nothing but ~desolation now
rclEns.