Lewiston evening teller. [volume] (Lewiston, Idaho) 1903-1911, 1907-10-04


q @AfCoatinued from Page Two.)
witch II time to consider, although
~ most Important one. Plans for the
ir1pfogement of our inland navigation
nay fairly begin with out greatest
river and its chief tributaries, but they
can not end there. The lands which
the Columbia drains include vast
area of rich grain fields and fruit
lands, much of which is not easily
reached by railways. The removal of
distractions would open to navigation
and inexpensive freight transportation
fully 1000 miles of ch1hnel The
Sacramento and San JOAQUIN rivers,
with their tidal openings into San
Francisco bay are partly navigable
now. Their navigation should be
maintained and improved, so as to
open the marvelously rich valley of
California to inexpensive traffic, in
order to facilitate both rate regulation
and the control of the waters for other
purposes. And many other rivers of
the United States demand improve
ment, so as better to meet the re-
quirements of increasing production
from the soil, increasing manufacture
and rapidly-growing population.
While thus the improvement of in
land navigation is a vital problem,
there are other questions of no less
consequence connected with our wa
terways. One of these relates to the
purity of waters used for the supply
of towns and cities, to the prevention
OF pollution by manufacturing and
other industries, and to the protection
through forest covering or judicious
cultivation. With our constantly
creasing population this question be-
comes more and more pressing be-
cause the health and safety of great
bolies of citizens are directly involved.
Another important group of ques-
tons concerns the irrigation of arid
lands, the prevention of floods and the
reclamation of swamps Already many
thousands of homes have been estab-
lished on the arid regions, and the
population and wealth of seventeen
states and territories have been largely
increased through irrigation. Yet this
means of national development is still
In its infancy, and it will doubtless
long continue to multiply homes and
increase the productiveness and power
of the nation. The reclamation of
dc
the interior and along the coasts, has
already been carried on with admira-
BILE results, but in this field, too,
scarcely more than a good beginning
has yet been made. Still another fun
damentally important question is that
of water power. It's significance in the
future development of our whole coun-
try, and especially of the West, is but
just beginning to be understood. The
plan Of the city of Los Angeles, for in
stance to bring water for its use a
distance of nearly $50 miles-perhaps
the boldest project of it's kind in mod
ern times-promises not only to
achieve its purpose, but in addition tc
produce water power sufficiently val
liable to pay large interest on the in
vestment of over $2S,000,00
Unused Water Power
Hitherto such opportunities for using
water to double purpose have not al
ways been seized. Thus 1t has recent
ly been shown that water enough is
flowing unused over government dams,
built to improve navigation, to pro-
duce many hundreds of thousands OF
horsepower. 1t is computed that the
annual value OF the available but un-
used water power in the United States
exceeds the annual value of the prod
ucts of all our mines. Furthermore, 1t
is calculated that under judiciouA
handling the power of our streams
may be made to pay for all the works
required for the complete development
and control of our inland waterways
Forests are the most effective pre-
venters of floods. especially when they
grow on the higher mountain slopes.
The national forest policy, inaugurated
primarily to avert or mitigate the
timber famine, which is now beginning
to be felt, has been effective also In
securing partial control of floods by
retarding the run-off and checking
the erosion of the higher siobes With