Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1908-12-11

Hons OF dollars upon these Waterway.
~ me Irauic on nearly all of them Is
s,rao, aeEhntng. This condition is the
iuirect result or the absence OF anv com
prehensiye and far-seeing plan Of wafar.
way Improvement. Obviously we cannat
continue 10 thus expend the revenues of
the government without return. n 10
poor business to spend money for ,niand
navigation unless we get IL
Inquiry into the condition OF the NI,ss,s-
isippi ana It's principal tributaries reveals
very many instances OF the utter ~ sts
tcaused by the methods which have bithau
to obtained for the so-calIed 'imnroya-
ment' Of navigation A striking Instance
Is supplied by the I'm ovement" of the
ONO, which begun In was continued
under a single plan for aalf a century In
1872 a new plan was adopted and ollowed
Tor q quarter of a century. In 1902 still
a dliIerent plan was adopted and has
since been pursued at a rate which onIv
promises a navigable river In from twan,
~ 10 one hundred years longer.
Such shortsighted. vacillating and f,-
tile methods are accompanied by decreas-
1ng WaIcf-borne commerce aud increasinp
traffic congestion on land nv increasine
floods, and by the waste Of public n1oray
The remedy lies in abandoning the innt6-
o9s wnlch nave so signally failed and
adopting new ones In Keeping with the
needs ana demands of our peonle
Until the work OF river Improvements ia
ui'ucltahen IN a modern way il can not
nave results that will meet the needs OF
N Wv y ttESE needs Ghnl1ld
be met without further dilly-daIlyinp or
delay. The plan which promises the hest
ana quickest results is that OF a perma-
nent commission authorized to co-ordinate
the work or all government departments
relating To the waterways. and to frame
and supervise the execution OF a comnre-
hensiVe plan. Under such a commission
the actual work of construction might be
entrusted 70 the reclamation service. or
80 the military engineers acting with a suf-
ticient number of civilians to continue tho
work In time OF war. or 1t might be di-
Nloeo oelWeeh the service
aud the corps of engineers. Funds should
be provided from current revenues II Il
is deemed wise-otherwisa from the sais
of bonds. The essential thing is that the
work should go forward under The baot
possible plan. and with the least possible
delay. We should have a new TYNE Of
work and a new organization for nlanning
and directing 1t. The time for PLAYING with
our waterways is past. The country oe-
mands results.
National Parks.
! urge that all our national marks "a
jacent to national forests be placed com
pletely under the control of the forest SER
vice or the agricultural department in.
stead or leaving them as they now are,
under the interior department and policad
by the army The ongress should nrovida
for superintendent with ADEQUATE corDs
of first class civilian scouts. or rangers
and further. place the road constrlction
under the superintendent instead OF Ieav-
ing ii with the war department. such a
change in park management would result
in economy and avoid the difficulties OF
administration which now arise from hay-
ing the responsibility Of care and protec-
ton divided between different depart-
nents. The need of this purpose is pecul.
iarly great in Yellowstone park. This.
like the Yosemite. Is a great wonderland
and should be kept as a national play-
ground, In both all wild things should be
protected, and the scenery kept wholly
unmarried.
1 am happy to say that I have been able
to set aside IN various parts OF the coun-
try, small. well chosen tracts OF ground
70 serve as Sanctuaries and nurseries for
wild creatures.