Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1908-12-10

| followed for quarter of a century.
In 1902 still Il different plan was adopt
/ ed and has since been pursued at a
rate which only promises a navigable
river i'll from twenty to hundred
years longer.
Such shortsighted vacillating and
futile methods are accompanied by de-
creasing water borne commerce and
increasing traffic congestion OH land
by increasing floods and by the waste
of public money. The remedy lies in
abandoning the methods which have
so sisnally failed and adopting new
ones in keeping with the needs and
demands of our people.
/ In report on Il measure introduced
at the first session of the present con:
greSs the secretary of war said, "The q
chief defect in the methods hitherto
pursued lies in the absence OF execu
Tive authority for originating compre.
! hensiye plans covering the country OF
natural divisions thereof" In this
opinion | heartily concur. The pres
ent methods not only fail to give us
inland navigation, but they are iniu
rious to the army us we'll What Is
virtually permanent detail of the
corps of engineers to civilian duty nee.
essarily impairs the efficiency of oui
military establishment. The military
engineers have undoubtedly done eff
Gent work in actual construction, bu,
they are necessarily unsuited by thei,
training and traditions to take the
x,snx ~
NIT to the congress the commercial
and industrial information and fore,
casts upon which waterway improve
ment must always so largely rest
Furthermore, they have failed to GRASP
the great underlying fact that every
stream is a unit from its source to Its
mouth and that all its uses are inter
dependent. Prominent officers Of the
/ engineer corps have recently even gone
so far as to assert in print that wa
terways are not dependent upon the
conservation of the forests about their ,
headwaters. This position Is opposed
! to all the recent work of the scientific
bureaus of the government and to the
general experience of mankind. A.
physician who disbelieved in vaccina.
ton would not be the right man to
handle an epidemic of smallpox, nor
should we leave a doctor skeptical
about the transmission of yellow fever
by the stegomyia mosquito in charge
OF sanitation at Havana or Panama.
So with the Improvement of our riv-
ers. 1t is no longer wise or safe ia
leave this great work in the hands OF
men who fail to grasp the essential
relations between navigation and gem
eral development and to assimilate and
use the central facts about our
streams
Until the work of river Improvement
is undertaken in Il modern way 1t cam.
not have results that will meet the
needs OF this modern nation. These
needs should be met without further
dilly-dallying or delay The plan which
promises the best and quickest results
is that of permanent commission an
thorized to coordinate the work OF M
the government departments relating
to waterways and to frame and super
wise the execution OF a comprehensive
plan. Under such commission tile
entrusted to the reclamation service OF
to the military engineers acting witt
sufficient number of civilians TO cor &
|tnue the work in time Of war, OF. L,
might be divided between the rcciamu 4
ton service and the corps OF engineers
Funds should be provided from cur
rent revenues If it is deemed Wise
otherwise from the sale of bonds. The
essential thing is that the work should
30 forward under the best possible
plan and with the least possible delay
We should have new type of work
and a new, organization for planning
and directing it. The time for playing
with our waterways is past. The coun
try demands results
National Parks.
j urge that all our national parks ar.
jacent to national forests be placed
completely under the control of the
forest service of the agricultural de
partment, instead of leaving them, as
they are now, under the interior de
partment and policed by the army
The congress should provide for SUI.
first class civilian scouts or rangers
and, further, place the road construc.
ton under the superintendent instead
of leaving it with the war department
Such 4 change in park management
would result in economy and avoid the
difficulties of administration which
now arise from having the RESPONSE.
bility OF care and protection divided
between different departments. The
need for this course is peculiarly great
in the 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
am happy TO say that / have been
able to set aside in various parts OF
the country small, well chosen tracts
OF ground to serve as sanctuaries ana
nurseries for wild creatures.