The Cairo bulletin., 1912-11-17
The Levee Apportionment.

Inc LctSC APpoA tioii-AAeA''
Cairo has won every point in its
negotiations for the division OF the
expense to be incurred In raising
and strengthening the levees sur
rounding Cairo and the Drainage Dis
trict. thanks TO the tactfulness OF
Mayor Parsons and other members
OF the Citizens Executive Commit
tee.
Il has been definitely decided that
Caifo's. share Of the expense shall be
IS so. 900. This Is the sum the Execu-
tive Committees bad decided Carp
should contribute and that thistinl-
+ portant point has been gained with
Dat litigation or friction speaks welk
/ for the judgment OF the committee
members,
Frequent complaints have been ut
tered relative to the length OF time
1 required to apportfon the expense.
An early beginning of operations on
the levees certainly would have been
| desirable, but it must be conceded
i that the settlement of questions thai
naturally arise when matters of such
gigantic proportion are considered is
1 sufficient justification for the de-
! lays
There were scores, yes, hundreds
I of little technical points that had TO
be. given attention and If caution
U had been sacrificed to haste, serious
mistakes might have been made.
The magnitude of the project can be
Judged by the vast amount of time
required by the expert, retained
Jointly by the railroad companies,
to prepare his report, which consist
ed of forty pages of typewriter
copy.
The business interests of Cairo
have been waiting for the final APP
portionment While operations Have
not been affected to such great ex
tent the uncertainty of things. had
a tendency to delay bigger projects.
With an adequate levee system,
Carp is bound to prosper The fact
that improvements are being con-
sidesed should greatly stimulate
business. Cairo, to begin with, has
the advantage of a most advantage
Gus location, and with the proper
amount of exploitation, the city il
boufd to 60 forward.
When the levees are raised and
strengthened in accordance with the
plans now outlined, no city in the
union will so we'll guarded
against floods. The leyees sur
rounding the. city proper held back
last spring the greatest volume Of
water ever recorded. Just think Of
the enormous power of resistance
there will be when the levees are
raised and strengthened
The railroad companies have acted
admirably and the officials who CO.
operated with members of the Execu.
tive Committee are deserving of
much praise. That the companies
have been liberal In their treatment
of the city and the Drainage District
indicates thai tie officials have
great confidence in Cairo. There
should be absolutely no dlScrimina.
tion in praising either the Officials
or members of the Citizens Exeou
tive Committee, for they wcrke(
hand in hand.
The new levees will stand "a |
monument to the leen Judgment q
Mayor. Parsons and Messrs. John S
Aisthorpe, j. II. GaIligan, D. S. Lans
den, A. S. Fraser, John P. Greaney
and Il. A. Smith While they ar
not men who desire silver trophio
or memorial tablets. inscribed will
o record of th.ir achievements, tn
City Council, as Representative
Of the whole people, shouii give
them some Official recognitlon
What they iavesdone is the Liz
gest one thing > er actem plshed il
Cairo. Through their efforts, Cairr
will be safsgnardal from the hisl
water and MR. than halt MILL ii
dollars, which viii H. brought int
the city win directly benefit III.
business int ests That lave suf
fered and indirectly benefit ever,
resident. FL
- Nnw All Tnrnthnr