The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1912-09-26

" osuo00 kae river ana It's tr1O.
utaries and make them useful agents
Of business In place Of DANGEROUS
agents Of destruction.
Use Panama Plant.
1t Is to this work that I would
ask the United States now to turn
It's attention Just as 1t has turned
Its attention to digging the Panama
canal. Let US use the expert knowl-
edge and the plant itself for the con-
troll OF the waters of the great inland
basin which occupies over half Of
the area Of the republic. The source
streams must be harnessed. The
freshet waters should be kept In res
ervoirs to be used for irr; cation and
conserved for dry-season navigation.
while strong levees built from Cairo
to the gulf will hold the already part
ly controlled floods. AS the Louisiana
legislature has said, the nation can
not anord longer to permit it's re-
sources Of soil. Of power. Of water and
OF navigation to be carried as a
wasteful and destructive flood to the
sea. Since the states themselves can
not In the general interest prevent
this waste. the federal government
should treat the problem as a whole.
and grapple with 1t in the only effi-
cient way-by conserving such floods
at their source and thereby subject
Ing them at every stage of their hith-
erto wasted existence to beneficial
uses"
Discussing the relation of forests to
stream flow, Colonel Roosevelt de-
clared that one great reason why
floods are growing more numerous
was because of the denuding of up.
lands Of their forests.
RORo~fa
Some men Of good repute hae de-
MED the relation of forests to stream
now." he said. "Others who have
firmly believed in the. truth Of 1t, un-
til recently have been unable to pro-
duce figures their opponents could not
deny. Now. however. the facts are
proved beyond the shadow Of a doubt
by the work of the government in the
white mountain region Of New Hamp-
shire. During three periods of high
water last April, to use that one ex-
ample. the flow from the deforested
watershed was not far from double
the flow from the forested watershed.
area for area. while there was deep
snow still in the forests after it had
entirely disappeared from the open.
Further investisations not yet pub
lished show still more strongly the ef-
feet Of forests on stream fiow. These
conclusions confirm the result of the
forest service. Therefore we may re-
gard the question as settled beyond
dispute"
Colonel Roosevelt recommended
the construction Of a complete reser-
voir system.
Flood water conservation by for
ests and reservoirs will meet many
needs. he declared. When 1t is ac-
complished by the nation for only the
nation can accomplish it, you Of the
lower Mississippi valley will never
again be submerged by great floods.
The present levee system, strength
ened and maintained as it must be by
federal aid. would insure you safety
against whatever floods could escape
from storage. The 14-foot waterway
that you desire and need SO much
would become a reality less through
artificial channel correction and ca
nalization then because Of increased
summer and fall how, and the benefits
of the Panama canal would thus find
their way by @~34er straight to the
heart Of the con6Aant. - The hydro
electric development Of the country
would be increased by many million
horse power, the benefits Of which
would go direct to the people. Such
action would mean literally to pass
prosperity around"