The Washington times., 1913-04-03
NATIONAL PROBLEM OF THE RIVERS.

For years it has been manifest that the increasing
violence of floods, menacing and in part destroying
an increasing volume of property and life, must at
last tragic climax that would force national
attention to this problem. The concentration of at
tention such questions, to the point of forcing
action, always comes suddenly. A sensational book
focused it on meat inspection. the Titanic horror
centered it on the dangers of ocean travel. Now
at length the supreme flood disaster has crysallized
it around the question of flood prevention.
Like nearly all the greater problems of great
country, this is recognized readily enough to be
national in scope and character The national Gov
ernment is asserting rights over rivers that the States
are, indeed, at times indisposed to recognize. The
States would be pleased if the nation would spend
the money while leaving them the usufruct in
power and safety. That adjustment is unlikely to
be reached 1t was generally recognized as inevitably
impossible, even before the Middle Western floods
of this year. Today as never before, is recognized
that there be only effective handling of this
matter. The nation must step in and impose a ma
tonal scheme of river improvement and flood pre-
venton Perhaps it will be found necessary to divide
the expense among nation, States and cities; that
indeed seems to be the logical program. But first
of all there must be one general, sweeping, nclu-
sive plan; plan that for the great Mississippi val
ley, for instance, shall be wide-reaching as that
empire; plan that shall unity and coordinate all
parts of fhe work; that shall build evees and jeties
in Louisiana with reference to flood reservoirs in
Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia; that shall
dredge the lower channel with consideration for
the navigation of the tributaries everywhere; that
SHALL in short, represent system and completeness.
1t is such project this that Senator Newlands |
has in mind. He and few other men have FORE
the crisis that has come and have given thought
to it.
For years the pork barrel" system of appropria-
ton for river and harbor work has been under at
tack. There mas been increasing disaffecton with
the handling, especially, of river improvements Per-
haps the harbor works have justified less criticism,
for harbor is more nearly separated, segregated
entity than river or river system can be. But
the feeling has been strong that a Congressional
rolling logs and passing pie among the
members of Congress with special reference to CIV
ing bits to sufficient proportion Of members to in
sure the needed support of the measure, wicked
waste of money which ought to be ended soon as
possible
Just few years ago the idea of great storage
reservoirs secuted as visionary and impractical
Today attention is turning to it as the safeguard
against repetition of this seasons disaster Not near
y enough study has been given to this and other
plans make il possible for anybody to decide what
detail needs to be done; but it is certain that there
national opinion of this subject, which never be-
fore existed and that it is ready crystalline around
feasible, national plan.