Arizona republican., 1913-04-02
Shivering at Something New.
(NeW Orleans Item)

tNeW Orleans ltem)
 After joining very properly in the chorus of moans over the spectacle presented by ad- Vocates in the closing days of the last congress- reverend neighbor the goes say:
 There is turn aside from
 the wel-known and largely reliable levee
 system to scheme which involves
 pcated proceedings far distant
 region be protected
 Tine reference is to the NeWlands bi of course, but the reference is gravely misleading The New lands bill does not mean to turn aside" from the levee system, but to supplement the system. and to link with that system other methods of water control and safeguard which while facilitating flood protection in the lower reaches, will give water power and reclaim arid land and forests in the upper watersheds.
 Our morning contemporary says again:
 Thus it seems that any under
 the proposition of Senator Newlands would
 (be) in many cases thousands miles from
 the lowlands for which protection from floods
 is asked
 Surely this is no vital flaw? The water that crested the levees last spring melting snOws in the Alleghenies. water in June rise of 1913 may come from the Rockies. Why not store, guard guide the water from it's source all down the long rather than until it is massed and combined against weak earthen barriers the lower river? Simple lay mans reason would indicate that the former treat ment would be not only possible, but probably the best that could be given.
 And another point-a point practical politics and wise justice
 Even in 'levees only" programme, such is sought by the Mississippi Levee Association it's railroad patrons and it's narrow-vsioned adherents here-NATIONAL AID is essential be gained by votes from far scattered and distant quarters. Why not join together pork bar rel grabs" but in a broadly conceived plan of general waterway and watershed regulation and betterment, the common interests of the region affected?
 Again the revered associate says
 The Newlands scheme possesses possi-
 bilities but it is wholly untried in this
 try and has only been put in operation in
 Egypt, not to protect the country from flood,
 but to store up the waters of the Nile for
 in agriculture in a country which,
 without the Nile freshets, would be desert.
 Neither had anybody built "skyscraper' be fore built in the United States-but that was argument against skyscrapers Nor had the like of Panama canal been constructed any where the whole wide world until American engineers began their task the Zone-but the alternative twidGed thumbs did appeal to the men who then sat at the helm of things
 In sober fact the PRINCIPLE which lies at the bottom of the Newland's scheme HAS been tested on more than one river system in Europe and one at least in the United States. Even the Nile, in a way, the plan is tested out and surely neighbor will that because the Newlands plan provides irriagton in the North west well flood protection in Louisiana and Mississippi it should be opposed by us down here?
 Our colleague would seem merely to be shiver- ing with dread at something new-when in reality the quality of nevvness exists only in the scope and not the method of the plan proposed
 What is urged by proponents of the NeWland s bill is only in line with earlier advancement
 The first levees were built by little settlements, towns and even plantations, about the houses and home lots. As the floods higher, the parishes and counties took the work. Years passed, and only the could handle the growing task Now with altered conditions from the Jettes to the Great Divide" with bared noun tain sides, forests swept away outlets damned, natural reservoirs closed, the problem outstrips the ability of the states, and tests the strength and power of the nation.
 'levees only" programme is It is essentially unjust wrong. the in terests which have not interests primarily at heart-and if fought for by any considerable ee- ment of our people here, it will serve to delay but only to delay. the time when the Problem of the Valley will be settled and settled right.
 But while that delay is undergone, it is OUR interest which will suffer