Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1914-06-18
TO PREVENT FLOOD.
RANSDELL WORKING FOR BIG
APPROPRIATION FOR LOWER
MISSISSIPPI.
ASKS S6O,OOO,0OO AT ONCE
Colonel Sibert Tells Senate Commit
tee Panama Canal Was Built in
Time Because Money Was
Ready When Needed.
BY GEORGE CLINTON.

tee on commerce which has been dis
cussing the question OF an appropria-
ton to prevent floods on the lower
Mississippi river called Lieut.. Col. vii
liam L. Sibert, formerly a member OF
the isthnlian canal commission and
who built the Gatun dam and locks,
before it as witness a day or two
ago.
Senator Ransden Of Louisiana was
directly responsible for the summon
ing Of the army officer. The senator
is anxious that congress should ap-
propriate lump sum of $4,000, 600
for levee work on the great river, a
sum sufficient to complete the work,
and he wants the appropriation made
at once, and it was for this reason
doubtless that the Panama canal engi-
neer was ordered to appear and give
testimony.
Senator Ransden must be given
credit for being wise man. He was
not anxious to ask the army officer
witness much about the Mississippi
river, but he did want to ask him
why the Panama canal was built so
successfully and on time.
Colonel Sibert told the committee
that the Panama canal was built on
time because the money was ready
for the work when it was needed and
that the engineers, knowing the cash
was there, went ahead with the work
of selecting the personnel for each
particular piece of labor, bought the
machinery and started things moving,
and did this because they knew there
would be no delay in getting the nee
essary money. The army engineer
added that money was the thing which
enabled the government work to be
done properly and within the limits
Of the time set
Congress May Sanction Plan.
1t is possible that before adjourn
ment congress will sanction a plan Of
work which will put an end to floods
in the lower Mississippi and prevent
the recurrence of disasters which have
caused the loss of many lives and of
millions of dollars worth of property
1t is certain that an appropriation to
begin the work will be forthcoming
The only doubt that exists is whether
the lawmakers will commit the gov
eminent in advance to the expenditure
of the additional millions which will
make the labor continuous until the
end is reached.
Senator RansdeH is an advocate of
an immediate appropriation big
enough to complete the levee system
of the Mississippi river SO that the re-
currence of the floods Of other years
can be avoided. The losses that have
come, it is urged, are much greater
than the sum which will be needed
to prevent a repetition of the damage
in the future. The senator expected
to and probably did score a point
when he summoned one of the Pana-
ma canal engineers to appear before
his committee and asked him what it
was that put the Panama canal
through so speedily and SO well. So
it may be that to the success of the
isthmian waterway will be due the
completion of the big work in the Mis-
sissjppi valley
Think Labor ls Class.
When the senate finishes with the
antitrust measures the country will
know just what measure of success
representatives Of labor and farmers
organizations have had in their at
temps to secure exemptions for the
labor unions and the agricultural asso-
Citations from the provisions Of the
Sherman antitrust law.
Generally speaking, there appears
to be a feeling in Washington that
when the legislation is enacted it will
be found the organizations named will
be in nearly the same position they
are in today except that there will be
a defined status for them as that of
associations which on their very face
are not formed for purposes in re-
straint of trade. 1t might be said,
however, that there is a feeling here,
at least so far as the labor unions are
concerned, that specific legislation af-
fecting them, as differentiated from
other organizations, would be passed
If It were not for the fact that in this
country there are not supposed to be
any classes.
American students of economic and
social conditions, congress has been
told, hold that legislation affecting la
Dor should not be viewed from the
same standpoint as that from which
legislation for capital is looked upon.
1t seems that to some extent senators
and representatives in congress are
inclined to take this view of things
themselves.
A good deal of criticism has been
passed in Washington because those
members Of congress who also are
members of unions champion labor's
cause as a unit In the house there
are sixteen representatives who carry
union cards. Eleven of them are Dem
ocrats, four are Republicans and one
is a Progressive. They act unitedly
for labor, because they think labor is
a class, that it needs special legisia-
ton for purposes of protection.
Labor Union Congressman.
Here are the representatives. in CON