New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1917-01-17
No Pork In Trs-Stote Project

No Porkeln Irs-tSt0te Project
Under the, above caption the Ainnea-
polls Journal printed most timely
editorial on subject that is very near to
the hearts Of the people Of a large section
of minnesota, to avery great number of
people in North Dakota and especially
the latter
The fact that every word of the Jour
nails editorial is absolutely true adds
strength to it's statements. The edi-
torial says:
!. From the times Of their earliest
settlement the valleys Of the Minnesota
and the Red River of the North have
suffered severely from flood damage.
The greater the acres Of valley lands
brought under cultivation, the larger
and more widespread the damage.
The two rivers have their headwaters
in the same region, and the divide be-
tween them is unusually low, so that
when one is in flood some of it's waters
may be forced over the divide into the
other. The same set of headwater re-
servoirs might serve for both rivers.
The problem of flood control for each
valley is thus bound up with the sirnilak
problem in the other.
''This fact and the further fact that
three States, Minnesota and the two
Dakotas, are involved in this recurring
flood damage have at last led to an or
ganized effort to treat the whole question
as unit, and to secure Federal supervi-
sion for a project of flood prevention by
impounding the surplus waters in natural
reservoirs: This was set afoot at the
Tri-State Flood Control Congress held
last November in Fargo, and further
progress is hoped for at another meeting
today in. New Ulm.
"A most encouraging feature Of the
movement thus far has been the recogni-
ton OF the principle that the expense OF
the work should rest on those who are
benefited by it. The idea of securing
an appropriation from Congress on the
plea that navigation lin the two
rivers is to be improved, was abandoned
at the outside. 1t was frankly recognized,
that navigation in either river is largely
a fiction, and that the Federal Govern
ment cannot properly be asked to i'm
prove something that does not and
cannot exist in commercial sense.
There is thus no demand on the Con-
gressmen from the food districts to Sc
cure pork for the project. No money is
to be asked for from the Government,
except to pay for benefits to the lands it
actually owns. In, like manner the State
Governments are not expected to ap-
propriate much more than enough to
cover benefits to State-owned lands.
"On the other hand, the project must
have the approval Of Congress and the
engineers of the War Department. 1t
should have also the expert supervision
which the Federal agencies alone can
give, And if the three States are to
join in the work, their joint venture
must be approved by Congress.
"Thus it appears that the first de-
finite step must be the careful prepara-
lion of a measure and it's passage by Con-
gress. The financial burden must rest
on the millions of fertile acres which are
thus to be freed from the danger of fre-
quent floods. As an Offset there will be,
no doubt, some power production from
the flood waters held back in reservoirs. !
If this project can be carried through
on SO sound basis, it will, afford an in
structive contrast with the great grab of
The lower Mississippi flood reclamation
scheme, wherein the benefited land
owners are to put in only a third Of the
cost, the remainder to be furnished by
the Federal Government. -