New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1917-03-14
DRAINAGE BILL is
SAID TO BE BEST
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with those presented in the North and
South Dakota legislatures. In the
latter state it has passed both houses and
become law.
Copied Other States Laws
''On taking up the work, Mr.. Cliff
secured copies of the drainage. bills of
Illinois, Ohio and Colorado. The Hi
nois law is the one under which the great
Chicago drainage canal was constructed;
the Ohio law was drafted to meet the
situation caused by the disastrous floods
in that state, and it was under the
Colorado act that the great irrigation
bitches were constructed. All of these.
three laws have passed the test of the
supreme courts in those states. The
law which has been presented in the
three states affected by the Tri-
State Flood Control Association, was
copied from those bills, with only such
changes as the situation demanded.
"It appears that several people around
Morton, for some reason, conceived the
idea that they saw 'woodchuck' in the
bill, and started out in an attempt to
defeat it. They claim that there is
plot back of it to turn the waters from
the Red river into the Minnesota, and
thus relieve the valley to the north at
the expense of the Minnesota. Nothing
could be more absurd. The three most
active men in preparing the bill were Mr..
Cliff, DR.. Fritsche, of this city, and
myself. The former, as I. have already
stated, owns 1000 acres in this valley,
I have more than two sections of land
in the same valley, and while DR.. Fritsche
does not personally own any land in the
valley, his brothers are possessors of
several hundred acres of the most fertile
ground in the state of Minnesota, but
by the annual floods it is rendered almost
valueless.
''Were any of us inclined to be dis
honest is it reasonable to suppose we
would be foolish enough to make our
own property Of less value than it is at
present?
Plans Went Aniss
''The Morton people, recently con-
ceived the idea of holding meeting to
oppose the bill, and sent notices to COM
mercial clubs, asking them to send del
egates to this conference, but in some
way their plans went amiss for some OF the
delegates were for the other side OF the
question, as they included DR.. Fritsche,
Mr.. Cliff, Alex Russell, Capt. Hinder
mann and myself. The leaders CT the
movement seemed to be much put out
as they evidently expected the meeting
to be a cut and dried affair, with the
delegates all of their own mind.
"It seemed hard, after all Of the years
that we have worked, faithfully, spend
ing our time and our own money to bring
about this relief, that these men should
charge US with trying to put something
over on them. They forget that our
interests and theirs are Identical, and
| what is for our good will benefit all in
the valley alike.
"Our only resaon for interesting the
Red River valley people in the PROPOSE
tion was that by combining all Of the
interests, and securing the backing Of
the other two States, together with
Minnesota. we would have much greater
weight when we went to Washington
and asked the Federal Government to
aid us in the proposition.
cat conference on February 10, at
tended by the members of the legislative
committee of the Tri-State Flood Con-
troll Association, the Attorneys General
Of the three states named, and the mem
bers Of the House and Senate Drainage
Committee, the bill was gone over and
believed to be the best that could be
devised. There may be minor defects
and if there are any we are as anxious as
any one to remedy them.
Help From Larger Section
1T should be remembered that while
the Minnesota valley is about 100 miles
long and but on an average of little more
than mile wide the Red river valley
averages about twenty miles wide and
is 800 miles long. We have avout $780,
900, acres subject to flood damage
while they have more than 100000
acres. If the cost is divided between
the two, according to the benefits de-
rived it does not require much figuring tt
see how much financial benefit we are
to receive by the partnership arrange
ment.
Instead of turning the waters of the
Red river into the Minnesota, it in reality