The Morgan City daily review. (Morgan City, La.) 1916-1920, 1917-12-19

active, and by the aid of the State.
Revenues for Levee purposes come
from an ad valorem tax and forced
contributions in the district. The
State Government makes approprla-
ton to the different districts out OF
1.-the General Engineers Fund
(which is 1920 Of a mill on the as
Isessed valuation of the State a,
large This sum is placed at the dis
posal of the State Board of Engineer;
| to be used for levees in the Stats
where in their judgment it will do tn
most good. The United States Gov.
eminent also makes appropriations
and all such money is assigned by
the Mississippi River Commission
with headquarters in St. Louis, and
the work is done exclusively by the
United States Government Engl-
neers. Recently Congress passed the
Humphreys-Ransdell bill which gives
to the Mississippi river for levees and
bank revetment from Cairo to the
Gulf, forty-five million dollars to be
placed in the hands Of the Mississippi
River Commission, to be divided by
them during five years between the
levee districts within the limits men,
toned and then only when the dis
trict will put up one dollar for ev-
cry two put up by the Government.
The Atchafalaya District is COM
| posed of the Parishes of Point Cou-
pee, West Baton Rouge ard Terre-
bonnie and parts of the parishes OF
Iberville, Ascension, Assumption, La
fourche, ST. Martin, St. Mary, Iberia
and St. Landry, aggregating some
2,995,000 acres in area.
The Domicile of the District is att
Port Allen, West Baton Rouge Par
ish. The Tax is 10 mills Ad Valorem
on all alluvial lands subject to over
flows in this district and possessions
thereon. We have also the following
Forced Contributions: 1-2 cents
per acre or all land within the dis
trict; $4,000 per mile Of railroad
line; Is cents per 1000 pounds o.
sugar; 7 1-2 cents per barrel OF sy
rup; cents per barrel CT molassas;
4 cents per ton of cane, when same Is
removed from the limits Of the dis
trict; and beyond any district in the
State; 2 Scents per bale Of cotton; ,
cents per 100 pounds Of seed cotton,
when same is removed from the linn
its Of the district; IL cents per
sack of rough rice.
Our assessed value for 1915-|
seen-was S25,364,3O1.O0.
The Mississippi River Commission
is composed entirely of Army Off
GERS with exception of our one Civil
appointment. This Board has en-
tire charge of the Mississippi River
for the United States Governme nt
They establish the grade for the lev
ees on the river and the Levee
Boards follow their rules. The last |
grade established is five feet above
the water mark of 1912 which was
the highest in the history of the lev
ees. We are now building these lev
ees to the Mississippi River Commits |
sion grade. It will take approyi
mately 100000 more to complete
the work. The most serious danger
to levees is caving banks and this can
only be remedied by revetting them.
This is done by making mattresses of
willows that reach from the bank 4 !
or five hundred feet out in the river
and are held on the bottom by stone
and then following the banks above.
the low water mark the same mate
rial, but the cost of this work is stag
gering and beyond the means of our
people.
In two successive Presidential cam
paigns the leading Parties Of the
Country declared that the control of
the Mississippi River was National
problem, and solemnly promised by
resolution that because plank in |
their respective platform" that if
elected they would take over the riv-
ed and build the levees and do all |
that was necessary to protect this
Valley aaginst the floods that in the
past have proven so disastrous to our
interests. The United States Gov
eminent has spent five hundred mil
lions of dollars in connecting the At
lantic and Pacific Oceans with a can
al, and tens of millions to construct |
a railroad in far off Alaska; and
yet neither of these enterprises is as |
important and valuable to the Amer
lean people as navigation of the Miss
issippi River and flood protection in
the valley.
From Maine to California and |
from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of |
Mexico the National Government is !