The Concordia sentinel. (Vidalia, Concordia Parish, La.) 1882-current, 1920-08-28
RESOLUTION

10, 1920, attended by large NUMBER
of citizens from Catahoula and ad
iacent parishes, and from Mississippi }
the following resolution was intro
duced by United States Senator
Joseph E. Ransden and unanimously
adopted, to-wit:
whereas, during every high water
season in the Mississippi River large
volume of water flows through the
seven mile gap at the lower end OF
the Fifth Loisiana Levee District /
system. from Point Breeze to the
mouth of Red River, and through
Red and Old River, resulting in the
overflow of 27O0 square miles, near
" two million acres of the most fer
tile lands in the valley, in the parish
es of Rapides, Avoyells, st. Landry
LaSalle, Catahoula, Concordia, st.
Martin, Iberia, st. Mary, Point
Coupee, West Baton Rouge, her
} vile, Ascension, Assumption, La
fourche and Terrebonne;
And. whereas every outlet from
the Mississippi River to the Gulf To-
: Gated above the city of New Orleans
: except that through Old River and
: the adjacent gap in the levee system
has been closed, the last being the
f outlet at the head of the Tensas Basin
I Leyee District at Amos Bayou and
Cypress Creek, Arkansas, work on
which will be finished this year; ant
there was no hesitation by the Stat
or the Nation in closing such impor
: tant natural outlets as Bayou Man
chac, Plaquemine and Lafourche
and such great artificial outlets a.
!, those caused by crevasses in the lie
wees at Ashton. Salem, Holly Brook
Biggs, Diamond Island, Kemp, Lake
st. John and Bougere in the Fifth
}. Louisiana Levee District, Mia and
Bonnet Care in the Pontchartralr
e Levee District, and Davis, Hymelia
'e and Amesville in the Lafourche
Ie Basin Levee District, although some
y of these outlets Diverted from the
,r main river or extended periods as
|, large if not larger volumes of water
n than now escapes through. Red River
= and the unleveed stretch from there
to Point Breeze;
10 And, whereas every principal OF
ne Justice and foir play requires that
q, the citizens of Louisiana whose land:
Il II are ruined by the awful floods pour
ing from the Mississippi into tn
d. basins of the Black, Res, and At
OF chafalaya Rivers should be treated
: the same as other Louisianians;
ST And, whereas in the opinion o.
1T, the Mississippi River Commission
and many eminent engineers and lay
II men it is feasible to close said gal
to and divorce the Red from the Mis-
EN- sissippi at reasonable cost, withou
~, 10 imposing too great strain upon tn
to levees of the lower river, provide
as they are first materially strengthen
nix ed, and the task of separating tn
10 two streams is carried on slowly, S
ME that the channel of the lower rive
may adjust itself to the increase
IND volume; but there is great differenc
Sc of opinion as to when the work G
divorce should be undertaken, no
rapidly it should be prosecuted, whi
. safeguards in the way Of bank r.
vetments and enlarged levees shout
he constructed. etc.
And whereas there is small pro
hce pect of securing favorable actic
ms, from Congress on the pending bill
ent authorizing this divorce and maxim
bv Engineers and the people of Loui
Llama agree upon a plan to be pr
scented and urged unanimously;
Anu And, whereas it is believed that
rm- workable method can be evolved
Gus all interested persons are broug
res together in a heart-to-heart confe
81 ence for that porpose.
Therefore, Resolved, That Z
airy Excellency Governor John M. Ps
or ker, be, and he is, hereby request
5 of to call conference on the divor
in Of the Red and Mississippi Rivers,
be held in the City of New Orlea
men on the Is and Is, of November ne
ntry at a place to be designated by hi
sons that he invite thereto the Chief
, or Engineers of the United States Ar
two the President and Members of
AIRED Mississippi River Commission,
n to United States Engineers in cha
eady of flood control works in Louisi'
are the Louisiana State Board of En-
card neers, the members of all lie
sent boards in the State, the Pole Jul
of all parishes affected, the Ma
yeres and Board of Commissioners OF
ters' Citl of New Orleans, the Board
n, to Port Commissioners of that City,
tons United States Senators and Menu
: the of the House of Representa-
nents from Louisiana, and such other I
Army zens of the State as feel an inte
Mar in the subject.
ward