Indiana daily times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1914-1922, 1920-12-27
INDIANAMUST
LIMITDITCHING,
LIEBER SAYS
Declares Trade Possibilities
VIII Be Ruined Unless
Drainage Stops.
WATERWAY IS POSSIBLE

Unless Indiana acts quickly in an eff
fort to restrain ditching on the part OF
Vsrious corporations and citizens. II
viii lose the greatest chance ever offered
for making the State one Of the most
prosperous from & trade standpoint In
the Union. according to Richard Lieoer,
director Of the Department Of Conserva-
ton.
Mr.. Lieber is Of the opinion that the
Great Lakes 20 the sea waterway, If
brought through Indiana, which is the
most logical state for the route, viii do
more toward conserving fuel, power and
natural resources and placing Indiana in
the front ranks of the country than any
other single undertaking.
But before this route can be obtained
for the Hoosier State, Mr.. Lieber says,
the citizens of Indiana must awaken to
the fact that fromiscuous ditching and
drainage must be dispensed with. should
this practice go on for many years to
come, the water tables of the State will
have been so reduced and lowered that
the Federal Government will fight amp
attempt to bring the proposed waterway
into this State. he said.
POINTS BROUGHT
OUT IN ADDRESS.
Many of Mr.. LiebeI's points in this
matter were brought out in an address
made recently before the Rotary Club of
Warsaw. Here his points were so de-
fined. and driven home in such mai
ner that the assembly which he had Cd
dressed followed him TO his hotel aud
requested that he again set forth his
facts regarding the dangers in drainsge
and ditching.
Indiana is the most logical point in
the Union for the connection Of the Great
Lakes system and the Atlantic and Pa
cifc ocean, Mr. Lieber declares. From
Chicago, or from Hammond, through tho
state, connecting the wabash River By
a canal. to Lake Michigan, then connect
ing with the Ohio River near Evansville.
end on TO the Mississippi and into the
Gulf of Mexico, where ocean going YES
gels would ply into the Atlantic and Pa
riic with Chicago. Indianapolis. Evans
vile or other Hoosier clty's goods. the
soute would lie. with untold advantag es
10 Indiana manufacturers, he said.
This State IS the most logical. accord
ing to Mr. LiebeF, because it offers the
shortest connecting link between the vart-
Gus bodies Of water, and because Of tne
water courses Of Indiana. No other State
in the Union can boast OF so many lakes
n and natural bodies OF water as can
\ Indiana, he says.
But II the present rate OF drainage
and ditching is continued for any definite
.speriod then the water level in the State
viii be 50 reduced that it would actual
Il be dangerous to bring the waterway
through Indiana, ne declares. 1t IS for
the purpose Of counterlng any such
danger that such hard fights are being
waged by the department of conserva-
ton against proposed dralnages and big
ditching enterprises at the present time.
WATERWAY WOULD
SAVE IN COAL AND FUEL,
The advantages which would be
brought to Indiana would be manifold,
as it viii be seen from a study Of the
State. and when an idea OF where the
waterway would run II brought through
Indians. It would not only be a great
aid to placing Hoosler goods on the
foreign market, and would not only
place indianapolis. Hammond, Evans
vile, Gary and other Indiana cities IN
close touch, commercially, with New
York and the cities Of the old world
but would result in a great saving In
coal and other fuel, Mr.. Lieber con
tends.
Cattle and manufactured goods from
various southern and central Indiana
towns could be shipped by water to Chi
cago. or to the southern markets, much
cheaper than by rail. he said. It is
true that the delay in shipment would
probably be greater, but this is Offset
by the great saving in expense OF the
shipment, it is pointed out
1t was the possibility Of obtaining this
waterway for Indiana that prompted the
department Of conservation TO fight so
bard against the famous Noble La
Grange drainage project, Mr. Lieber says.
He says also that the department will
continue to fight against any proposals
TO ditch or drain big areas in Indiana.