The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1923-06-26
SOUTH TO ASK j. S. TO
RECLAIM SWAMP LANDS
WILL MAKE PLEA TO CON-
cREss FOR COOPERATION
WITH THE STATES.
GEORGIA is INCLUDED IN PLAN
West Will Be Asked to Reciprocate
For South's Aid to Irrigation of
Arid Land. Vast Area Susceptible
OF High Degree of Development.

Arid Land. Vast Area Susceptible
OF High Degree of Development.
WASHINGTON, D. CA move
r,ent has been launched for congress
siopal cooperation in the reclamation
NJ swamp lands of the southlands thai
,lart the Atlantic and Gulf seaboardS
from Maryland to Louisiana.
II is announced that in this cam
oaign western senator's and congress
men will be called upon for active
support in return for the support Civ
en- bv southern legislators to the
western reclamation project inaugu-
rated and carried through during the
Roosevelt regime.
Tnasmuch as the west, which to
date has received $230,000,000 from
n the federal treasury for the irrigation
OF arid lands, wants more money for
the same development the south feels
that is in a position to insist and will
insist upon reciprocity along sub
Nantial lines.
Democrats Aided Roosevelt
1t was Just Fl years ago that con-
gress passed and President Roosevelt
signed the national reclamation act
under which millions of acres of west
ern lands have been irrigated and
opened to settlers. The wealth Great
ed by this legislation is almost meal
culable all observers agree.
This act was heralded as one of the
outstanding accomplishments of the
Roosevelt administration, and while
Il the influence of Mr.. Roosevelt con-
tributed largely to its enactment the
s bill would not have become a law if
it had not received liberal support
from democrats of the south, for ar
rayed against it were many leading
republicans of that day. If the bill
had been allowed to assume partisan
character it would have met with GER
tain defeat.
In the passage of the reclamation
81 act, it is now recalled, the south,
which was almost solidly behind the
measure, asked for no immediate re-
turn. 1t was distinctly understood,
however, that in time the south would
NJ appeal to congress for federal aid in
= retaining its swamp lands, and west
a ern legislators who were leading the
= fight pledged western assistance to
d the south whenever that section
n should be ready to ask for a swamp
land reclamation law
The time has now come, it IS an
nounced in statement today, when
the south is ready to appeal to west
erners to make good the promise Civ
en- Il years ago. Representative Bank
head of Alabama, who is organizing
the new campaign for swamp-land
reclamation, has just returned from a
trip to the Pacific coast, which en-
abled him to see much that had been
accomplished through arid-land recla-
nation, and he declares that the time
has come for congress to aid the south
as It previously aided the west.
The southern congressman goes
further and offers reminder to his
western colleagues that they must CO.
d operate with the south and lend it a
helping hand for the recovery of the
swamp lands if the west expects the
south again to aid in promoting the
irrigation of arid lands.
Continued western development, in
so Tar as it relates to the reclamation
and settlement of land through fed
eiral agencies, can take place only as
ihe south and the east are willing to
help declared Mr. Bankhead today
upon his return to Washington.
We have the largest area of good
land undeveloped, susceptible of a
nigh degree of cultivation. 1t is true
we do not have some of the difficult,
picturesque engineering problems of
me west, but nevertheless we do have
\ some very real difficulties, such as can
S De effectively overcome only by the
adoption of well-considered federal
policy.
New Farm Land Needed.
The wonderful results obtained in
me west have had the effect of slim
uatlng the people of the south to in
CURE whether it is not possible to APP
Ply much of the experience had in
me west to southern conditions-par-
uCuIarly as we have been losing from
me me south a large part of the available
iaOor of the past. The old order has
slahged; many of our farms are be-
ing abandoned; tenantry has increased
u an alarming extent and it behooves
aS 10 lace conditions clearly If we are
10 preserve our institutions.
1t may be a good thing from an
economic standpoint to have much Of
!ne and formerly cultivated go back
mo forest growth, if the growth is
VI valuable kind, because, as we all
100 well realize, much of this land has
ngen exhausted and its fertility di-
b FINISHED to point where farming
IDS become less profitable.
a. On the other hand, we know that
throughout the south there are vast
ooreS OF land the soil of which is
ngua or superior to much of that
WING mniCn has been cultivated. The fed
r.i government can well afford to
aUlze the experience of its bureaus in
iioLEging the problem of our swamp
d ,d,ll reclamation, aiding the states in
nrs,eiopmg reclamation and settle
nent districts"