Evening star., 1927-05-01
DESOLATION WROUGHT BY FLOOD
PICTURED BY HOOVER ON RADIO
Secretary Paints Dreary Scene as He
Declares That 100000 Persons Have
Been Ruined by Losses.

the lands subject to overflow" the
statement said.
| Declaring that positive results can
/ not be obtained by reforestation, the
statement continued that levees are
| the "one practical. feasible and eco
nomic solution"
| Work Would BE National.
| "The work of constructing them
/ would be national and will cost many
| millions. Levee heights must be re-
vised upward with a margin of safe
ty." said the statement. asserting that
the Board of Army Engineers had
been working for some time on the
problem and would offer definite rec
concentrations at the next session of
Congress.
There is little doubt in the minds
of the farmers and planters OF the
valley, who have reclaimed its swamps
and converted them into the most
! fertile portions Of this great country,
as to what the remedy should be. The
increases in land values in these
States In recent years have been al
most exclusively In the reclaim ID
parts. These farmers know that the
only direct and sure remedy is the
construction Of levees that will with
I
avoided at this time is that well n'e L
ing persons may defer the appica-
ton of the sure remedy and enter INTO
protracted Investigations Of measures
that are known to be ineffective, the
statement said.
Rains Create FicOds.
Asserting that the most intriguing
aIternat We remedy for the flood Sltie-
ton is the construction of -'eserVoifS
on the head streams, the stltenlene
declared that proponents of the pan
Overlook the facI that 1t Is not the
water flowing out of the mountain
streams. but rather the rains falling
on the alluvial basin of the river 1t
self that creates the floods of the.
Mississippi.
"Reservoirs in the upper rivers
would be of value in the regulation
of local fioods--a help to navigation
and power purposes in the upper trip
utaries--but for the main trunk OF the
Mississippi, from Cairo to the gulf,
they would have but small influence
on the great floods.
"To derive any substantial control
over the foods of the Mississippi the
reservoirs would have to be located
in the alluvial valley of the stream
or the main tributaries, and. rre-
spective of their cost, the fertile and
productive lands submerged by the
reservoirs would equal or exceed in
area the land saved by their construc-
tion.
RefOresfation Held Ineffective.
"Other suggested remedies are re-
forestation. contour plowing ana
other ralliatives.
G4TTJI-.a 81, tan fns ynnnT6nd
flood of the upper Mississippi past
st. Louis occurred in 1914, while the
Northwest was covered with primeval
forests. shows that positive results
cannot be expected from reforestation
AS to contour plOWlng and such
remedies, the United States cannot
dictate to its farmers how they Will
run their burrows"
Declaring that the most widespread
fallacy about levees is the assertion
that they raise the bed of the river,
so as to form an elevated trough, the
statement said that surveys and meas
urements over half a century do not
show that the levees have appreciably
raised the bed of the river.
"In the present flood" the state
mefit continued 1.-THE levees so far
have protected some 10000 square
a.
flowed by crevasses and backwater.
The expenditures by the United States
upon levees have been about $S6,00O,-
600, Of which the local organizations
have contributed about S15,0OO,000
cash, besides the right of way. In adj
dition, the States and local organiZa-
tions are reported to have spent in the
past over $100, 900, 900"
Ieyees Must BE Raised.
Turning back to a discussion Of the
present flood. which it declared prob
ably exceeds in volume any of record"
the statement declared it had shown
that the levee heights, heretofore ten.
tatively adopted by the Mississippi
River Commission must be revised
upward.
With the remark that at should
now be realized that we must aim
higher the statement said: 'Levees
should be raised to insure the protec-
ton Of the lands against such flood
as is now passing, with margin of
safety to provide for greater floods. y
passing, with margin of sofety TO
provide for greater floods"
This work will cost millions of dol
lars. 1t is q large national work,
more so than has heretofore been con-
CGiNeu. OF the lCdSuii tlie1I AttA0Aii9
the levees in one part of the river
inevitably brings greater flood haZ-
ards to those below, the works
throughout the many States must he
prosecuted as Il one complete and CO.
ordinate whole.
Levees Held Economic.
With the declaration that disasters
from floods in the Mississippi Valley
react upon the business of the country
as q whole, the statement advanced
that levees "are the ract;cable. feas-
ible and economic means for affording
flood protection for the valley as
whole. They will. If raised to a co.
ordinate height, do it effectively for
New Orleans and Louisiana as for the
up-river States"
Saying that there were special rea.
sons why consideration should be
given to permitting New Orleans to
keep her levees at lower grade II
adequate flood relief can still be af-
forded to lower Louisiana. 1t was as
serted that this question involves the
study of possibilities in the way of
construction of spillways. by which /
the least productive portion of Louisi-
ana would be dedicated to the escape
er and quicker route to the sea, thus
relieving the burden to be carried by
the main channel.
while 1t is possible to afford as
good protection by levees TO this city'
as to the rest of the valley, the cost
and engineering considerations of