Evening star., 1927-04-29

Vast flood damage in the great
river valleys of the Nation has turned
the attention of the press once more
to the question of proper control, IN
order that the immediate sufferers
NAV be relieved from the recurring
perils of swollen waterways ana that
economic losses may be avoided. The
battle with nature, 1t is agreed, IS
hard one. and the cost of prevention
has seemed almost prohibitlve, put II
is believed that even the expenditure
Of vast sums would be profitable wnen
balanced against property losses such
as have been experienced this year.
Asserting that these floods can be
controlled" the Detroit News empha-
sizes the opinion that appropriations
allowed by Congress have always
been Inadequate" and have gone al
most entirely for making channels
and protecting banks" That paper
holds that with such assets 10 oe
Gained rs water power, navigation, a
s,1ra water supply for millions of cit
;zens. nlus safety for lives and prop
ertv the country can well afford 10
undertake the harnessing of its prln-
cinaI rivers; indeed, it can scarcely
ford not to do So" Doubt that tne
leyee system can ever be perfected
Ia expressed by tho Worcester Gazette'
which advises that "the Natlonal Coy
ernment should make every posSlpie
effort to see IL a great reservoir
system could not be.
"Tt has been estimated that one
such flood as that of 1917, says tLe
Binghamton Press, causes d1Iilase
greater than the total expenditure On
food prevention. This years destruc'
ton seems to be setting a new rec
ord alike for the lives lost ana the
financial cost and the prlVatloh @ aiio
suffering among the refugees VINO
have escaped" The press contenos
that the problem concerns the Nation
"and the Nation clearly must prepare
to deal with it more effectively. Inc
Pasadena. Star-News also sees lmper-
ative need of q comprehensive ma,
tionaI system for scientihc controi'
while admitting that to prevent tnese
staggering losses" will require "a lons
time and enormous outlays to pflng
American rivers under controi. II
is sure, however. that 1T VIII pay
mighty we'll in the long run
r. 4 4 X
"Congress must take the initiative
and Congress is prone to forget lne
need when the rivers rest IIoLi. M
troubling and less vital matters
cIamor for it's attention" states tne
New Orleans Times-Picayune. PolIIlls
10 the present cost, the New 1aVell
Register states: Millions Will De lost
this wear. Millions more will De useu W
help save life and property. MILLIONS
and millions will be spent in tryln6
TO rebuild present conditions. w men
all this treasure is used, we VIII tneii
be back exactly where we were before
the water began to rise rev Weeks
ago, except for the lives that nave
been snuffed out. This alone Woulu
seem clearly to outline the tutlllty
of our present system.
"It is a tribute to man, none tne
less, that he is seeking to tame TINS
monster" says the Louisville Courier
Journal of the Mississippi, that ne
has to some extent made 1t tractaple'
that for the most part he has Kept IL
from changing it's course, from
meandering at will through the enor-
nous delta that it has built up III
ages gone. But the homes that man
has erected along the banks or the
stream are as eggshells to be crusheo
by such a flood as the present.
Looking upon the destruction, the St.
Paul Dispatch concludes that aIteF
all, the levee system appears 10 De
the only feasible one" though 1t con.
cedes that "the mighty Mississippi
tests the courage and the resources
of the human mice who feverishly
labor at the levees to restrain It's
destructive power.
"Along the various streams which
contribute to these recurring floods,
in the judgment of the Sioux city
Tribune, storage reservoirs could be
established to take over part of the
surplus waters, without great ex-
pense. These storage reservoirs could,
when needed, be turned back into
the streams or diverted for power
and irrigation purposes. There has
been no large interest in these possi-
biIities because the water mower Fes