Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1928-05-18
TEXAS DAILY PRESS LEAGUE
Foreign Advertising Representatives.
The Flood Control Bill

when President Coolidge signed the Mississippi
flood control bill Tuesday he definitely committed the
federal government to a project Of indefinite m1gni.
tude. a project which doubtless viii eclipse the Panar~a
canal in magnitudcand cost. The bill calls for ths
expenditure Of s325OoOOOO. but engineers are feeidea-
" skeptical as to the s~ufficiency Of this fund, inti-
mating that the government will doubtless eypend
double or treble that amount before the Mississippi i
safely curbed.
In ali essential features the plan proposed ~ the
government engineers is similar to that employed rs
the Lower Rio Grande Valley to curbe The floods Of
the border stream. Three fIoodways are to be pro-
vided, taking the water from the stream far above
the delta country, and in addition river levees Will he
raised and strengthened at all danger points as an
added precautoin.
One handicap to this plan, a handicap with which
the Valley counties have had experience, is that a.
soon as the designations for ~floodways aad levees are
made the value OF the land they will traverse Is sud
denly enhanced IN the minds Of some owners. Il the
government is compelled to spend its millions in the
requirement Of rights-of-way the flood relief plans
will prove Of no avail. In the Lower Rio Grande VAL
ley the great majority Of property owners took a sane
view Of the situation and right-of-way we're don;ted,
but the few who refused the necessary land have
proved the greatest h~andicaps with which the counties
have had TO contend.
Considerable opposition to the Mississippi food
control program was generated IN the Last II NpIV-
nents asserting that the measure was "socialistic;"
that ii committed the government TO a project which
was purely sectional. and that II would impose an ul-
just burden upon an other parts Of the country. For
tunately, both congress and the president took a
broader view Of the project, and in committing the
government 70 flood control have definitely assured
the elimination Of the major handicap to economic and
industrial development Of a vast region in the heart
OF the United States.
One Of the most important functions Of governme II
is to utilize its taxing powers in the elimination o.
economic loss 70 the nation. That the country as 2
whole has felt the effects Of the Mississippi floods IS
generally conceded, the loss in 1927 running into tie
hundreds Of millions. For over o year The producing
and purchasing powers Of millions have been eurtaiicd
as a direct result Of the 1927 flood, and every industry
and individual in the United States has been directly
or indirectly affected thereby.
The various states which will benefit directly BY
the curbing 81 the Mississippi could not finance such
a program a. the federal government proposes. ana
which is the only program that will assure relief from
the river menace. And II they were able to finance
this work ID would be unjust for the country 70 expect
it Of them, as every individual will profit directly or
indirectly by reason ~ the new industrial activity and
the greater wealth production the curbing Of the Mis-
sissippi will assure.