Evening star., 1934-08-07
BY the Associated Press.

By the Associated Press
FORT PECK. Mont. August p
Following Is the teIt Of President
RooseDelts speech last night at the
Fort Peck Dam:
NY friends-I can't very well say
lust my friends Of Montana. because
there are in this group men and won-
en- of a great many States OF the
Union. That is one OF the character
istics of this particular iob-it is ma
tional in scope and it was undertaken
with the idea that 1t was going TO
benefit the whole Nation, and it Is
going to do it.
It is a very delightful thing to form
mind picture Of something from
print. drawings and figures, and then
a wear later come out and have the
actual project about twice as big and
twice as fine as you thought it was
going to be.
I am tremendously impressed by the
magnitude of this job. About three
weeks ago the Secretary Of War, who
is with me today. met me down in
the Canal Zone-at Panama, and we
saw together one Of the wonders OF
the worid-the Gatun Dam. had
seen it many years ago when it was
under construction, and ! didn't be-
lieve that any one would build dam
bigger than the Gatun Dam. and
can assure you that it is pigmy COM
pared with the Fort Peck.
Largest Earthwork DAM
Not only the fact that II is going
10 be, when 1t is completed, the larg-
est earthwork dam in the world, but
l believe also that in its construction
they are going to do a very great
amount OF good for the elimination OF
unemploynfent-that means unem-
ployment today and Unemployment IN
the future,
In so far as unemployment today
goes, that type of dam probably uses
more man power, more hours of work
in its completion, than concrete dams
or other types. 1t is also tine, OF
course, that very large portion of
the materials that go into this dam
come from other parts of the union.
Some OF them from Pittsburgh and
New York City, and from Birming-
the Pacific Coast, but there Is the
other feature about employment
employment in the days to come.
I refer to the fact that when this
dam is completed, it is going to be
an important factor in the naviga-
ton of the Missouri River 1t is
going to help to maintain the nine
foot channel which would connect up
with the Mississippi and enable the
wheat growers and farmers of the
northwest to get cheaper transporta-
tion rates to the middle country and
foreign countries.
Irrigation Also Planned.
OF course, there are the other fea-
lures that you know about-power
going to be generated, the effect on
flood control and soil erosion. One
of the things that makes me hap
piest is the fact that downstream
from this point they are going to be
able to place under irrigation some
85 900 acres of land-land which to-
day is not particularly fit for human
habitation, but when We get water
onto it is going to be the means of
making a living for thousands of
American families.
understand that some people seek
ing to miSrepresent facts have sug-
gested that We are going out through
the Northwest and telling families
that they have got to leave their
homes tomorrow morning and get out.
Well, of course, now, no person would
believe silly tales of this kind.
1t is fact. however, you and know,
there are many families in many States
who are trying to make both ends
meet without much success because it
has been shown over a peri~d of years
/ that the land that they are using for
agriculture ought not, for the best
economic purposes, be used for agri-
culture.
Now if these families want to 60
on farming that land and going
deeper into the red every year, /
think that is their funeral; but on the
other hand your Government believes
in giving them chance to so to bet
/ ter places and farm this land. That