Evening star., 1934-08-06
ROOSEVELT SELLS
WEST TO ITSELF
President Win Visit Dam
and Reservoir at Fort
Peck.
BY jar @. HAYDEN.


projects on the Columbia River be-
hind him, President Roosevelt is
speeding across Montana 20 view an
other enterprise that is likely TO fur
nisn food for economic and political
discussion for long time 10 come.
It Is the great dam and reservoir
at Fort Peck. ut the head waters OF
the Missouri River, which, II IL
achieves the aims Of It's engineer de-
signers, will produce a minimum g.
foot depth and an even how at all
times In both the Missouri River and
the lower Mississippi. More than
that. 1t Ia expected to restore millions
of acres OF land along these rivers
which annually are washed out by
the Spring floods.
The great dam, which Is now Just
beginning. is a hah-mile wide at its
base and 100 feet wide ut its 245-foot
high peak. Behind 1t there Is 10 be
created q lake ITS miles long and
capable Of innpo lnding le. 900 900 acre
feet of water, by all odds the largest
food control reservoir anywhere in
the world.
VIII L0St Sbg,Vuo,0Ve.
II the dam acconplishes what the
engineers claim gor II, II will feed
water into the nAvigable reaches of
the MISSISSIPPI. / ,oe0 miles below It. at
an absolutely UNIFORM rate OF 80 900
cubic feet per second. Fifty million
dollars already has been allotted from
the Federal Treasury for its construc-
ton and it win require at least $50,
O00.o 900 more TO complete.
This great scheme Is the culmina-
ton of an argument that has been
going on between two groups of engi-
neers for years. One of them con-
tends that the Mississippi is too big
TO control by any such regulation of
the headwaters of its tributaries and
that not even the water Of the Mis-
souri, can be SO controlled as TO make
it effectively navigable. The other
group has insisted that the attempt to
control the lower rivers by means of
dikes and levels was hopeless and that
only by taking hold of the waters at
their source could the job be done.
p. w. A. Brings Truce.
This argument might still be going
on but for the arrival of the new deal,
with its billions of dollars seeking for
any sort of public construction that
would provide work. Under the aegis
of the p. w. A., all of the contentious
Of the engineers we're ended in q truce.
A lump sum of $25 5,000,0 900 was pro-
vided as a starter and the Fort Peck
Dam, now less than year later, is
actually well under way.
The President will view his handi-
work for the first time when he mo-
tors 35 miles from the little station of
Glasgow, Mont, through towering
mountains to the dam site.
The discussion over this and the
other great engineering designs which
are now springing up in this Western
region reminds one in many respects
OF the talk about currency imitation.
There are almost aS many schools of
thought regarding power and naviga-
tion and flood control on these great
Northwestern rivers as there are in
the field Of gold and silver and print
ing press money. And just as every
politician In Washington has become
convinced economist on the cur
rency issue, almost every one here re-
CARDS himself as a qualifled engineer
The citizens Of the Northwest all
roll cubic feet and kilowatts by the
millions OF their tongues with perfect
ease and assurance, and there Is
scarcely one Of them who cannot pre-
sent a highly technical sounding ar
gument as to why this or that devel-
opment viii or viii not succeed of its
purpose.
More Cash for States.
Take, for example, the somewhat
distantly related plan of the Roosevelt
administration to plant 9 huge wind
break Of 100000 trees, extending
from the Canadian border south to
Texas, and designed to transform the
climate of this whole region. On the
night this project was definitely an
nounced, the writer happened to be
in the office of one of the largest and
most influential Western newspapers,
whose circulating field extends over a
large section of the territory in which
the trees are to be planted.
The first response of these editors.
closely familiar with the agricultural
and drought problems of their region.
was a loud hoot Of deriSion. The wind
break, they all agreed, would be a
grand thing, If it could be accom-
pllShed, but as one of them expressed
it. eff the new deal can make trees
grow In Western Nebraska and Kan
saS, II certainly will excel the works
OF the Almighty" After some hours
OF discussion, the attitude somewhat
changed. 1t was decided that since
Uncle Sam has an unlimited amount
of money to spend anyhow he might
Just as well try out this job of tree
planting and weather control as any
other. Anyhow, they said, it would
be Just that much more cash coming
into the old home State.
The next day this newspaper came
out with a resounding editorial favor
ing the tree planting 1t did not make
a prediction as to its ultimate sue
cess but it told how worthy were the
AIMS OF the project and it praised
PRESIDENT Roosevelt for trying to solve
TINS greatest problem Of the dry farm
ing regions.
There Is much the same attitude in
Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Mon
tana, which are the immediate bene-
flciarieS Of the power and navigation
developments on the Columbia and
upper Missouri Rivers. They are con-
sciouS OF the fact that they already
nave more power facilities than they
can use and they are skeptical as to
the possibility of inducing industries
to transplant themselves to the
Pacific Coast 70 utilize the overflow.
But they agree that the mere build
ing OF the works is a grand thing.
AT least the projects are supplying
employment at a time when the West
Is seriously in need of it. They have
demonstrated that the digging of
great holes in the ground is just as
good means Of supplying a local
boom as any other. And it is hard
for the States to ind q basis of COM
plant when the Federal Government
Is assuming all the responsibility of
putting up all the cash.
Latterly, also. President Roosevelt S
fNNFyr,rf'ace