The Washington times., 1937-02-16

gently, 1 was Edwin q. Hill
appalled, at the complexity o,
that problem, not only in its phys
ical but its economic and human
aspects.
There seems to be no stopping
point in this undertaking Of dec
adeS, possibly of a century OF
more - wrenching and adopting
our national economy, rediStribut
ing population, making over oul
very house of life. The above al
lusion to Pittsburgh and the
Pennsylvania Railroad is typical
I was talking to a friend of mine
the other day cannot use his
name. He is a colonel in the
Army and has the typical Army
reserve about publicity.
about IL gOOd-sized dams
would do the business, so far as
Pittsburgh Is concerned" he
said, "but the cost would be stu
pendous. AS an engineering prob
lem it is simple; as 4 matter Of
business accounting it is COM
plex and dubious. 1t might be
cheaper just to heave Pittsburgh
up on high, dry ground. The
same can be said Of Cincinnati,
Louisville and other cities. And
there, in my opinion. is the real
urgency of the flood menace.
C0AycrAAy1, rUupEAr
"The danger and ruin is an
ever-recurrent threat to the
cities, rather than to the farm
ing regions. In the long, open
sweeps of the rivers, between the
larger cities and towns, the dis
aster, happily, isn't what we
think it is. In fact, from one
point Of view, it isn't a disaster
at all. There are vast stretches
Of Ohio and Mississippi farm
land which would be barren clay
If it were not for the flood roll
ing down millions of tons of silt
every year or two. Going back 20
or 80 years, there are many in
stances where Jumper cotton
crops have followed some of the
most disastrous floods.
Barring the cities, the prop
erty damage isn't what it might
appear to be. Many Of those
buildings floating down the river
are just Shacks and chicken
cOOps. I don't mean to be hard
hearted about those poor people
who live along the river bank,
but with a little more guidance
and . little more mobility they
can adapt themselves. And it is
quite feasible also, to adapt
farming to the certainty Of the
floods; to take advantage of the
silt deposits without the farmers
being musSed up by the deluge.
That, Of course, was the
story of the Nile, for many
hundreds, if not thousands, of
years. 1t was hit-and.run agri.
culture, but 1t worked. When
the waters ebbed, the farmers
would move down to the river,
plant their crops and harvest
them, and when the river was
raging again, they would be safe
on high ground, working as
stone cutters, most of them.
These part-time farmers are sup
posed to- have helped a lot in
the building of the pyramids.
Personally, 1 think it would
be quite feasible to organize
farming on this basis in our
flood regions-Once we had safe
guarded the cities-but there's
q complication here which prob
ably would block that argument
right at the start. That price
less, life-sustaining silt is the
tOp-Soil of our great, fertile
middle.weStern wheat regions,
which in q few decades more
will be barren, eroded, lifeless
deserts unless we can impound
this runaway soil in the upper
regions.
MAJOR FACTORS
"A compromise might be the
organizing of lower valley farm.
ing on the ancient Nile tech
nique for a century or so, until
we can through a vast, elabO-
rate and expenSHe-puttlng 1t
Tnildly-integration Of flood
control, irrigation, waste and
soil conservation and power de-
velopment by hundreds Of great
reservoirs on the upper tribu.
tarieS of the rivers"
Just as a curtain-raiSer for the
dam and reservoir solution. it may
be noted that the Grand Coulee
Dam, now under construction ir
the state of Washington, will cost
S25, 100000 more than the Panama
Canal. 1t will make fertile an area
of rich soil about equal in area tt
the States of Rhode Island anc
Delaware. 1t will develop a vast
amount Of hydroelectric power
and, of course, will be a great ad
vance in flood control. 1t create!
gtupendous new wealth and in
wolves stupendous expense.
The unified, integrated reservoir
plan. requiring scores Of such gi
gantic projects, chalks up cost
which make an engineer veal
binders when he looks in tha
direction. Nobody dareS take 8
real look at the probable bill fol
renovating and remodeling oul
continent. badly messed LID b.