Montana labor news., 1945-10-18

Those familiar with II call the MIS-
souri, river Big Muddy" or our own
Yellow river From its sources IN the
Wyoming and Montana mountains TO IT'S
iuncture with the even master Missis-
sippi, just above St. Louis, IT covers
246O miles: its basin, including its
tributaries. embraces more than one
sixth of our continental United States
1t flows first in a vaguely easterly di-
rection and then southeasterly (through
10 states): the Missouri valley is the
home of nearly 100000 people. Near
its source the Missouri is $4,000 feet
above sea level and it drops all the way
TO 400 feet in the course Of its 2,46C
miles.
There seems to be marked distinc-
ton between the upper and lower val
leys. In the former, which roughly
would extend to parts Of Wyoming
Montana, Colorado, the Dakotas, the
great need is irrigation, while in the
lower valley, parts of Nebraska, Iowa.
Kansas and Missouri, farmlands pri-
marly require protection from destruc-
tive floods As a result of different
situations and different needs, the peo-
pies of the two areas have for years
had difficulty in understanding each
others problem But those in the upper
valley are now said to have arrived at
the realization that they cannot Sc
cure the legislation they want without
the support OF their valley neghbors.
Though strangely enough the reverse
is not yet true.
The Missouri valley is an area which
has been richly endowed by the Creator.
In its upper basin and nearby lies the
worlds largest supply Of cheap bitu-
minous and sub-btuminous coal along
with oil and oil shale in abundance.
1t contains the worlds largest supply
OF phosphates-the most important ele-
ment for building up the soil-and,
curiously enough, that means virtually
all the national supply OF phosphates
outside the 10 per cent found in the
Tennessee valley. For all the abuse
which it has received, the farmland Of
the Missouri valley is still among the
richest in the United States and in the
world provided only that there is suffi-
cient water. The chief products Of this
richly endowed area are wheat, lumber,
sheep and cows. copper, iron lead, man
ganese, zinc and natural gas.
Yet with all these natural advantages
the valley is definitely on the drown
grade. Incomes. tax receipts and in
dustrial production are dropping, and
since 1910, 100000 people have left
the area. There are few Americans,
even these days, who do not remember
the dust bowls of a decade and more
ago in the upper valley, while year
after year we hear OF floods which ruin
thousands of acres in rich farmland
nearer the rivers mouth. II is said
that 100000 acres of land-worth a
billion dolArs-are subject to the raw
ages of fhis mighty stream Indeed,
100000 tons of priceless fertile topsoil
are annually washed away by the Mis-
souri, and its tributaries that is cquiva-
lent TO one ton per cultivated acre an
nually And when the Missouri goes
on a rampage it often changes its
course and thus wreaks havoc on homes
and communities for miles around
Even industrial plants are subject TO
its torrents, incurring Sl5000O0OO worth
OF damage from 1912 to 1914 The
damage wrought by drought may be
gathered from the total overall figure
of cost to our government Chiefly the
federal government of 81 ,246 557 900 in
the past decade AT times Big Muddy
looks slow and peaceful, but it is
aroused all too periodically
One would think that a river of this
size would afford great facilities for
cheap transportation. However, above
Kansas City and especially above Sioux
City, Iowa, river traffic has up to now
been chiefly the dredges and barges of
Army engineers q have no data on
rowboats, skffs and other small, flat
bottom craft. A drop from $4,000
to 400 feet, even when stretched out
over thousands of miles, would seem
to present great opportunities for de-
veloping water power. But such is not
the case. Iowa, with its black velvet
soil and wealthy hog raisers, is the only
one of the Missouri valley states in
which more than half the farms have
electricity. Even the comparatively
rich Dakotas are inferior to the oft
blasted state OF Mississippi in consump-
ton per person OF electric power.
=
All that ought to add up to suffi-
cient evidence of the urgent need that
something be done by and for the in
habitants of the Missouri valley. I'M
like the Tennessee area, which is
blessed by a heavy rainfall, the most
pressing requirement in the Missouri
basin is irrigation. That has long
been the concern of the department of
the Interiors Bureau OF Reclamation
under the ubiquitous Secretary lckes.
Its engineers estimate that rams could
be constructed which would irrigate
100000 acres of new and restored !
farmland, plus another half million |
acres which are now inadequately irri- |
gated. This would raise the value of |
the land in question from s. to SIS an
acre; ii would create $1,000 new farms
averaging 90 acres apiece and involving |
2l2,000 people The bureau would for
one thing establish IS reservoirs in the
heart Of the northern dust bowl Of |
Wyoming and the Dakotas. Then the
enormous ort Peck reservoir in eastern
Montana, which was built by Army
engineers to store water for naviga-
tion purposes, could also be used for
irrigation purposes. II does not even
supply any revenue for the state Of
Montana to this day The bureau plans
storage dams on the lower main stream
also-in all one and a half times the