Evening star., 1947-07-17
Army Flood Efforts Hit,
Plan Urged
Al Conference Here
By The As,cejoted Press

ocutOil y. OtIOilk Vi bCllNci Slldll
man of the regional committee for
a Missouri Valley Authority, de-
clared today that assigning the
United States Army engineers to
the job of controlling floods in a
river is precisely like sending
Typhoid Mary to stop typhoid
epidemic"
Instead OF leaving Missouri VAL
lev food control to the Army engi-
neers, Mr.. Strong said. the Govern
ment should adopt "a plan with the
dynamics to set of a great expan-
sion in the Missouri Valley, as has
happened in the Tennessee Valley"
Mr.. Strong prepared his state
ment for the opening session in the
Interior Department Auditorium of
the Valley Developing Conference,
an organization devoted to promot-
ing TVA-type authorities for the
Missouri, Ohio, Mississippi and other
valleys.
Blames Army for Crest Rises.
He said Army engineer plans for
the Missouri Valley will chain it to
the dead past until billions of dollars
of its assets are buried in silt and
another. braver and more enlight-
ened generation comes along to
repair damages which cannot be
estimated" He added:
The Missouri Valley is only par
TALLY developed by the Army en-
gineers.
Thus far, with a little under
s400, 900, 900 spent on the lower Mis-
souri, River, the Army has pushed
flood crests up by 5, 8 and feet.
But, given time and a few more
hundred million dollars. the Army
doubtless can still all opposition to
their stream-clogging boondoggles
by the simple process of drowning
out the population.
iva Held Answer to Problems.
Morris L. Cooke, former rural
electrification administrator and
chairman of the conference. said in
another statement that its sponsors
see in the development and success
of iva q fairly complete answer to
the problems of the Missouri, the
Ohio. the Mississippi and other river
valleys"
Mr.. Cooke, a Philadelphia engi-
neer. continued:
This does not mean only the con-
troll of floods, or the extension of
irrigation, or the promotion of navi-
cation, or the recognition of the
claims of recreation or any other
one fact in the life of this mid
continent area.
What is required is the setting
up of single agency acting under
policies set by Congress and re-
sponsible to its elected members and
to an elected President that will pro-
mote every remedial line of action"
Senators Among Sponsors.
Among the sponsors of the con-
ference are Senators Murray, DEM
ocrat, of Montana; Langer, Repub-
lican, of North Dakota, and Tay-
lor, Democrat, of Idaho: Repre-
sentative Miller, Democrat, of Cali
fornia; Louis Bromfield. author
farmer. and A. r. Whitney, presi-
dent of the Brotherhood of Rail
road Trainmen.
Mr.. Cooke said they called the
meeting when they recognized. tina t
we were confronted by two facts
II. The seeming failure Of the
regularly constituted agencies to
consider seriously the extension OF
the successful iva techniquss to
other valleys. this failure being
dramatized by the refusal to hold
hearings Tin Congress) on the MVA
bill.
"2. OF vastly greater immediate
import. the disastrous floods which,
breaking all records. inflicted dam
age possibly equal to the total in
vestment in IVA in its whole IL
years of operation