102 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



February- 



flooded lands. He mentioned the rice 

 plantations of the Carolinas which, 

 he said, were disappearing because of 

 floods resulting from deforestation. 

 He said, "According to official state- 

 ments of the Census Bureau, 'thous- 

 ands of acres of rice in the Carolinas 

 have been destroyed in a single night, 

 and many planters have been forced to 

 abandon the industry.' Thus has a 

 richly productive industry which has 

 existed for 200 years been injured to 

 an extent from which it probably can- 

 not recover for many years. 



"In former days, before the moun- 

 tains were stripped of their timber, 

 floods, as a rule, rose slowly and, in- 

 stead of being a menace to the plant- 

 er, were of benefit, for he made use of 

 them by opening and closing his le- 

 vees at proper times, flooding and 

 draining his rice fields in such a way 

 as to produce the best results." 



Mr. F. H. Newell, Director of the 

 United States Reclamation Service, 

 speaking of Government reclamation, 

 said : "It is of the greatest importance 

 to the future development of the Com- 

 monwealth that these vast areas of ex- 

 ceedingly fertile land be reclaimed, not 

 to form princely estates for a few men, 

 but to be divided and subdivided into 

 the smallest practicable area upon 

 which, in accordance with the terms 

 of the Reclamation Act, a family can 

 make a comfortable living. 



"There is no higher use to which the 

 powers of the Federal Government can 

 be put than in bringing about such a 

 condition as to promote the creation 

 of homes. The stability of our insti- 

 tutions rests directly upon the pros- 

 perity of the individual farm and 

 home. That this result can be brought 

 about is no longer a theory, but is a 

 demonstrated fact. The efl^ects of the 



operation of the Reclamation Act have 

 been not only to reclaim public lands, 

 but to break up large holdings, reg- 

 ulate the water supply to these and 

 put upon the lands which otherwise 

 are unproductive through excess or 

 deficiency of moisture a dense popula- 

 tion of landowners and producers." 



Governor N. B. Broward, of Flor- 

 ida, said, "We have dredges at work 

 reclaiming the Everglades, but as the 

 Everglades are as big in acreage as 

 Connecticut, Rhode Island and Dela- 

 ware, we feel that if Uncle Sam did a 

 little reclaiming he would not get in 

 our way." 



Colonel Goodyear, above quoted, 

 urged the simultaneous improvement 

 of inland waterways and draining of 

 swamps. He said, "Do both of these 

 great works at the same time. Let 

 them go together under the command 

 of the United States Government. Let 

 rivers be improved and swamps be re- 

 claimed simultaneously, and you wilt 

 find it much cheaper. These eighty- 

 million acres of land that are under 

 water will be needed by this country 

 some day, and I think the United 

 States should meet the expense. Let 

 one billion dollars worth of bonds be 

 issued to do the work. 



The following officers were elected : 

 Hon. N. B. Broward, Governor of 

 Florida, President ; Dr. James Bosley, 

 Health Commissioner of Baltimore, 

 First Vice-President; W. S. Brad- 

 dock, Wisconsin, Second Mce-Presi- 

 dent ; Colonel A. G. Bernard, 1420 

 New York Avenue, Washington, D.'C, 

 Secretary ; B. Howell Griswold, Balti- 

 more, Treasurer ; C. B. Brown, Cali- 

 fornia, Colonel James Cosgrove, 

 South Carolina, and Frank J. Bock, 

 New Jersey, Executive Committee- 

 men. 



