86 HAUPT — THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER PROBLEM.' [Feb. 19, 



does not reach above this danger line, as the disastrous breaks in late 

 years attest fully. Moreover, no soundings were made and there was 

 no basis for comparison. 



But perhaps the most pronounced instance of bed elevation, due 

 to a partial contraction along the banks of a stream near its outlet, 

 and of which there can be no question, is that at the South Pass, 

 where the constant and accurate surveys made since the construc- 

 tion of the two parallel jetties, in 1869, show they have produced 

 an average shoaling along nearly the entire twelve miles of four 

 inches and over per annum, 



A recent Southern writer, evidently alive to the situation, stated : 

 *' The living generations will have great responsibilities in their 

 treatment of this stalwart river, for it will not do to say that if the' 

 practice of building dikes proves ineffectual the true remedy may be 

 applied at a later date. We know absolutely that the practice will 

 prove ineffectual. This much we have already demonstrated in our 

 own experience, even had we not the experience of twenty centu- 

 ries to aid us in reaching conclusions ; and every foot added to the 

 elevation of the Mississippi river will be a measure of peril and 

 perplexity for future generations. The time to apply the remedy is 

 before the mischief is done." .... There should be no more 

 Congressional appropriations for dike building, but the whole coun- 

 try can very properly be asked to help in providing for the security 

 of future generations. 



In the recent discussion before the American Society of Civil 

 Engineers, it was stated that ^'the levees of the Po formed an 

 immense network of dikes, which has assured the protection of a 

 vast rich territory century after century." Also that ''while the 

 combined discharge of all the affluents amounts to 528,000 cubic 

 feet per second, the discharge of the Po during the same period 

 is only 176,000 cubic feet." The writer adds: "That is certainly 

 a remarkable result, and doubtless much of it must be attributed 

 to the fact that the tributaries do not discharge flood waters sim- 

 ultaneously and that the lakes retard the flow to a marked extent." 

 . . . . He also adds : " There are, however, very serious drawbacks 

 to levees as a means of preventing inundation, and Belgrand has 

 stated that ' it is plain that even in a country where levees have 

 existed for twelve centuries, where property has been exposed to all 

 the consequences, it has not been clearly demonstrated that the 

 advantages are greater than the inconveniences.' The chief objec- 



