FOURTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK — PART VI. 457 



oughly prepared the roadbed by drainage. (Applause.) It is safe, 

 it is necessary and I cherish the suspicion, I may be wrong, but I 

 cherish the suspicion that when you have once thoroughly under-drained 

 your roadbed and kept the roadbed smooth on the surface, possibly you 

 have got pretty near what you want. (Applause.) I do not want to 

 be misunderstood, I do not want to be taking the position that you 

 must stop there or that you want to stop there. I do not want to stand 

 in the way of those who are asking for something farther. The point 

 I made is. this is necessary, this is proper, and. if we find that we can' 

 stop there, weir and good. There are many other features of this drain- 

 age problem that I am interested in. I read not long ago an interesting 

 article from a member of the legislature on the danger that the towns 

 and cities were in, if this problem of drainage were carried 'Out. I find 

 myself differing on one material point in that article. That is in 

 regard to the danger to the cities below. Now at first thought, it would 

 seem to be true that to hurry this water off would increase the danger 

 "below, but my investigations have led me to believe that this is not the 

 case. I find by my own experience, in my part of the State, that when' 

 the surface soil is thoroughly dried out we can take about four inches 

 of rainfall without even starting our local streams. An inconceivable 

 volume of water, yet we can take it without even starting a local stream. 

 Why? Because we have the .capacity to take care of a vast amount of 

 water in our sub-soil. There are ponds, which, of course, hold vast 

 quantities of water, but it is not the first rains that raise the water 

 in our streams. The first rains have doubtless filled up our ponds. I 

 doubt if we are troubled by overflows on the Des Moines and Skunk 

 rivers until after these ponds are filled up. When these surface ponds 

 are all filled and the natural reservoir in the soil itself has all been 

 filled, there is no place left and the waters pile up in the streams and 

 curse us below by destroying 'Our crops and buildings. Your ditches 

 are like a safety valve on a steam boiler. As soon as the pressure gets 

 up to a certain point it blows off. You will find, gentlemen, in these parts 

 of the State. I am sure, that you not only need these surface ditches 

 but you need the tile ditch. Unless you have a very dry season I do 

 not apprehend that you will raise very great crops in those lake beds 

 by doing this. Now. when you have tiled that lanc^ you have not only 

 carried this surface water out into the channel of the stream, but you 

 "have created a reservoir that will hold any rainy season. We will 

 have more beautiful streams, we will have a clear sparkling stream all 

 through the season where now we only have a stagnant poiol part of 

 the time. 



I have lived the past two seasons on the Skunk. You have held 

 the water up here to destroy your own crops, and sent it all down 

 lield the water up here to destroy your own crops, and sent it all down 

 in one lump to destroy mine after it was half produced. I am afraid, 

 gentlemen, that without pretending any special knowledge I suspect 

 that you are putting too much stress on the open ditch. Now an open 

 ditch is tolerable only when you can not get along without it. I suspect 

 that there are many places where you think an open ditch requisite, 



