MICHIGAN ROADS AND FORESTS 



FIVE BILLION DOLLARS 



FOR CONSERVATION 



Arthur Hooker, secretary of the board of 

 control of the National Irrigation Congress, 

 will present a resolution for approval by that 

 nr.L'ani/.atioii at its seventeenth annual session 

 !> be held in Spokane. AUK. 9 to 14, memorial- 

 izing congress <o issue I! per cent gold bond-., 

 running 100 years, to the amount of $5.000.- 

 iioo.ooo. or as much thereof as may be ncccs- 

 ,-ary. lor the following specific purposes: 



One billion dollars for drainage of over- 

 flowed and swamp lands, thus reclaiming an 

 area equal to 100.000 square miles. 



One billion dollars for the reclamation by 

 irrigation of 10.000.000 acres of arid and semi 

 arid lands, now narlly or wholly waste. 



I )ne billion dollars to construct and improve 

 deep waterways, to develop thousands of miles 

 of territory now without adequate transporta- 

 tion facilities. 



One billion dollars for good roads and na- 

 tional highways, for the lack of which the loss 

 to the farm area of the United States is ap- 

 proximately $500.000.000 annually. 



I )ne billion dollars for forest protection, 

 reforestation and conservation of the forest 

 resources, thus assuring timber and lumber 

 supplies for centuries to come. 



"Five billions of dollars is an enormous sum. 

 but it is no more than is actually required to 

 carry out the gigantic scheme in developing 

 millions of acres of lands in various parts of 

 the L'nited States now absolutely worthless," 

 ay-. Mr. 1 looker in explaining the plan. 

 "i i ingress will not be asked to appropriate a 

 penny. The returns from the improvements 

 would pay off the bonds. The government 

 would simply act as a banker, as it does now 

 for the various irrigation projects. The bond 

 issue would provide ample funds as required 

 to carry out the work in the several divisions, 

 at the same time giving the be.-t possible col- 

 lateral to those investing in these securities. 



"Government ligurcs bear out the statement 

 that there is enough guod bind overflowed in 

 Minnesota. Wisconsin. Kansas. Nebraska. 

 Louisiana. Kentucky, Tennessee and Missi:-.- 

 sippi to make an area as large as the state 

 of Missouri, or more than 44,000.000 acres. 

 while in the eastern, central, and western 

 states there is more than as much more, or 

 about loo.ooo acres in all. At a conservative 

 estimate of $25 an acre, the sale of this re- 

 claimed land would justify the expenditure of 

 .-':. .".00.000. 000. or 150 per cent more than is 

 required to drain it. This land would support 

 from 2.000,000 to :!,()().()() population. 



"Approximately 40,000,000 acres of lands in 

 western and south-western states are adapted 

 to irrigation, which, if reclaimed at an average 

 COSl of $2."> an acre, would be worth not less 

 than $200 an acre, or a total of $8,000.000.000, 

 and provide homes for more than S. 000,000 

 persons. The economic value of irrigation 

 cannot be measured in dollars and cents, but 

 crops of from $500 to $1,000 an acre are not 

 rare in the irrigated districts. There are al- 

 ready 14,000.000 acres under irrigation and the 

 Reclamation Service estimates it will have re- 



HOMESTEAD IN BLACK HILLS, NATIONAL FOREST 



claimed 2,000,000 acres, at a cost not exceeding 

 $70,000,000 before the close of 1911. 



"The construction and improvement of the 

 deep waterways required to provide better and 

 cheaper transportation facilities is, I believe, a 

 100 per cent investment, from the fact that 

 two-thirds of the bulky freight could be 

 shipped by water routes, at a cost to the ship- 

 per of not more than one-sixth of the present 

 rail rates. The importance of this becomes 

 apparent when it is remembered that the food 

 question is becoming a world problem. 



"The state of New York is expending $101,- 

 000,000 to enlarge the Erie canal, and $100,000,- 

 000 is the amount required to improve the 

 Missouri river from a point about 40 miles 

 west of Yellowstone Park to where it meets 

 the Mississippi river, 2,547 miles. Then there 

 is the projected waterway from Lake Michi- 

 gan to the Gulf of Mexico and scores of others 

 necessary to cheap and better transportation 

 facilities. Millions of dollars will be saved 

 annually to the people of the United States by 

 the completion of these works. 



"The maintenance of the greatest water way 

 in the world, composed of the Great Lakes, on 

 which the government of the United States 

 has expended more than $!H),000,000 for har- 

 bors and connecting channels, presents an 

 argument in favor of the scheme to develop 

 thousands of miles of territory in the Mis- 

 souri and other valleys. The other projects 

 outlined in the foregoing are of equal if not 

 greater importance, and with proper backing 

 they can be carried out successfully. 



"Xo one questions the statement that good 

 roads have a high money value to the farmers 

 (jf the nation, and it may be said that this 

 alone is sufficient to justify the cost of their 

 construction as rapidly as practicable under 

 an efficient, economical and equitable system 

 of highway improvement. The big points in 

 favor of this expenditure is the economy of 

 time and force in transportation between farm 

 and market, enabling the growers to take 



advantage of fluctuations in buying and sell- 

 ing, as well as enhancing the value of real 

 estate. 



"It is estimated that the average annual loss 

 from poor roads is 76 cents an acre, while the 

 estimated average increase resulting from im- 

 proving all the public roads is $9. The losses 

 in five years would aggregate $2,432 for every 

 section of land, or more than enough to im- 

 prove two miles of public highway. The ne- 

 cessity of good roads is obvious, as it would 

 enhance the value of each section of land 

 about $5,760, or more than double the esti- 

 mated cost of two miles of improved highway, 

 which constitutes the quota for 640 acres of 

 land. 



"The value of our forests was never better 

 appreciated than today. Within the arid and 

 semi-arid portions of the western states nearly 

 124.000,000 acres are covered with heavy for- 

 ests having commercial value for timber and 

 logs for saw mills, also hundreds of thousands 

 of acres of timber lands in other parts of the 

 United States. Reforestation and conserva- 

 tion of the vast resources are necessary to 

 provide future generations with timber and 

 lumber supplies. The government is expend- 

 ing large amounts of money every year to 

 protect its forests from tires, yet expert lum- 

 bermen say that more standing timber is de- 

 stroyed by flames annually than is converted 

 into merchantable lumber by the saw mills." 



Mr. Hooker says it is likely that his resolu- 

 tion will be presented to the various interests 

 of the irrigation congress for discussion and 

 will afterward be incorporated in a memorial 

 to the United States Congress. It is also pro- 

 posed to have a large delegation, composed of 

 representatives of every state and territory in 

 the Union, push the measure for adoption. 

 The work of enlisting the support of the peo- 

 ple interested in the various projects will be 

 taken up immediately after the close of the 

 irrigation congress with the view to concerted 

 action. 



