120 OUR USE OF THE LAND 



SWAMP LAND 



On the borderline between the East and West there is con 

 siderable swamp land. A part of this swamp area lies in Minne' 

 sota and Wisconsin. During the World War, when there was 

 a great demand for new land, many of these swamps were 

 drained. Drainage companies sent representatives to a swampy 

 area. These representatives told glowing tales of huge profits 

 made from drained swamps in other parts of the state. They 

 said, "Now if you drain your swamps, you too will make equally 

 fat profits." It was a pleasing prospect, and many farmers 

 agreed to form a drainage district and hire the drainage com' 

 pany to drain the land. 



Groups of farmers in an area were given permission by the 

 state to issue bonds to pay for draining swamp land. Once the 

 bonds were issued, the county guaranteed that the bonds 

 would be paid. 



The drainage companies collected their fees and moved on. 

 The farmers were left with the land, some of it useless, a great 

 deal more fertile enough; but when the war was over, there 

 was a decreasing market to buy the crops grown on it. With 

 no sale for their crops, the farmers could not pay back the 

 money they had borrowed to do the draining. In some cases 

 these drainage projects were successful, but in many others 

 they were not. 



Before it was drained this swamp land served two purposes. 

 It was the home of many wild fowl and animals. At the same 

 time it was a source of water supply for the streams running 

 south. When the land was drained, the wild fowl had to leave. 

 The streams were left without an adequate supply of water. 

 And on top of all this, the land users had little more to show 

 for their effort than a large debt. 



The fate of that debt is a good illustration of the effect of 

 taxation on land use. When the members of the drainage 



