No. 4.] DRAINAGE PROJECTS. 109 



the necessary money by personal contribution. As already 

 indicated, the need for large sums in promoting the drainage 

 of large areas, and the impracticability of raising such sums 

 by the co-operative organizations, was one of the reasons 

 which suggested the idea of creating a drainage district with 

 corporate powders, including the right to issue bonds in order 

 to distribute the cost over a number of years. These bonds 

 should be serial in type, interest payable semiannually, with 

 first installment of principal falling due not later than the end 

 of the fifth year, and final installment not beyond the twentieth 

 year from date of issue. In connection with either the assess- 

 ment clause or the bonding clause of the law, provision should 

 be made for the early sale of the lands in case of failure of any 

 landowner to meet taxes promptly. This clause should receive 

 careful attention, since it lends much to the salability of bonds 

 at a good price. In other words, in connection with that 

 clause of the law which relates to bonding, every precaution 

 should be taken to insure prompt payment of interest and 

 principal at maturit}', as certainty of payment of both interest 

 and principal will assist materially in the sale of bonds to in- 

 vestors, and the price a bond house will pay to the district is 

 largely affected by the ready market it anticipates for the 

 bonds. 



State Aid. 



Since the drainage of swamp and wet lands means increased 

 agricultural production, improved sanitary conditions, and in- 

 creased tax values the question naturally suggests itself, should 

 the State assist in the promotion of drainage. Heretofore 

 drainage reclamation has kept pace with the legitimate demand 

 for land, and there has been no lack of private money to finance 

 meritorious projects. The marketability of bonds might be 

 enhanced, however, if the drainage law contained a provision 

 similar to that of the Minnesota law, which authorizes the 

 county board of each cOunty wherein any drainage district is 

 proposed to issue county bonds in such amount as may be 

 necessary to defray the expenses of constructing the improve- 

 ments, leaving the county to reimburse itself by collecting the 

 assessments made against the individual landowners. Such a 

 provision should insure prompt payment of both principal and 



