i <jo8 



AX INLAND WATKRWAYS SYSTEM 



283 



The first steps in the work have been and Drainage Associati ini- 



taken, in the formation of the River prove the river> by units, ami h 

 Improvement and Drainage Associa- these finally coalesce into the plan in 

 tion of California. This organization its entirety. Naturally thi.- unit plan 

 has worked consistently toward one would begin in the Inner : 

 plan of complete improvement of all the river in straightening clnmieN and 

 the inland waterways of the State, and providing for the ready outlet of the 

 one of its first moves was the framing surplus water, while the greater work 

 of the bill which was passed by the of providing storage basins, in which 

 State Legislature, known as the Sacra- this flood water can be conserved unti' 

 mento Drainage Bill, which law has re- later in the season, shall be complet. 

 cently been declared constitutional by The possibilities of such flood water 

 the Superior Court of Sacramento storage are so great as to be a-t'mnd- 

 County. This law establishes the Sac- ing in their immensity. Not only is it 

 ramento drainage district and the possible thus to provide for a constant 



flow of water sufficient to make tin- 

 streams, navigable at all seasons, but it 

 would also provide for irrigation wa- 

 ter at all times when needed ; and it 

 would reclaim millions of acres of fer- 

 tile land in the valley. 



It may be said in this connection 

 been inundated periodically by disas- that the entire $23,000,000 required for 

 trous floods two recent ones, that of the completion of this plan of better- 

 1904 and that of 1907, being fresh in ment of the Sacramento River would 

 mind. These two floods alone caused be returned in the increased value of 

 a monetary loss to the State sufficient the adjacent lands alone, to say noth- 

 to have provided the funds for the ing of the benefits that would be de- 

 complete plan of reclamation recom- rived by everv land owner in the 



election of the Sacramento Drainage 

 Commission, which is now actively at 

 work. 



The establishment of the Commis- 

 sion is a long step toward a better- 

 ment of conditions in the great inte- 

 rior valley of California, which has 



mended by the Commission of Engi- whole valley and the adjacent foot 

 neers, for it is estimated that fully hills. 

 $25,000,000 was lost to the property 

 owners and lessees along the river bv 



o J 



the overflows since January i, 1900. 



The era of the inland waterway i- 

 at hand, and it behooves every person 

 who has an interest in cheap ami 



It may be easier to get rid of money ready transportation, in land rcclama- 

 this way than by applying it to better- tion, and in the conservation of water, 

 ment of the river, but it certainly is to unite in the work of carrying out a 

 not so wise. general and specific plan for river im- 



The plan of the River Improvement provement. 



TREES 



By Marion Elza Dodd, Glen Ridge, New Jersey 



Doomed by the lust of men. 

 The great trees in solemn silence 

 Watch the course of human progress 

 As their kin meet the call to death. 

 No forest depth escapes the scourge 

 Of the blazing ax of wood-mm 

 \Ylio are singing to swinging blows 

 In the rhythm of life unbound. 

 But what of the choir of winds 

 Wailing for the dead? 



SentiiH-I- of >tren-th, 



f of a i purpose, 



Kvidence of a law <li\ inc 

 Ki-Min winter buds to spr-.iding loaf, 

 Inspiration \ see 1 

 The heights in vi [ faith, 



The .p-bl... ur lives! 



You who cut ami scar, change the chant 

 Of winds vine; melody 



Abounding in life! 



