300 



The National Geographic Magazine 



EvergladeSj and elsewhere. The above 

 work has had in view only the furnishing 

 of assistance to individuals or to com- 

 munities and does not contemplate federal 

 construction, nor have permanent marks 

 been left on the ground by the surveys. 



Recently, at a first national drainage 

 congress, held in Oklahoma, a national 

 drainage association was organized, the 

 purpose of which, through annual meet- 

 ings and other organized effort, is to ad- 

 vance the cause of federal reclamation by 

 drainage. The congress authorized the 

 appointment of a vice-president from 

 each state, in addition to the president, 

 secretary, and other executive officers. 

 Resolutions were passed recommending 

 that the federal Congress enact legislation 

 which would provide for survey and 

 actual construction by the federal govern- 

 ment of drainage reclamation works. 

 During the last two sessions of Congress 

 several bills have been introduced having 

 this end in view. Some of these are of 

 local application; one provides for the 

 drainage of the Dismal Swamp of Vir- 

 ginia ; another provides for the drainage 

 of the swamp lands of Minnesota, but by 

 far the more important are several bills 

 "for the establishment of a drainage fund 

 and the construction of works for the 

 reclamation of swamp and overflowed 

 lands" in all the states. These bills are 

 drawn on lines following closely the Irri- 

 gation Reclamation Act of 1902. They 

 provide for the creation of a special 

 drainage fund in the Treasury Depart- 

 ment, to be derived from moneys received 

 from the sale and disposal of public lands 

 in the states east of the arid region ; also 

 for a working fund of about $2,000,000, 

 to be loaned by the federal government 

 until such time as the sale of reclaimed 

 lands may permit of its return to the 

 Treasury. The drainage fund is made a 

 revolving fund by arranging that the cost 

 of construction of drainage work shall 

 be assessed against the land sold and the 

 proceeds returned to the fund. It is 

 finally provided that the execution of the 

 act shall be vested in the Secretary of the 



Interior, presumably in the existing 

 Reclamation Service, which has already 

 proved its efficiency. 



PREI^IMINARY PLANS 



A special act passed by Congress in its 

 session of i905-'6 appropriated $15,000 

 for a survey and report with a view to 

 construction of drainage works for the 

 reclamation of the swamp lands in the 

 ceded Chippewa Indian reservations in 

 Minnesota. Under this act surveys were 

 made in the fall of 1906 by the Geological 

 Survey covering over 400,000 acres of 

 these lands. The segregation and with- 

 drawal from sale and occupation of un- 

 sold government lands in this area re- 

 serves the remaining public lands as a 

 source of revenue from which to refund 

 the cost of construction. The report of 

 the results of this survey shows that the 

 necessary works involve the drainage of 

 nearly 267,000 acres of land and the im- 

 provement of 135,000 additional acres. 

 In the short period of three months suffi- 

 cient instrumental data was secured to 

 make it evident that here was an admir- 

 able and typical drainage project showing 

 what may be done under federal direc- 

 tion. Main lines of canal, with subsid- 

 iary and minor drainage ditches to reach 

 every 160 acres were designed, and the 

 estimated cost of construction of these 

 works is about $1,080,000. Dividing 

 the reclaimed lands into groups ac- 

 cording as they will be wholly reclaimed 

 or only improved, it is found that an 

 average assessment of from $1.62 to 

 $3.23 per acre will cover the cost of con- 

 struction. This is a region in which 

 drained lands are at a premium at prices 

 ranging from $12 to $15 per acre; so 

 that it is evident that if these lands were 

 drained the proceeds of their sale would 

 readily return to the government the en- 

 tire cost of construction, even if sold at a 

 figure less than one-half that of current 

 market values. 



THE FLORIDA EVBRGLADES 



The reclamation of the Florida Ever- 

 glades is more than a promoter's dream; 



