STATEMENT OF HON. CHARLES E. MCKENZIE, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF LOUISIANA

Mr. MCKENZIE. As all of you know, we have been pretty badly crowded the last 24 hours.

In behalf of this drainage project down in Louisiana we are more or less tied with the Tensas, the Bouef, and the Macon, because after all, these streams coverage and ultimately empty their waters into the Red River and then into the Mississippi.

The special session of the legislature of the State of Louisiana in 1945 appropriated $5,000,000 to be used in this State-wide drainage program. I think it would be of interest to the engineers and to the committee to know that of the 14 parishes in my district, 8 of which are directly interested and affected by this particular program, 8 have made arrangements to meet their portion of the required amount for rights-of-way and interior drainage and that sort of thing to go into

this.

The parish of East Carroll has voted a bond issue in the amount of $200,000, and out of the $5,000,000 the State has added $150,000, giving a total of over $350,000 there.

The parish of Franklin has voted a bond issue of $400,000, supplemented by State aid of $300,000, giving a total of of $700,000 of local aid and State aid in that parish.

The parish of Madison has voted a bond issue of $200,000, to be supplemented by $150,000 from the State fund, a total there of $350,000. The parish of Morehouse on the 8th of this month voted a bond issue of $400,000, to be supplemented by $300,000 from the State, a total of $700,000 for that parish.

The parish of West Carroll has voted a bond issue of $300,000, supplemented by $200,000 from the State, giving a total in that parish of $500,000.

The parish of Washington has called, and we expect to have passed, because there appears practically no opposition, a bond issue of $200,000, to be supplemented by $150,000 from the State, already appropriated, making a total there of $350,000.

The parish of Richland has a similar project, $200,000 bond issue, $150,000 State aid, a total of $350,000.

The parish of Tensas has a similar proposal, $200,000 bond issue, $150,000 State aid, a total of $350,000.

Now I want to call your attention to the fact that there is $2,100,000 already voted or in sight-and I can assure it will be ready-by these eight parishes direct and that the State contribution amounts to $1,550,000 or a total of $3,650,000 of combined State and parish aid.

The CHAIRMAN. You understand the project has been reported?
Mr. MCKENZIE. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. You feel that the project is justified and your people are ready to comply with the local requirements?

Mr. MCKENZIE. Yes, sir. I doubt if there are many communities where the local people have raised $350,000 for a project like this. The CHAIRMAN. We are glad to have had your statement.

VICKSBURG, MISS., PROJECT

The CHAIRMAN. Representative McGehee, in connection with the projects that you have presented to the committee, I may say that as far as the Yazoo project is concerned, as we have indicated, the general has gone into that, and now you are here in behalf of the Vicksburg project, and we will be glad to have your statement at this time. Before you make your statement, General Crawford will make a general statement with respect to that, just as he did with Vicksburg.

General CRAWFORD. What we have referred to as Vicksburg-Yazoo project is a plan that has been presented by the local interests of Vicksburg to provide lands on the Yazoo River and immediately adjacent and north of Vicksburg for expansion and other activities and an airport for Vicksburg.

The land involved comprises some 10,000 acres within the bend of the Yazoo River.

The request is that the main-line Mississippi River levee be extended to include that area and protect it from Mississippi River floods. The levee would be somewhat higher than the Yazoo backwater levees, approximately 63 feet on the Vicksburg gage as against 56 for the backwater levee.

The estimated costs have been estimated by experience in constructing levees in similar areas, and will cost approximately $4,000,000, including the necessary pumping plants to effect drainage from the area into the river.

Local interests offer to furnish the necessary rights-of-way for it and maintain and operate after completion in similar way that we do for main-line levees.

The CHAIRMAN. At Vicksburg, as in the case with Memphis and other cities located on the bluffs, there is the industrial area along the river and the city has constructed a concrete flood wall there at its own expense, and the proposed protection is essential to provide protection for any industrial sites now existing or that may be constructed, and there are important industrial sites now in this proposed area to the north of your flood wall?

General CRAWFORD. Yes, sir; that is correct; and some of those industries have already attempted to provide their own levees at their own expense.

The CHAIRMAN. And the proposed protection will consist of a levee, and that levee will be substantially the height of the levees some 3 or 4 miles or maybe further on the Louisiana side?

General CRAWFORD. The levee will be built to full project grade.

The CHAIRMAN. And it is your view that that levee can be constructed in connection with the main river projects and without damage or injury to the Yazoo backwater project?

General CRAWFORD. I am convinced that it can be. Some slight adjustments may be necessary, but our plans are not so firm that it cannot be done without jeopardizing the main levee system.

The CHAIRMAN. Whatever channelization there may be necessary would be borne by the Federal Government, and the local interests and Florida. It will put new business on the river and increase prosperity in the entire alluvial valley.

would be required to furnish the local contributions as required of local interests with regard to similar projects?

General CRAWFORD. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. McGehee, you may make any statement you desire to make.

STATEMENT OF HON. DAN R. McGEHEE, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI

Mr. McGEHEE. I appreciate the opportunity of appearing before the committee. On account of our having to go back to the floor in a few minutes, and the short time we have, I shall file my statement later with the committee.

However, I do want to introduce to the committee Col. Alexander Fitz-Hugh, who represents the Vicksburg committee in presenting this matter to the Flood Committee here. Col. Alexander Fitz-Hugh has been the chairman of the Delta Council Flood Control Committee for some years, and has been active for some 40 or 50 years in this section of the country on the lower Mississippi Valley.

The CHAIRMAN. Colonel, you may come around.

Colonel, as I understand it, you have been chairman for many years of the committee on flood control and the organization that speaks for the interests of the northwest Mississippi known as the Delta Council, and prior to that time, I imagine, you attended most of the hearings of the Flood Control Committee through the years.

We are glad to have you, and we will be glad to have any statement you care to submit in connection with this proposal.

STATEMENT OF COL. ALEXANDER FITZ-HUGH, VICKSBURG, MISS.

Colonel Frrz-HUGH. I want to thank the chairman for his generous introduction. I want to file with the committee our brief and the accompanying maps explaining this project. The CHAIRMAN. That may be done. (The map is on file with committee.) (The brief referred to is as follows:)

Hon. W. M. WHITTINGTON,

Chairman, Flood Control Committee,

VICKSBURG, MISS., April 6, 1946.

House of Representatives, Washington, D. C.

DEAR MR. WHITTINGTON: Pursuant to your suggestion, we are submitting the following explanatory statement and justification of our request for the construction of a project for flood protection for the Vicksburg-Yazoo area.

Of course, you are well aware of our unusually favorable geographical location on the Mississippi River and on north-south, east-west crossroads of major traffic routes by rail, highway, and air. But, as you know, our capability of developing and taking advantage of our strategic situation in respect to commerce and transportation is seriously hampered by the unfavorable aspects of our rugged topography. In recent years a number of industrial concerns have investigated the feasibility of establishing plants, or branches, in or near Vicksburg, but they have been invariably deterred by the lack of suitable, that is, reasonably level ground for industrial sites. Inquiries and opportunities of this kind will undoubtedly increase throughout Mississippi as the result of recent action by the legislature in repealing the manufacturer's sales tax, coupled with the recog nized trend of industry to decentralize from their northern and eastern locations and locate in the South.

Our community is also faced with the acute need of a site of suitable nature and location for a municipal airport, but here again our rugged hills are a formidable obstacle. As you know, Vicksburg is without airport facilities and is, therefore, seriously handicapped with respect to air-mail service and air transportation, which, of course, are essential to the conduct of modern business. This deficiency affects adversely not only the citizenry and business firms of our community but, particularly, the official business of the headquarters of the Mississippi River Commission and its local establishments. To meet this need, and to gain opportunity for profitable expansion, several commercial air lines have applied to the CAA for authority to establish service into Vicksburg, but commencement of such service is necessarily precluded until approved airport facilities are available. It is pertinent to note, in this connection, that a recent air-travel guide lists 55 municipalities in the United States which have commercial air facilities but have a population smaller than Vicksburg.

To meet our urgent need of flat land for commercial, industrial, and other expansion it is our request than an area along the south and east bank of the Yazoo River, just north of Vicksburg, be leveed. The area referred to, as indicated in rough outline on the map that is submitted herewith, contains about 10,000 acres. It is virtually an extension of Vicksburg proper and it is contiguous to United States Highway 61, the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroad, and to electric power and natural-gas transmission lines. It also has direct access to the Yazoo River, a navigable stream. There are presently some commercial establishments on the higher ground along the highway; the remainder of the area is partly farmed, the farming, however, being subject to frequent loss and interruption due to flooding.

In practically every respect the Vicksburg-Yazoo area described above would be ideally suited for the expansion and development of our community. Its protection from perennial inundation would not only make available additional lands suitable to our vital needs for airport and industrial sites, but would be a boon to the local farmers.

The leveeing of the Vicksburg-Yazoo area would undoubtedly necessitate a corresponding modification of the proposed alinement of the north- and westbank levee of the Yazoo backwater protection project in order to avoid a bottleneck. It appears from the map, however, that such a modification would be unobjectionable inasmuch as the lands along the north and west bank in this vicinity are essentially unimproved and swampy in character. In fact, such a modification of the north- and west-bank levee might even reduce its length and

cost.

Our thought is, also, that the Vicksburg-Yazoo levee should afford full protection, equivalent to that of main-line Mississippi River levees, rather than reduced protection normally afforded to backwater areas. The Vicksburg-Yazoo area, by virtue of its location is, of course, affected as much, if not more, by Mississippi River headwater flow as by its backwater. Moreover, the type of development which is envisioned for the major portion of this area, namely, permanent airport and industrial improvements, would be definitely handicapped, if not actually deterred from establishment, by anything less than complete flood protection.

We do not wish to burden you with voluminous exhibits and estimates to support what we believe to be an obviously sound conclusion, namely, that the reclamation of the Vicksburg-Yazoo areas has such real and potential value for the expansion of Vicksburg, Warren County, and adjacent sections of Mississippi for airport, industrial, commercial, residential, agricultural, and other beneficial purposes as to justify overwhelmingly its protection from Mississippi and Yazoo River floodwaters. We respectfully request your consideration of the excerpts and statements set forth below and are prepared to furnish you more complete economic data if you deem such additional information is necessary. (a) A letter dated March 22, 1946, from Mr. S. E. Treanor, president of the First National Bank & Trust Co., of Vicksburg, states that for 39 years he has been connected with that institution. In his opinion the present average per-acre value of the land embraced by this proposed project is $10 to $12. If the proposed levee is built, he estimates the price per acre would rise from $300 to $500 where sites available for industrial enterprises were provided. Where it cannot be utilized for industrial sites, airport facilities, and residential subdivisions but can be used for farming purposes, he estimates the land could easily run from $75 to $100 per acre.

(b) Mr. R. A. Geary, Sr., president of the Merchant's National Bank & Trust Co., of Vicksburg, has been an officer in that institution for the past 23 years,

during a good part of that period being in charge of the real-estate loan department. His letter, dated March 22, 1946, estimates the present average per-acre value of the land involved in the proposed project to be from $10 to $15. He states that not many years ago a considerable tract in the area sold for less than those prices. He estimates that if the project is brought to consummation even the poorer land within the area "would easily sell from 10 to 20 times as much as its present value if such land were made available for industrial sites."

(c) Mr. Lawrence H. Hennessey, of P. L. Hennessey & Bro., a real-estate firm of Vicksburg, Miss., in a letter under date of March 22, 1946, states that he is a lifelong resident of Vicksburg and Warren County and has been actively engaged in the real-estate business for the past 17 years. From 1935 to 1942 his firm represented the Home Owners' Loan Corporation as contract management and sales brokers, and at the present time are the sole representatives in this territory of the Federal Public Housing Authority. They also serve as appraisers for the Veterans' Administration and the Equitable Life Assurance Society. Mr. Hennessey estimates the present average per-acre value of the land in the area of the Vicksburg-Yazoo project of $15. He states that a number of acres in the territory have within the past 5 years been sold for taxes. Mr. Hennessey concludes his letter by saying: "If this land is given permanent flood protection, its market value would rise immediately to $400 per acre. When this same territory, comprising approximately 11,000 acres, is developed for commercial, industrial and airport facilities, I believe most sincerely the per-acre value will rise to $800 for favorably located industrial sites.”

(d) Mr. A. J. Brunini, of the law firm of Brunini, Brunini & Everett, in a letter dated March 22, 1946, states that he is a native of Vicksburg and Warren County, Miss., who has for the past 17 years been actively engaged in the practice of law in Vicksburg. A large portion of his practice has been in the connection of handling real estate, including the making of abstracts, title opinions, and the closing out of transactions involving real-estate trades. In that manner he has handled numerous transactions all over Warren County, as well as elsewhere in the State of Mississippi. He is a director of the First National Bank and in that connection is frequently called upon to assess the value of lands for the purpose of making loans thereon. Mr. Brunini estimates the present average per-acre value of the land incorporated by the Vicksburg-Yazoo project from $10 to $15 and further states that in his judgment the average value. of the land would rise from $400 to $500 an acre if given permanent levee protection, and a large portion of it be made available for commercial and industrial development.

(e) Mr. J. Noel Nutt, Warren County superintendent of education, in a letter dated March 18, 1946, says in part: "Your plan would greatly aid the school transportation program of Warren County. One school bus operates over approximately 12 miles of road that is in the overflowed area. Under existing conditions this bus service to 25 to 30 school children must be discontinued during flood periods, making it necessary for them to be absent from school for extended periods of time."

He

(f) Mr. Clyde McGehee is a realtor of Vicksburg, having been active in that capacity in this city for the past 26 years. On account of the scarcity of industrial locations in this vicinity, Mr. McGehee states in a letter dated March 26, 1946, that he has recently sold tracts of less than an acre for $6,000. believes the average per-acre value at the present time of the land within the proposed Vicksburg-Yazoo project to be $25, and he further states that if this area is given permanent flood protection there will be an enormous increase in its value.

(g) Mr. Wesley R. Lominick is the Warren County agricultural agent. In a letter dated March 22, 1946, he states: "Financial returns from farming in the area are extremely variable. During years when flood water does not come, crop yields of cotton, corn and hay are high. A few years ago I saw nine bales of cotton produced on 3 acres of land in the area. A yield of two bales per acre is not uncommon during good crop years, but the good years are few due to the flood hazard. Profits made during good years are dissipated when floods come and destroy crops, cause losses of livestock and damage or destruction to buildings, fences, etc. With protection from flood and proper surface drainage, practically all of the land within the Vicksburg-Yazoo project area would be very valuable. Under such conditions production would be greatly increased. The people who farm in the area would enjoy a much higher standard of living,