age canal and through which also was constructed a drainage ditch with 20-foot bottom by the War Relocation Authority, which runs from property owned by the Alluvial Farms, Inc., and the United States of America property just east of Jerome, Ark. I purchased this land and improved it extensively, building a large number of houses and barns thereon and putting most of it in cultivation with the thought that I would have excellent protection from flood water coming down the ditch constructed by the War Relocation Authority and the main ditch No. 1 of the Chicot County drainage district, and would be able to properly drain same. Then the rains came, the ditch of the War Relocation Authority ran over, and the main ditch No. 1 of the Chicot County drainage district ran over. The water from the main ditch No. 1 of the Chicot County drainage district ran across the land in a westerly direction and over my place, and, of course, over the ditch constructed by the War Relocation Authority, greatly damaging my property and the growing crops thereon. In order to avoid this, I constructed a levee around my place which I used as a road, but found that while this kept the water from the main ditch No. 1 of the Chicot County drainage district from running over my land, the water in the War Relocation ditch continued to run over, and I was unable to construct ditches which would take the water off my property. This flooded condition covers an area some 7 or 8 miles long north and south, and 4 or 5 miles wide east and west, in this immediate territory along the main ditch No. 1 of the Chicot County drainage district. The construction of the ditch by the War Relocation Authority greatly aggravated the conditions of the main ditch No. 1 of the Chicot County drainage district and caused water to back up in its ditch for more than 4 miles. Respectfully submitted. LINWOOD SMITH. LAKE VILLAGE, ARK., April 12, 1946. The FLOOD CONTROL COMMITTEE, GENTLEMEN: I wish to express my views on the proposed drainage system in Chicot County, Ark. In my opinion, the drainage problem in this county will greatly be solved by the widening and cleaning out of Beouff River and Bayou Macon. There are twelve or fifteen thousand acres of cleared fertile land in the southern part of Chicot County which is almost useless without drainage but will be of great value with proper drainage. With a greater trend and need toward agriculture, proper drainage of this district will allow desirable farm land for many farm families. There are also several thousand acres of uncleared land in this vicinity which could be developed into very desirable farm land with proper drainage. Poor drainage in this area also retards a fastgrowing livestock program in this county, but which will be greatly relieved with proper drainage. Recently a large ditch was constructed by the War Relocation Authority which empties into the main ditch of the Chicot County drainage district, and this also caused the flood condition of Beouff River and Bayou Macon to become worse. As FSA supervisor of Chicot County, Ark., I sincerely hope the residents of this county can be relieved of this bad situation. Very truly yours, BEN C. CARTER, County FSA Supervisor. APRIL 11, 1946. The FLOOD CONTROL COMMITTEE, House of Representatives, Washington, D. C. GENTLEMEN: I am a trustee of the Sam Epstein estate operating a farm, ginning and mercantile business in Lake Village, Ark., and covering land along Bayou Macon and Beouff River. Several times each year these streams overflow from water coming into them from the north and covering some 500 acres of property in my control, decreasing it greatly in value and ruining any crops that might have been planted. That happens quiet frequently during the spring and early summer months. This land is all very productive when the water can be removed from it. BEN ANGEL. APRIL 11, 1946. The FLOOD CONTROL COMMITTEE, House of Representatives, Washington, D. C. GENTLEMEN: I am a farmer owning land on Beouff River just north of where Highway No. 82 crosses Beouff River. After a good rain I am unable to get to a large portion of my property except by boat, due to the overflowing of Beouff River, and if I could get there I would find very little of it out of water and something needs to be done to remedy this situation. Respectfully submitted. The FLOOD CONTROL COMMITTEE, House of Representatives, Washington, D. C. ED L. DAVIS. GENTLEMEN: I have been asked to make a statement in regard to the proposed Beouff River and Bayou Macon enlargement and improvement in Chicot County, Ark. I am a farmer and ginner living at Montrose, Ark., just over the line from Chicot County, Ark., but owning and operating property in Chicot County, Ark., and serving a large number of farmers in the area of Chicot County in my ginning and furnishing operations, and of course, am well familiar with the drainage and flood conditions along the above streams. Since the construction of the ditch by the War Relocation Authority which begins close to Jerome, Ark., and runs into the ditch No. 1 of the Chicot County drainage district about 11⁄2 miles north of Highway No. 82. I have seen more water in that ditch than has ever been in it before, in fact, it has overflowed repeatedly since that time and covers an area some 7 miles wide, 12 miles long, and backs ups all streams from Bayou Bartholomew east, as Beouff River is the only outlet we have in this territory, resulting in an untold amount of damage. This land is as fertile as you will find in any section, but on account of the inadequate drainage, price is very cheap, and the retarding factor in settling this area is the flooded condition, since the only complaint you have from a prospective farmer in the area is the lack of drainage. With adequate drainage it would be open for settlement for a large number of farmers. Respectfully submitted. SAM J. NELSON. THE FLOOD CONTROL COMMITTEE, APRIL 11, 1946. House of Representatives, Washington, D. C. GENTLEMEN: I live on Bayou Macon approximately a mile north of where Bayou Macon goes into the main ditch No. 1 of the Chicot County drainage district. Whenever there is a lot of water in Bayou Macon it runs over my land and has damaged me each year more than $1,500. This condition prevails all along this bayou and the main ditch No. 1 of the Chicot County drainage district. Respectfully submitted. S. SANDUSKY. DESHA COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, Mr. DE WITT POE, Protective Association, McGehee, Ark. DEAR SIR: I am the county supervisor of schools for Desha County, Ark., and by reason of the position I hold, am acquainted with all sections of the county and know of some of the hindrances which prevent children in some areas from attending school regularly. There are several school districts in the county where attendance by pupils is prevented when the roads go under water and the busses are unable to get through; during the rainy season the drainage system is inadequate to carry away the water and large areas are flooded. There are others who are prevented from attending regularly on account of the flooded conditions who do not ride a bus, but walk or provide their own transportation. Improved drainage in this area will be a marked benefit to the public schools of this county. Yours very truly, J. C. RAPP, County Supervisor. (The following letter, together with its enclosures, was received by the chairman from the Honorable W. F. Norrell, Representative in Congress from the State of Arkansas:) HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Washington, D. C., April 27, 1946. Hon. W. M. WHITTINGTON, Chairman, Flood Control Committee, House of Representatives, Washington, D. C. DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: In connection with the report of Army engineers on improvements in southeast Arkansas, and the recent hearings on Boeuf and Tensas Rivers and Bayou Macon, Ark. and La., Mr. DeWitt Poe, chairman, Southeast Arkansas Drainage Protective Association, has sent to me the enclosed two statements in the matter. Mr. Poe and others testified orally at the hearings, and he intended to file these statements for the record. However, he overlooked doing so at the time, and I am forwarding the statements with the request that they be made a part of the record. With kind regards, Sincerely yours, STATEMENT OF R. A. PICKENS AND OTHERS W. F. NORRELL, We, the undersigned landowners of Desha County, Ark., owning farm lands on the west side of drainage ditch No. 19 of the Cypress Creek drainage district, from section 14, township 9 south, range 4 west, through section 19, township 10 south, range 3 west, running some 8 miles in all along said canal bank, do hereby certify that the following statement is correct: When said drainage ditch 19 was first constructed, it did an excellent job of draining lands on the west side and adjacent to said ditch, carrying most surface water off immediately. During the past few years said canal has not handled our rain water as well as it did formerly, and in times of heavy rains said canal rises to such heights that it gets out of its proper banks and overflows our farm lands. On some occasions this canal overflows on our property when we do not have rains here, coming down said canal from north of us. There seems to be an increase to the heights that this canal reaches each year and this past spring, when we should have been planting our crops on farm lands adjoining said canal 19, we were overflowed by said canal, which then reached a height some 4 inches higher than it has ever reached before. This additional water each year is evidently caused by the increased clearing of new ground above us, allowing rain water to reach the canal much quicker, and by additional water being brought into the canal by new ditches and laterals from newly improved farms north of us. We still pay the regular taxes on our lands although the frequency of such overflows is causing us increased crop losses and the partial abandonment from cultivation of many rich fertile acres. Said frequency is increasing each year and the heights that the water reaches is increasing, Some 500 acres of excellent farm land is out of cultivation this year because of spring overflows, while the entire acreage in this small 8-mile area subject to overflow from drainage canal 19 each year is approximately 1,700 acres on the west side of and adjoining said canal. There is no doubt that said maladjustment of the drainage along said drainage canal 19 of the Cypress Creek drainage district is creating an undue hardship on the undersigned farmers, causing financial loss each year. This periodical overflow has already caused well over a 50-percent decrease in the value of our lands in the past 15 years, when other farm lands in southeast Arkansas has shown a marked upturn in value. If this overflow trend of canal 19 continues, some 2,000 acres of land in this one particular spot will be rendered useless within the next few years. This land is equal in potential value to any in Arkansas. Some of the lands covered by this statement were sold by their former owners for prices well below their original value. It is our opinion that the present drainage outlets of said drainage district can never again properly and efficiently handle the volume of water brought 8711646-39 down said canal 19 by the vastly increased open acreage served by said canal, and that additional carry-offs will have to be created to solve this problem. There is little doubt that a proper cleaning out of said canal will help to a small extent. Sincerely, R. A. PICKENS. MABEL WILKINS. B. D. HOLMES. W. H. HESS. ROBERT WHITE STATEMENT OF DR. H. T. SMITH, DESHA COUNTY HEALTH OFFICER "Carest Thou not that we perish?" When we hear this quotation we normally turn our thoughts to that storm on the Sea of Galilee and the fear of the Disciples when they awoke the Master and asked Him that question. I gave you the above quotation having in mind a group of people in Desha County, who without help from the United States Government or some other source will never secure proper living conditions, and a number of those people will die of malaria and other preventable diseases every year. A majority of the people in Desha County do not have malaria and in the past 34 years I have seen the incidence of malaria drop from 80 percent of the rural people to about 5 or 10 percent. This 5 or 10 percent, a very small group, cannot secure, without help, living conditions under the present plan. I would like to cite you an example of what can be accomplished in securing adequate living conditions and complete elimination of malaria and typhoid. This is the War Relocation Authority camp in Desha County, built for Japanese citizens and enemies. The Federal Government is spending millions of dollars protecting people in these camps and are woefully neglecting the real American citizens in our county who are entitled to protection. Another problem with which we will be confronted in the very near future is the returning soldier with malaria and other tropical diseases and this will require supervision for quite a period of time. The United States Public Health Service has seen fit to come into this county and has now under construction a project of drainage and mosquito control which will be a great help to the community it covers, but it does not cover the entire county. Drainage is the most important of all the means to secure better health conditions and elimination of malaria but without some help this cannot be accomplished by local taxes. The time is ripe for making health plans for the peaceful future. Our goal is to enable every individual to attain maximum physical and mental development; to have an equal opportunity for health within the limits of inherited capacity. We seek to provide the best health service, preventive and curative, for everyone. We are limited only by our ability to convince the people of their need for health and the ways in which they can attain it. If we are agreed upon these objectives, we must conclude that there are practicable means of attaining them. In medical science, we are not satisfied with our present knowledge and methods. Ours is a dynamic science in which progress and change are inevitable and expected. Similarly, the social problems of medicine, the opportunities to use our newer knowledge more fully for more people, are not static. To evolve a national health program and fit together its many intricate parts requires study and free exchange of views, in order that sound group conclusions may be reached. The medical profession has the technical competence to develop a health program best suited to the needs of our Nation. It is my hope that the profession will undertake this task. Epidemiologists constantly argue as to which disease is of greatest importance as a menace to mankind. There are advocates who mention typhus, others who emphasize influenza and the respiratory diseases; some insist that the venereal diseases are of greatest importance; but most authorities are willing to concede the palm to malaria. The history of mankind indicates that malaria may well have been responsible for the downfall of the civilizations of Greece and Rome. Malaria may not strike and kill as do yellow fever and plague, but it makes people sick. In many parts of the world it is as frequent as poverty. Altogether more people are probably affected by malaria than by any other known disease. In 1931 nearly 18,000,000 people were reported to the League of Nations to be under treatment for malaria, yet the number of those going without treatment was far greater. About 2,000,000 people every year in the United States have malaria, and about 3,000 people each year die primarily of malaria in our country. Malaria occurs where the warmth and the dampness permit the right kind of mosquitoes to develop and where there are human beings with malaria from whom the mosquitoes may carry the infection to other people. In some countries in the United States the rates have been reported as up to 100 for each 100,000 people. The mosquito that carries malaria is the female of the species-and in her case she certainly is more deadly than the male. Moreover, this mosquito is of a special type known as the anopheles, and not only anopheles but a special kind of anopheles: The female anopheles that carries malaria sucks human blood, and the male does not. The female anopheles that carries malaria stands with her rear elevated, whereas all other mosquotoes in the United States stand parallel to the skin when they do their biting. The mosquitoes bite most frequently at night. They spend the daytime in dark places and houses and barns. Because these mosquitoes bite at night, the superstitution developed that night air was dangerous. The night air of Greece and Rome was dangerous, but only because it was full of mosquitoes carrying malaria. Unluckily for mankind the mosquito is not made sick by the parasite of malaria. Two weeks after that mosquito has picked up the malarial parasite, it will have developed in the mosquito's body. The parasites must also go through a period of development in the human body before they begin causing chills and fever. They develop in the red blood cells; the red blood cells split; the parasites emerge into the blood; then the fever and the chills begin. The infected person develops the symptoms about 12 days after being bitten, although as many as 30 days may elapse. In the campaign to protect our soldiers against malaria all over the world, many different techniques have been adopted. These include drainage of swamps, the use of mosquito netting, mosquito proof clothing, the administration of quinine and atabrine, the use of various insecticides, and with all of this, an intensive campaign of education to warn the soldier against the danger of the mosquito. Perhaps as one of the great benefits of this war there may come an improved technic for the prevention and control of malaria-applicable en masse throughout the world. That would indeed be a blessing. STATEMENT OF EDWIN E. HOPSON, JR., ARKANSAS CITY, ARK. Mr. HOPSON. My name is Edwin E. Hopson, Jr. I reside at Arkansas City, Ark. I have law offices at McGhee, Ark., and am a landowner interested in general farming and, with my associates, have one large farm that is given over to the production of rice. In order to understand the conditions that confront us in Southeast Arkansas, it is necessary to refer to the map, which will show that, prior to the construction of levees, the storm waters of this area emptied into the Mississippi River during low-water periods; this condition existed until about 1920. Prior to that, the people had been constructing levees along the Mississippi and Arkansas Rivers, but before the Arkansas River levees could be joined with the Mississippi River levees it was found that storm-water drainage had to be completed-otherwise, Desha County would have become a lake. The levee board, together with the Cypress Creek drainage district, and with contributions made by the Department of Agriculture, caused a comprehensive drainage plan, known as the Cypress Creek drainage district, to be completed. The Government engineers required the construction of canals 19, 43, and 81 of the Cypress Creek drainage. district to be completed before the closing of the Cypress Creek gap. This project was undertaken and completed, and the gap was closed. Immediately following the completion of these two projects an era of great prosperity and development began in Desha County, and this |