Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2007 - (Page 27)

River Flood of 1932 Jadwin competed with that of Senator Wesley L. Jones of Washington. There were engineering debates from all corners, including the Mississippi River Commission, but funding issues dominated the headlines. Missouri Senator Harry B. Hawes endorsed President Calvin Coolidge’s demands that local levee districts and state governments be required to share the expense of flood restoration and future protection. Arkansas Governor John E. Martineau countered that “control of the floods of the Mississippi and its tributaries is a national responsibility, the cost of which should be borne solely by the federal government and not by the states or local communities which lie along these rivers.” In a legislative session filled with unpopular engineering and appropriation compromises, Martineau’s argument won the day, largely on the strength of Senator Joseph Ransdell’s legislative efforts. The Lake Providence, Louisiana native argued that the federal government should “no more think of demanding local contributions than it would require border states to contribute toward the expense of repelling a foreign invasion!” Swayed by these arguments, the House stood firm in affixing the financial burden upon the federal government. Kincaid’s test case against the government, representing the interests of 70,000 landowners, argued a different funding point. The flood protection plan, set in place by Jadwin and overseen by Secretary of War Patrick Jay Hurley, was devised to channel floodwaters from the next Mississippi River overflow into the Boeuf Basin, thereby flooding Kincaid’s property. Kincaid’s lawyers argued that lands used for floodway drainage must, according to the “It is unfortunate that the task of dealing with high water should be added to the general economic difficulties which are common throughout the country. But there is nothing in the situation that should cause us to lose our equilibrium.” —Monroe Morning World editorial South Monroe and the downtown area inundated by the Ouachita River. Winter 2007-08/LOUISIANA ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES 27 OUACHITA PARISH DIGITAL ARCHIVE, OUACHITA PARISH PUBLIC LIBRARY, MONROE

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2007

Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2007 Contents Friends Editor’s Column Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities Katrina: Days of Terror, Months of Anguish Paintings by Rolland Golden The Historic New Orleans Collection The Great Ouachita River Flood of 1932 Jazz Notes Louisiana Architecture Louisiana: Where Land Meets Water Louisiana State Museum Through A Lens Sharply: An Interview with Michael Lewis MR-GO: A “miracle” mired in controversy Louisiana Foodways Louisiana Association of Museums New Orleans: An Autopsy Bookstand Sound Advice Forum

Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2007

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