Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 14, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 January 1915 — MOVEMENT ON FOOT TO RECLAIM SWAMPS [ARTICLE]

MOVEMENT ON FOOT TO RECLAIM SWAMPS

Bill Already Prepared Provides the Straightening of .Kankakee River as First Step. A bill .has been prepared for early introduction in the legislature which makes provision for the state of Indiana to enter into a contract with the state of Illinois as a step toward the completion of the reclamation of the Kankakee swamp lands. The bill will be backed by an association in the northern part of Indiana which has been active' in behalf of the Kankakee swamp lands and involves, a question of constitutionality. It is said there is a supreme court decision which would give the two states the right to enter into such a contract, although it is pointed out by some that such a contract could not be made without the consent of congress.

The purpose of the bill is to complete the straightening of the Kankakee river, which is an interstate stream, and it is necessary to in : vade territory in the state of Illinois to complete the work. The Kankakee swamp lands Involve about 1,500,000 acres of land and practically all of it is fn Indiana. About one township in Illinois, near the city of Momence, would be affected in that state, it is said. The bill has been prepared in the office of John A. Lapp, head of the department of legislative information, and covers’ approximately 100 pages of typewritten paper.

Special agents of the treasury department . have located between 5,000 and 10,000 federal income tax dodgers during the last three months.