CHICAGO MAGAZINE.
 CHICAGO.



 Chicago, May 5th, 1912.


Mr. W. L. Larkin,
 Chicago, Ill.

My Dear Mr. Larkin:
 After an exhaustive study of the Everglades drainage
project, made upon the ground while touring the Everglades
with the party that attended the official opening of the
drainage canals as the guest of Governor Gilchrist and the
trustees of the I. I. Fund, I am astonished that any
citizen of the state should, through malice or selfish motive,
be guilty of obstructing this great project or interfering
with the plans for the reclamation and development of
this wonderful land.
 In my opinion, any man who would criticise the unerring
judgment and wisdom so amply demonstrated by the far-sighted
men who already have wrought the redemption of a large section
of the Everglades is either woefully ignorant or else a
traitor to his state and its people. Surely, the men
who conceived, promoted and carried to successful execu-
tion so remarkable an enterprise as this, the transformation
of four million acres of waste land into an empire richer
in potential wealth than any gold mine ever discovered,
must command honor and tribute, not only at the hands of the
people of Florida but from the entire world.
 I do not believe that anything I saw on my trip to
Florida impressed me more forcibly than the contrast between
Sthe drained Everglades land now absolutely protected against
any future overflow and the desolation we saw along the
banks of the Mississippi on our way south, where entire
towns were submerged and many had been washed away by the
overflow of the river.
 Very truly yours,
 C. F. TRICK,
 Associate Editor.


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