Maass Criticizes Army Engineer's Flood Statement

"'Floods are acts of God, but flood losses are acts of man'," Arthur A. Maass, assistant professor of Government, said last night in reference to the current rampaging Missouri River waters.

"Ridiculous" was the word Maass used to describe a recent statement by General Lewis A. Pick, Chief of the Army Engineering Corps, that the current flood damage is the greatest in "white man's history."

According to Maass, this implies that there was greater damage in Indian days but he said that this is obviously foolish, since it is human occupancy that contributes to flood damage and the Indians did not settle in the flood plains.

Thus, Maass said, "the main problem is adjusting to the flood hazard by a program that will give maximum benefits at minimum costs, and this program does not necessarily mean exclusive dam or levee control."

Army Engineers have failed to take into account all possible adjustments which might be made to the Missouri Basin. Maass concluded, and "their surveys of the problem are devoted almost exclusively to engineering works for flood protection because they, like so many engineers, just like to pour concrete.