Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1873-10-31
Protection ofthe Forests.
AZ INTERNATIONAL ooxeREsz or FOREST GIL
TrRIsTS.

AZ INTERNATIONAL CONGRE2s OF fokhSi -
TURIsTs-
Among the various meetings oil seieh''ne
and practical men, in connection WIN '"s
Vierr, Fvnosition. tie Congress OF Lahu
and Forest Culturists' was Secohu 70 NJ
in Importance. 1t was presided over 'S tn0
Austrian Minister Of Agriculture Won
Cblnmeckv. Several governments sent
snecisl CONSERVATIVES. among them the
Italian. the Dutch, the Oerinan' 'ne
Beleian. the French, and the Hungarian
The United States was represented. by Dr.
War5er. The Congress consisted IN all oil
ENC 7oo IDENTITIES. and it Is pronounced by
tba Vienna correspondent Of the New York
Herald certainly the most intelligent ana
o,-rest bodv Of men ever assembled in that
pavilion
Ne learn from the same correspondent,
that Hon. George P. Marsh's MAN and
Nature was largely quoted in the Con
gress. in reference to the bad results oil
destruction Of the forests. OF course the Ola
World furnishes much greater and more
certain evidence Of such results, than the
Nsr The Rhine. the Elbe and the
Oder. all haye a lower water marx than
formerly. The Ebe shows diminlshed
supply in half a century Of ten ieei-
Many rivers have disappeared or have
been reduced to mere streams by an IRA
tional telling of the forests. In the north
east of Germany the Narp and Gold rivers
exist only in name The springs and brooks
Of Palestine are dry, and the irnitiulness oil
the land has disappeared. The Jordan Is
four feet lower than il was in the New
Testament DAYS. Greece and Spain suffer
ssrerely from the effects Of destroying
their forests. Il was mentioned IN the
Congress that many parts Of tile Kingdom
Of Wurtcmbere have heen rendered almost
barren by the telling Of the trees. In Han
gary the periodically returning drought j.
universally attributed 20 the determination
of the forests. Professor Landolt attributes
the fearful foundations which took place II
Switzerland. in September and October
I96s. to the destruction Of the forests on the
mountains. From l779 to 1896 Lakes Neui
cbatel .Bief and Murten constituted single
sheet OF water. but since the destruction o.
the surrounding forests have So far sunk a
TO form three distinct, lakes. some OF th'
coast, Of the provinces of Prussia are al
almost uninterrupted broad strip OF sand
dune. POO miles long and perhaps a mill
broad, with sand bills reaching to helgh
ofl7O leet. Originally these sand mound
were covered with pine growths- In tn
mast centuries trees were felled. SooI
the sparse vegetation died of and the SAM
driitcd away. and these very sand hills
which under their forest cover stood firm
sentinels. receded at the rate of from fit
to hundred feet per year. In the cours
Of the past century thousands OF acres
fruitful land were thus buried bY the drii
sand. Many interesting facts like the-
were adducel in the Congress.
One speaker urged that the State should d
all cases be the possessor or have control q
forests which are ACKNOWLEDGED TO b
"ruariian forests on the SEA shore, o
the mountains or at the source Of riyers-a
idea which might do for Europe, but WI
hardly find acceptance on this side OF III
water. All agreed that it Is absolutely ne
ces<ary to preserve the forests at the source
Of the streams. on which 50 much Of our az
riculeural and commercial prosperity de
pends; and on the mountain sides, 50 tia
tae culture Of the valleys be tempered an
preserved. Among the resolutions adopte
by the Congress was the following
We -urther recognize it to be the mutual dut
Of all civilized lands 10 pTese:-U and % cu-LF4'
all -uch forests as Of vital importance i9r =
well-heius-a IT cultural and otherwise u
land such as those sandy coasts. on the sd'
and crowns as well as the steep dccllNlties
mountains. on the sea coasts and other expos,
places and that international prime pes sAou4u
laid down 10 which the owners % such pr tect o
or guard an forests" be subject, thus o. presef'
the land from damage.
Other resolutions recognized the fact
a lack Of a scientific basis for land and 70
est culture and the importance Of lnducin
the various governments to publish exa
statistical data a. to the condition and pr
gress made in these departments I'll
erection Of agricultural and iore>t-eulturi
experimental stations was likewise urge'
The influence Of the Congress, We trust, vi
not be altogether lost on this side of the \
lantic, for it seems to be but too plain tbs
Ernest Moriiz Arndt, the German poet an
patriot. uttered great truth when he sal
that the axe applied to the root Of the tr'
is, il too many cases, an axe laid to the wei
being Of ;he people.