Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1897-07-08
A GIGANTIC WORK.

AsS0s nrcaSN- AIS SSulu not only
prevent the incalculable loss caused
BY such floods a. now prevail in
/ the great valleys OF the Ohio, Mis-
souri, and Mississippi rivers, bnt it
would add intellectually to the
wealth and productiveness of the
country. At iirst it would seem
the height Of folly for man in his
insignificance to TINS attempt to
grapple with the forces of nature,
but the returns in increased profits
and health to the people are such
to provoke the attempt.
The frat, simplest, most mex
pensive and perfectly practicable
step should be a wiser system of
foresty-local, state and national.
Instead of seeking to overthrow
the forest reservations in the public
domain lately made BY ex-Presi-
dent Cleveland. Congress should
instead ratify and extend them.
Let justice be done to the private
or vested rights of parties situated
! within present or prospective reser-
vations, but such claims must not
f, stand in the way of the higher
rights of the whole people.
So, also, our States must exer-
cise more stringent powers over the
forests within their borders, wheth-
er the title to such lands is vested
IN the public or in private individ-
uals. 1t may seem harsh doctrine
to the private owner of a forest
that he shall not do as he would
with his own, but the public inter-
est in his forest may even be para.
mount to his own. The public can
no longer afford to see forests re-
moved simply for quick private
gain, thus running natures reser-
voir against both food and scarcity
OF water. A wiser policy will in
the end yield larger net revenue
to the owner of forest lands, while
preserving or improving the work
of the forest in relation to water
supply.
The additions just made to the
Adirondack forest preserve by the
legislature of New York was true
craftsmanship, and the enormous
majority against the constitutional
amendment which proposed to
weaken that body's powers over
forests showed that the people of
New York State would allow no
trifling with forestry. We believe
the same spirit animates the public
over much of this country. 1t is
easy to discern the development of
public opinion along this line, and
the advocates of naturalization or
State socialism find comparatively
little opposition to their contention
that the true solution of the forest
~ problem is to turn all forests
! acres over to the State or federal
authority.
More direct and efficient encour-
agement to the planting of new
forests or to the restoration of de-
nuded hillsides, is needed quite as
much as better care of existing for
ests. just how to accomplish this
is a complex matter requiring the
best thought and most practical
judgment.
To prevent disastrous foods in
the great valleys of the United
States. requires something more
than correct forestry policy, i'm
pOrtant as it may be. To hold back
these excessive supplies of water by
a gigantic system of reservoirs may
yet prove to be practicable. This
would not only prevent the untold
loss and suffering caused by such
floods as the present, but it would
afford a comparatively inexhausti-
BILE supply of water for irrigatIng
purposes in summer, when most
needed.
In fact. the irrigation problem
in the western half of the United
States is bound up with the prob
lem of protecting the central and
southern States against floods. Mr..
Powell, late chief of the United
State geological survey was one
of the first to grasp this fact,
aud to propose national res
ervoir system to meet the case.
More local concerns and a depleted
federal treasury have turned atten-
ton to less comprehensive irrigation
methods, but the theoretical posi-
bi!ities of this proposition are rein
forced in times of flood.
Certainly Some such regulation