The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1898-09-02

Y. REPRESENTATIVE of The Call recently
\ visited the forest region OF Mount Shasta and
made record of the facts touching the destruc-
ton OF timber
The outdoor smelling of copper, as practiced at
Keswick has been for some time noticed the agent
in destroying not only timber, but all vegetation for
long distance around the point where the work is
carried on. The fumes emitted by that method of
reducing copper prove inimca 10 vegetable life.
+ correspondent from Keswick, not denying the
facts as stated complains that making them public
is injurious to the copper company and to the COM
rnerca1 interests of Keswick and other towns in
Northern California. Incidentally the plea is made
that the trees destroyed are not fit for lumber or tim
ber and that their value is entirely of proportion
the value of the copper extracted This plea that
industries destructive of other things are productive
OF greater wealth than they destroy and therefore are
morally and economically justifable is not new. In
the case at hand however; the complainant is mis-
taken in supposing that the stumpage value Of the
trees destroyed shall alone offset the profits Of the
industry which destroys them. The young pines man
zanita and chaparral which have succumbed to the
fumes of copper smelling and have died, together
with the grasses and other annual vegetation on the
ground beneath them, all factors in the protec-
ton Of the watershed of the Sacramento River
1t will be admitted that if that entire watershed or
considerable part of it. reduced to the same con-
dton as the region around. Keswck,- the conserva-
ton of water to flow in the rivers channel will be
impaired. The stream will become more subject to
floods (which will devastate the lands on either side
and when these floods pass will shrivel in volume so
to be useless for the purposes of navigation or r
Tigation. Mining of the precious and useful minerals
is OF great importance to civilization It is prime
factor in the wealth of State which possesses such
minerals But, after all, it is of necessity self
limiting resource of wealth. When the minerals are
taken out the industry ceases The use of the soil
for producing vegetable crops whether of timber or
grain or fruit, is a permanent resource AS the
mines are worked out the camps that have hourshed
on their output fall into decay The homes sustained
on the productive capacity of the SOIL whether Of
timber crops of the field, vineyard and orchard,
permanent as the soil itself.
The point is made that the mountain region where
the watershed of the Sacramento lies is not fit for
agriculture horticulture and that the minerals of
that area are its most valuable resource This is
probably true But if it be shown that preservation
of that watershed by saving the tree Producing char
acter of its soil is necessary to the fertility of the Sac
ramento Valley from Redding to Rio Vista the point
loses all value as an economic argument,
The law of the matter lies in the familiar principle
that may use his own but not to the ayodab1e
injury of that which belongs to another. If the Kes
wick company desire place itself at one with the
prior interests which are damaged by its present
methods it should seek others which enable the con-