The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-01-20
Tho prc,cryntiop of woodIand..

The destruction of our forests has be-
come rather a serious danger to the coun-
try. For thirty or forty years there were
so many different uses for wood, and cities
grew with such phenomenal rapidly that
lumber tracts which seemed a store OF in
exhaustible wealth have here and there
become almost barren of timber. Specula-
tors, with reckless greed. have cut into the
heart of aboriginal forests, and destroyed
growths which centuries cannot replace.
The result has been driedup streams, lack
OF irrigation, and in some places actual and
disagreeable changes of climate.
But there is a considerable reason for
hopefulness in the increasing use of steel
for building purposes. OF course, the
worlds supply Of iron is not ineXhaustible,
but at any rate it cannot be destroyed ire
vocably, like the forest, nor is it as perish
able In its manufactured form. Nowadays
steel frames are used for all large build
ings and many small ones; iron doors are
put in where massive wood was formerly
used; all sorts of things which were once
made of wood are now made Of iron or
steel. Floors are stone instead of wood;
roofs are covered with sheets of tin instead
OF wooden shingles; and the frame house is
becoming almost thing of the past.
This is one of the economic changes
which indicate the existence Of a benefcent
providence. II steel and iron had not thus
replaced wood, and cities had gone on
growing as they have done in the last fifty
years, the ultimate state Of the inhabitants
might have been worse THAI We should care
TO imagine. Consider, for example. the
havoc which a great fire would make in a
closely packed section of city, with many
frame buildings. Compare the fires which
devastated cities ip the days when most OF
the buildings we're of wood, with the gen
today. OF course, a brick building will
burn, but It is not such a fre-trap as a
structure OF wood, especially one which is
old and not too we'll built in the first place.
The hotel and tenement house fires OF to-
day are horrible enough sometimes as it is,
owing to shoddy construction, but they
would be considerably more destructive OF
human life II they were such finder as an
old wooden building is when badly built.
Again, the increasing use Of steel and
iron saves the forests; and 1t is entirely
possible that at the rate OF destruction
which prevailed some time ago this coun
try might have been practically denuded
of trees before very long. This would
have resulted in widespread disaster to
farming regions, which would have meant
famine in one way or another. A great
treeless district is subject TO the caprices
OF the weather as a more diversified
country never is. Moreover, difficulties
Of irrigation are a sourse of expense, and
the more expensive food production is,
the worse things are for the country
which happens to depend on the farmer.
If there is any one man whose interests
ought to be sedulously protected in this
land 1t is the farmer; for so long as We
can produce food enough for our own use
and an abundance for our neighbors; SO
long as every man, woman, and child in
this country can have enough to eat, and
something over, We shall have secure
position among the nations of the world
There is not one, with the possible ex-
ception OF Russia, so safe as we are, ow-
ing TO our advantages of geographical po-
sition and climatic variation. There is
nothing that we need which cannot, on
a pinch, lie produced within our own Dor
ders: and with proper development of our
resources we should be able to feed a
great part OF the rest Of the world as we'll
This will secure us the alliance Of ma
lions without our advantages, despite the
caprices OF international politics. The
law which will govern the dealing Of ma
tons for the next century or so is going
to be an economic law, deduced from
commercial facts.
Thus II is of the utmost Importance that
the interests OF the farmer should not
be jeopardized to satisfy the greed Of
spectators. One way in which his in
terests can be protected is by the preser-
walton of the forests; and to this end
1t is well that laws should be passed
providing for the maintenance and care
Of immense tracts OF woodland, and the
planting of trees where they are needed
This is not a matter for private individ-
uals 10 look after or leave alone, as they
Government.