The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-08-26


excites public attention and comment
from Maine to California. Few pay
any attention to the $4,000. 900 worth
Of lumber annually destroyed In tho
United States by forest fires. The price
Of beef, gas and railway rates is . per-
manent topic Of active discussion and
controversy. Few give any heed to the
recent enormous increase in tho cost OF
lumber or to the danger OF an early
exhaustion of our forest resources.
This general indifference cannot be
attributed to the insignifoanoe Of wood
as an item in our industrial economy.
The value Of our lumber and Climber
products for 1900 is given In tho census
report as $Sse,621, 755. We assume that
this covers only such articles as logs.
joists. planks, boards, DC, in mill yard
and lumber yard. The value Of tho
products Of the forest, in their final and
finished state, in all their multifarious
forms, whether consumed as fuel or
manufactured into furniture. wagons
and carriages. railway cars. house
cabinet work, lead pencils matches or
toothpicks, is quite impossible Of est-
mate. II steel billets or Bessemer iron
were to advance 10 per cent. the fact
would excite widespread comment. Tho
prices Of lumber have advanced within
recent years, according to the nature
Of the wood and the probable continu-
ance Of supply. from 20 to 70 per cent.
Few pay any attention to this, though
every person in the country Is more or
less affected by it. In his message Of
December, 1903, President ROOSEVELT
had more to say about the preservation
Of our forests than about antitrust
laws. Addressing the American Forest
Congress, last January, Mr.. ROOSEVELT
said: II the present rate Of forest de-
struction is allowed to continue, with
nothing to Offset it, timber famine
in the future Ia inevitable We quote
this, not because the President IL the final
expert authority on the subject, but
because his statement expresses con-
cisely fact recognized by all expeEts.
From this point Of view 1t is most in
teresting ~ learn from the year book
Of the Department Of Agriculture that
the year 1904 saw a large gain in the
popular acceptance and application Of
the principles which govern the proper
care and use OF wood lands" In his
address to the Forest Congress Mr..
ROOSEVELT took the ground that our
lumbermen have heretofore regarded
forest experts and those interested in
forest preservation as faddists whose
idea is to treat our forests as q kind Of
bric-a-brac. The Bureau of Forestry
now reports that land owners and great
lumber concerns, Western stockmen and
miners are coming to understand that
conservative forest management means
dollars and cents directly to them.
Eleven States now have some form
OF forest administration. Colleges and
universities are turning to forestry a. a
line Of special study. Yale and Harvard
and the University Of Michigan have
their forest schools, and an increasing
attendance is reported. The develop
ment OF interest and practical activity
is encouraging
In q letter to the president Of the Forest
Congress last winter Mr.. JAMES j. HILL
said: Irrigation and forestry are the
two subjects which are to have . greater
effect upon the future prosperity Of the
United States than any other public
question, either within or without Con-
gress.' 1t is seldom that 80 great Q
truth Is 80 tersely stated