The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1905-01-08
VALUE OF FORESTS
Their Influence On the
Worlds Civilization.
Why the.Hands of tIe Congress Should
Be Upheld in Their Efforts to
Preserve the
Trees.
Trees.

Washington. Jan. .-Special.-On
of the most important movements
OF q political nature in our day and
generation. a movement may say
peculiar to our day and generation
is that for reforestng certain por-
lions Of the country. In fact there
are few sections where something Of
the kind is not necessary such has
been the deyastationS produced by
fires and cutting down the forests
which once abounded throughout the
Union except perhaps in the prairie
states strictly so-called. Nothing Il
50 crrninalIy reckless in American
life as the waste Of wood. Finding
II great quantity of trees of all sorts
the early settlers acted precisely as II
the quantity were inexhausube. Ihey
burned ii unnecessarily, often setting
fires to whole forests out of pure
Wantonness and at other times
thoughtlessly starting conha grations
which afterWard they could only check
with the greatest difficulty. Their
successors cut fire wood and railroad
ttes beyond the requirements.
Wagoners and hunters left fires burn
ing in the forests which spread be-
yond the original bounds and de-
stroyed not only whole neighborhoods,
but whole counties. Then as civil
iZation progressed and cultiVatable
fields increased in extent, drought
was produced by the dryness of the air
and the remaining woods were YER
table tinder-0oXes. ] recollect when j
was a boy my father was called from
his business as a country merchant TO
fight woods fire near Sassafras Fork
which ragged for many hours and was
extinguiShed only after scores of men
had devoted their best efforts to the
task. In that tobacco and corn region
there were frequent droughts and the
crops were parched up literally some
summers A forest fire was a common
occurrence. The planters hlrned of
their tobacco beds and then the flames
got abroad, or some wandering wagon
Ell built a fire Of dry logs too near the
dry-leayed woods and for days at a
time the conhagration ragged until
hundreds of acres Of timber were con-
sumed. some very valuable, indeed
This Forestry Congress is an eX-
ceptionaI body Of men. There aSe
government officials, both of the
states and the United states, profess
sors in colleges. editors of trade and
news Journals, scientists, members of
the United States Congress and others
all earnestly hoping and trying to
devise means to prevent the des-
tluction of forests and To restore for
ests that have been destroyed. The
purpose is a high and iaudable one.
full of utility, il we are 10 remain
civilized people. The beginning of a
nations decline can often be traced
TO The waste Of its forests.
North Africa was once the garden
SPIT of that part Of the world. Where
Carthage ruled were villas. fields, cities,
a great commerce. civilization see
ond TO none i'm eXternals that had ever
arisen on the earth. After the Ro-
man conquest and the Vandal con-
Quest in the age OF Roman decadence
when conqueror followed conquerori
and there was decline i'm the charac
ter of the men occupying the soil. hcl
steadily set in and was con-
tinued down 10 OIL. own day. The
French are trying to revive Algiers
and its outlying territory. Vast pro-
iccts are formed for converting the
Sahara itself into irrigable and arabic
land Time alone can tell what may
be done, but the cost viii be enormous
If it is ever accomplished We DO
not care to go through such an ex-
perences We should start now to |
prevent waste and devastation. and
so protect fertility and civilization /
The Forestry Congress speaks to us
With cmphas in behalf of all that
men hold dear-it speaks for homes. I
for industrial life, for independence. /
for nationality. for civilization. for |
existence of human beings I'M habit |
able surroundings and undel satisfied |
conditions. / am pleased to see that I
a number of North Carolinians have
concurred in the work OF the Congress.