New-York tribune., 1906-06-18
EVILS OE WASTE.

A useful note Of warning and of advice was
sounded by DR. James Douglas the other day in
his address TO the Columbia University grad
yates in science, when he spoke of the mon
strous wastefulness of the mining methods
which prevail in this country and of the i'm
pending exhaustion of those resources which we
have fOndly regarded inexhaustible. Men of
affairs of to-day remember that when they were
schoolboys they read and We're taught in their
textbooks Of the enormous extent Of our coal and
iron deposits, which were represented as suff1-
cient TO supply the needs of the entire world for
centuries TO come. But the schoolboy of to-day
is taught that within the span of his lifetime
he may see those deposits, at least of iron, not
only depleted, but exhausted. And what is true
OF minerals is true Of other necessary products.
AS Dr. Douglas reminded US, In most of the
country our timber resources are already ex-
hausted, so that we are dependent upon other
lands for wood. and that is a particularly dis
creditable thing. because forests, unlike iron or
coal Mines are capable of renewal and, there
fore, should never be exhausted
This increasing scarcity and threatened fam
Inc of things which were once almost embar-
rasslng In their abundance. and this failure of
the oldume prophecies of almost perpetual SUD-
plies, may be attributed to various causes To
some extent, perhaps, our resources were once
overesdmated. In the days when the humorist
described the United States Of America as
bounded on the north by the Aurora Borealis
on the south by the procession Of the equinoxes
on the east by primeval chaos and on the west
Dy the Day Of Judgment" men were inclined to
exaggerate the extent and richness of our mines
ana forests. Another potent cause has been the
unexpected increase in consumption When
men reckoned our iron would last for centuries
they had no notion Of the enormous use of that
naTQ for hYg1
the coming years would see. Were the metal
restricted TO the uses TO which It was put two or
three generations ago. those old estimates would
not be so badly discTedited.
But, after all, perhaps the most potent cause
OF this omnously rapid depletion of our resources
is that upon which DR.. Douglas dwelt-namely
waste Our mining methods are wasteful and
so are many of our Industrial processes Now
adays We are utilizing by-products as never
Derore but still the margin Of waste In many
directions is enormous. Men act as though our
resources were really inexhaustible, or else on
the reckless principle Of after us. the deIuge -
As for our dealings with the forests. probably
nothing in the history Of the world has been
more profigate and neglectful. Nor are these
all. AS men are now beginning to realize. the
floods of sewage and other waste" matter which
we daily pour and dump into our rivers and tbe
sea represent wealth beyond the dreams of
avarice which we are wantonly throwing awav.
ferhaps 1t was inevitable that In a new country
of great natural wealth and of rapid growth
| such spirit should prevail. but surely we are
now old enough, and have drawn upon our re-
sources enough, to learn some lessons of thrift.
Paris and Berlin surrounded with the rich
est farms and gardens because of their utiIiza.
uoh Oh sewage current consular report tells
lnae In Mannheim, In factories for the utilization
oi rags and scraps a highly profitable use has
peen iouho tor the dust and fuzz which fall
upon the sorters' tables. After all the uos+
admirable industry Is not that which digs mos,
extensively into vast natural deposits and which
yearly raises most tons from the mines and cuts
most cords from the forests, but that which
makes use OF its supplies with the largest per