Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-03-15
Destruction Caused by Flood.


Another very important consideration is
found In the necessity OF doing something
to prevent the destructive floods that occur
annually in the valleys watered by the
streams that rise in these mountains In
the spring of 1901 these foods caused a
damage at low estimate of more than
$4,000. 900; more than the proposed reserve
would have cost at that date and they
recur with more or less certainty every
spring. Much of this loss is permanent and
cannot be restored. Thousands of acres
Of fertile farm land are ruined annually and
the soil Is carried out to sea. The con-
tinuanee Of these floods cannot be pre-
vented by labor nor by skill nor by wealth
except by the conservation of the forests
and the regulation thereby of the streams
which arise In them.
The Appalachian Association estimates
the flood damages in 1901 at $1S,o00,OOo and
has ascertained that. the cotton mills and
other manufacturing industries dependent
for power upon the regular flow of the
rivers represent an investment OF more
than s30.O00000
This section with Its pure and stimuiat-
Ing atmosphere, Is the most attractive and
effective resort for invalids in the east, ex-
cepting, perhaps, the Adirondacks, and its
curative conditions are largely dependent
upon the preservation OF the forests. AS
a pleasure ground 1t appeals very strongly
to the tourist. and offers unsurpassed at
fractions for every month In the year.
Congress has established national. parks and
forest reservations to the extent of 10000
600 acres In the western states and terri
tories and Is protecting their forests and
streams for the same reason that they
should be protected here. There Is no ma
uonal reservation east OF the Rocky noun
tains This Is the only place where one
can be made, and these peaks and val
leys, these great forests and beautiful
streams have even greater claims for
preservation against the same American en-
terprfse that threatens the destruction of
the western forests and the streams that
irrigate the Great American Desert" This
park would be accessible within O day s
ride to more than forty million people. and
is within forty-eight hours travel of the
homes of sixty millions OF American citi-
zens who are entitled to playground
Opposition to the Scheme.
The opposition to the park scheme In
Congress has been very slight. The reason
for non-action has chiefly been indifter-
ence. What is everybody's business 10 no.
body's business In this case as In many
others. If the senators and representatives
from the southern states would unite their
efforts and make determined campaign
they could easily secure the necessary ap-
preparation. But there Ia no politics In the
scheme: 1t will win no votes; no individual
will be the better for Its success; hence. as
Is usual with plans for the public good, no
one has taken the trouble to push II along.
1t Is true that the late Senator Bate of
Tennessee and some other strict c0nstruc-
tionists pronounced the bill unconstitutional.
They detected In It an infringement OF state
sovereignty and an assault upon state
rights. They held that the federal govern
ment had no right TO acquire large tracts
OF land IN any of the sovereign states. even
as a public park. and were apprehensive
lest 1t might some time furnish an excuse
to some President to usurp the sovereign
authority of Tennessee or North Carolina or
Kentucky. They said 1t was at least a per-
iious experiment. There has also been some