Semi-weekly herald., 1907-10-07

States exceeds the annual value OF
thermore. 1t is calculated that under
judicfons handling the power OF our
streams may be made to pay fo- all
the works required for the coinplete
development and control of our inland
waterways.
Forests are the most effective pre-
venters of floods. especially when they
grow on the higher mountain slopes
The national forest policy. inaugu-
rated primarily to avert or mitigate
the timber famine which is now be-
ginning to be felt, has been effective
also in securing partial control of
floods by retaring the run-off and
checking the erosion of the higher
slopes within the national forests.
Still the loss from soil wash is enor-
nous. 1t is computed that one-fifth
of a cubic mile in volume, or one
billion tons in weight of the richest
soil matter of the United States, is
annually gathered In storm riyulets.
washed into the rivers, and borne into
the sea. The loss to the farmer is ii
effect tax greater than all other lard
taxes combined. and one yielding alb.
solutely no return. The department
of agriculture Ia now devising and
testing means to check this enormous
waste through improved methods OF
agriculture and forest management.
Citizens of all portions of the coun
try are coming to realize that, now
ever important the improvement OF
navigation may be, it is only one of
many ends to be kept in view. The
demand for navigation Is hardly more
pressing than the demands for re
claiming lands by irrigation in the arid
regions and by drainage in the hu
mid lowlands, or for utilizing the wa
ter power now running to waste, or
for purifying the waters so as to
reduce or remove the tax of soil
waste, to promote manufactures and
safeguard life. II is the part of wis
dom to adopt not tumble OF unre-
lated plans, but single comprehen-
sive scheme for meeting all the de
mands so far as possible at the same
time and by the same means. This is
the reason why the inland waterways
commission was created in March last
largely in response to petitions from
citizens of the interior, including many
OF the members of this congress
Broad instructions were given to the
general policy that no plan should be
prepared for the use of any stream for
Il single purpose without carefully con
sidering. and so far as practicable
actually providing for, the use of tnat
stream for every other purpose. Plan;
for navigation and power should pIo-
vide with special care for sites an6
terminals not only for the immediate
present but also for the future. II
is because of my conviction In these
matters that | am here. The inland
waterways commission has a task
broader than the consideration of wa.
terways alone. There Is an intimate
relation between our streams and the
dnvalnnn1anf ST
the other great permanent sources OF
wealth. 1t is not possible rightly to
consider the one without the other.
No study of the problem of the va
terways could hope to be successful
which failed to consider also the re
naming factors in the great problem
of conserving all our resources. Ac
cordingly, | have asked the water.
ways commission to take account OF
the orderly development and conser-
vation. not alone of the waters, but
also of the soil, the forests, the mines,
and all the other natural resources OF
Our country.
Many of these resources which we
have been in the habit of calling in
exhaustible are being rapidly exhaust
ed or in certain regions have actually
disappeared. Coal mines, oil AMI gas
fields, and iron mines in important
numbers are already worked ont. The
coal and oil measures which remain
are passing rapidly, or have actually
passed, into the possession OF great
corporations. who acquire ominous
power through an unchecked control
OF these prime necessities OF modern
life; a control without supervision OF
any kind. We are consuming our fol
ests three times faster than they are
being reproduced. Some of the rich
est timber lands of this continent have
already been destroyed, and not r.
placed, and other vast areas are or,
the verge of destruction. Yet forests.
unlike mines, can be so handled as to
yield the best results of use, without
exhaustion just like grain fields
Our public lands. whose highest use
is to supply homes for our people.
have been and are still heinu taken