Semi-weekly herald., 1907-12-05

used will be either wholly destroyed.
or so damaged that many decades
have TO pass before effective use can
BE- made OF them again. Al these
facts are so obvious that Il Il oxtva,
Ordinary that II should be necessary
TO repeat them Every ,nsiucss man
in the land. every writer In the news.
| papers, every man or women Il an
ordinary school education. ought to be
able to see that immense quanu.ts os
timber are used in the country. that
the forests which supply this timber
are rapidly being exhausted and that.
If no change takes place. exhaustion
will come comparatively soon. and
that the effects oi ii win be felt Sc.
verely in the every day lite of our
people. surely, when these facts are
so obvious, there should be no delay
in taking preventive measures Yet
| we seem rs nation to be willing
to proceed IN this matter with happy
go-lucky Indifference even to the i'm
mediate future. 1t h this attitude
which permits the selflnterest of n
very few persons to weigh far moro
than the ultimate Interest of all our
people, There are persons who find
it to their immense pecuniary benefit
to destroy the forests by numbering.
They are to be blamed for thus sacr..
ticng the future of the nation as n
whole TO their own selrinterest OF
the moment. but heavier blame at
tachcs TO the people At large for per
mitting such action. whether in the
White mountains. In the southern A.
! loshenes, or in the Rockies and Sier-
ras. a big numbering company. inn
| patient for immediate returns and not
caring to look far enough ahead will
often deliberately destroy all the good
timber IN a region. hoping afterwards
to move on to some new country
The shiftless man OF small means.
who does not care to become an ac.
tual home-malIer but would like i'm.
mediate profit. will lind II to his ad.
vantage TO take up timber land simply
70 turn It over to such a big company
and leave it valucless for future set.
tiers. a big mine owner. anxious only
10 develop his mine At the moment
VIII care only To cut all the timber
that he wishes without regard to the
future probably not looking ahead to
the condition OF the country when the
frests are exhausted any more than
he does to the condition when the
mine is worked ont | do not blame
these men nearly as much as / blame
the supine public opinion. the indiffer
cnt public opinion, which permits their
action TO go unchecked OF course to
check the waste Of timber means that
there must be on the part of the pub
lie the acceptance of temporary re.
striction in the lavish use OF the tim
Der, In order to prevent the total loss
o. this use in the future. There arc
plenty of men in public and private
life who actually advocate the con
tinuance of the present system of UNI
checked and wasteful extravaganza.
using as an argument the fact that 10
check 1t Will of course mean Interior.
ence with the case and comfort of Ger.
tain people who now get lumber at
less cost than they ought to pay
at the expense of the future genera
tions. Some Of these persons actually
demand that the present forest re-
serves be thrown open TO destruction,
because. forsooth, they think that
thereby the price OF lumber could he
put down again for two or three or
more yeas. Their attitude is precise
ly like that of an agitator protecting
ers on manure and In TAXI ig CO - g.
their farms generally. unindJ;cdly
II the average farmer were Sonte j. al
solutely to ruin his farm, he couid
for two or three years avoid sDa aldng
any money on 1t. and yet make n good
deal OF money out of IT, But only a
savage would, in his private affairs.
show such reckless disregard for the
future. yet it is precisely this reckless
disregard Of the future which the OPP
ponents of the forestry system are now
endeayoring to get the people Of the
United States to show, The only trou-
BILE with the movement for the preser.
walton of our forests is that IT has
not gone nearly far enough, and was
not begun soon enough. II is a most
fortunate thing, however, that we be
quire in the Appalachian and White
gan Il when we did. We should ac.
mountain regions all the forest lands
that it is possible to acquire for the
use OF the nation. These lands. be
cause they form national asset, are
as emphatically national as the rivers
which they feed, and which flow
through so many states before they
reach the ocean.
Mineral Lands.--ln the eastern
United States the mineral fuels have
alroady nassed into the hands of large,