The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-12-04
hurt by permitting thefts of the public land In whatever form.

if carried to an excess 1t becomes fool
 ishness. We are prone to speak of the
 Of this as wsas
 of thA country. the coal. iron, oil, gas.
 and the like, does not rerroduce It.
 self, and therefore Is. certain M 70 pc ex- \,
 descendants will feel the exhaustion
 generation or two neaore .ney osner, other forms of waste which could be | entirely stopped-the waste of soil by washing, for instance. which Is among In progress in the United States. is easily preventable. so that this present
 enormous loss of fertility is entirely placement of the forests is one of the most importan means of preventing this
 loss We have made q beginning Tn
 beginning. At present lunibering Is the fourth greatest industry ]. the United States; and yeN so ral has
 in the United States in the pasc and so rapidly is the remainder being ex- hausted. that the country Is unques-
 inc " which n will in1 be % felt in every % house.
 hold in the land. There has already
 been rise in the price of lumber,
 snd hsaSier siss in 10 tRe future Ths present annual consumption of lumber
 is certainly three times as great as the annual RrOWkns ana IT the COnbumpLIOn
 and growth continue unchanged, prac.
 tically all our lumber will be exhausted
 in another generation, while long be-
 fore the limit to complete exhaustion
 make itself felt fn many blighting ways
 upon our national welfare. About 70
 per cent of our forested territory Is
 these do not include the most valuable
 timber lands. and in any event the
 proportion is too small to expect that
 h a a oA -av n vaot< kH.rr
 a mitigation of the trouble which Is
 ahead for the nation. Far more dras-
 tic action is needed. Forests can be
 the full use of their mercantiIe timber
 without the slightest detriment to the
 forest, any more than 1t is detriment
 there tn % is no In paraiiei bstween % io forests @
 and mines, which can only be com
 pletely used by exhaustion. But for
 Ssts if Ssed ,s as all our forests have
 them are still used, will be either
 wholly destroyed, or so damaged that many many. decades have s tS pass 2, before ef
 All the facts are 'so obvious that 1t is
 extraordinary that it should be neces- sary to repeat them: Every business newspapers, every man or woman of an ordinary school education. ought to be able to see that immense quanti- that the forests which supply this tim Der are rapidly being exhausted. and that if no change take place, exhaus- the effects of it will be felt severely in the every day life of our people. Surely, when thes facts are so obvi- preventive measures. Yet we seem as nation to be willing to proceed in this matter with happy-go-lucky indif- It is this attitude which permits the self interest of a very few persons to weigh for more than the ultimate in- terest. of all our people; There are peuniary benefit to destroy the forests by numbering. They are to be blamed for thus sacrificing the future Of the interest of the moment; but heavier for permitting such action, whether in | Aiiegh enies. or in the Rockies and sierras A big numbering % eom. 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 be- come an actual home -maker but would like immediate profit, will find 1t to his advantage to take up timber land company. and leave 1t valueless for future settlers. big mine owner. anxious only to develop his mine at the timber that he wishes without regard to the future-probably not looking ahead to the condition of the country more than he does to the condition when the mine Is worked out. do not blame these men nearly as much as l indifferent public. opinion, which per nits their action to go unchecked. Of course to check the waste of timber of the public the acceptance of tenn: porary restriction In the lavish use of the timber, in order to prevent the to- tai loss of this use in the future; There are plenty of men in public and private life who actually advocate the of the present system of unchecked and wasteful extravagence. using as an argument the fact that to check it will of course mean interfer- once with the ease and comfort of cer- tain people who now get lumber at less pense of the future generations. Some of these persons actually demand that the present forest reserves be thrown open to destruction, because, forsooth. they think that thereby the price of lumber could be put down again for TWO or three of more years. Their at .ator protesting against the outlay of money by farmers on manure and in .aking care of their farms generally. Mere content absoluteiy yefaeg to guin his farm, he could for two or three years avoid spending any money on 1t, and yet make a good deal of money out of [. But only savage would, in his private affairs, shows such reckless dis regard of the future; yet it is precise v this reckless disregard of the future which. the opponents of the forestry system are now endeavoring to get the people of the United States to show. The only trouble with the movement Tor the preservation of our forests Is hat is has not gone nearly far enough. | tnd was not begun soon enough. It Is ! most fortunate thing. however, that we began 1t when we did. We should Icquire in the Appalachian and White Mountain regions all the forest lands hat it is possible to acquire for the use If the Nation. These lands, because hey form National asset, are as en- ,hatically national as the rivers which he feed, nd which flow through so many States before they reach the ocean.
 Tariff on Wood Pulp.
 There sh ould be no tariff on forest products grown in this country; and, | n especial. there should sbe no tarif m wood pulp; due notice of the change
 cling of course given to those engaged n the business so as to enable them to rhe repeal of the duty on wood pulp hould If possible be accompanied by an agreement with Canada that there shall 'e no export duty on Canadian pulp wood.
 Mineral Lands.
 Tn the eastern United States the min ral fuels have already passed into the hose of the West are rapidly follow ng. It is obvious that these fuels hould be conserved and not wasted nd 1t would be well to protect the