Arizona republican., 1907-12-04

this actual settler and home maker. who in the long run is most hurt by permitting thefts of the public land In whatever form.
 The Forests.
 optimism is a good characteristic. but If carried to an excess it becomes foolishness. We are prone to speak of the resources of this country as in- exhaustible this Is not so The min
 eral wealth of the country. the coal, iron, oil. gas, and the like. does not reproduce itself. and therefore is cer- tain to be exhausted ultimately; and wastefulness in dealing with it today means that our descendants will feel the exhaustion a generation or two be- fore they otherwise would. But there are certain other forms of waste which could be entirely stopped-the waste of soil by washing, for instance. which is among the most dangerous of all wastes now in progress in the United States. is easily preventable. so that this present enormous loss of fertility is entirely unnecessary. The preserva- ton or replacement of the forests is one of the most important means of preventing this loss. We have made a beginning in forest preservation. but 1t is only a beginning. At present lum- bering is the fourth greatest industry in the United States: and yet. so rapid has been the rate of exhaustion of tim Der in the United States in the past and so rapidly is the remainder being exhausted. that the country is unques- tionably on the verge of a timber fam
 inc which will be felt in every house. hold in the land. There has already
 been rise in the price of lumber, but there is certain to be a more rapid and heavier rise in the future. The present annual consumption of lumber is cer- tainly three times as great as the an- nual growth; and if the consumption and growth continue unchanged. prac- tically all our lumber will be exhaust ed in another generation. while long before the limit to complete exhaustion is reached the growing scarcity will make itself felt in many blighting ways upon our national welfare. About 20 per cent of our forested territory is now reserved in National forests; but these do not include the most valuable timber lands. and in any event the pro-
 portion is too small to expect that the reserves can accomplish more than a mitigation of the trouble which is ahead for the nation. Far more drastic action is needed. Forests can be lum- bered so as to give to the public the full use of their mercantile timber without the slightest detriment to the forest. any more than it is a detriment to farm to furnish harvest: so that there is no parallel between forests and mines. which can only be com pletely used by exhaustion. But for
 ests, if used as all our forests have been used in the past and as most of them are still used, witll be either wholly destroyed. or so damaged that many decades have to pass before ef- fective use can be made of them again. All these facts are so obvious that it is xtraordinary that it should be neces- sary tn repeat them. Every business man in the land. every writer in the newspapers. every man or woman of an ordinary school education. ought to be able to see that immense quantities Of 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 of it will be felt severely in the everyday life of our people Surly, when these facts are so obvious there should be no delay in taking pre- ventive measures. Yet we seem as nation to be willing to proceed in this matter with happy -go-lucky indiffer- ence even to the immediate future It is this attitude which permits the self interest of very few persons to weigh for more than the ultimate interest of all our people. There are persons who find it to their immense pecuniary ben l eft to destroy the forests by lumber | ing. They are to be blamed for thus | sacrificing the future of the Nation as 1 a whole to their own self-interest of | the moment; but heavier blame at taches to the people at large for per mitting such action, whether in the | White Mountains. in the southern AL l leghenies, or in the Rockies and 1 Sierras. A big numbering company. l impatient for immediate returns and | not caring to look far enough ahead. | twill often deliberately destroy all the | good timber in a region. hoping after ] wards to move on to some new coun- 1 try. The shiftless man of small means. | who does not care to become an actual ! home maker but would like immedi- | ate profit will find it to his advan- | tage to take up timber land simply to | turn it over to such big company. and ! leave it valueless for future settlers | A big mine owner. anxious only to l develop his mine at the moment will | care only to cut all the timber that he | wishes without regard to the future probably not looking ahead to the con- dition of the country when the forests | are exhausted. any more than he does | to the condition when the mine is | worked out. l do not blame these men | nearly as much as 1 blame the supine | public opinion, the indifferent 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 public the accept ance of temporary restriction in the | lavish use of the timber. in order to ] prevent the total loss of this use in | the future. There are plenty of men | in public and private life who actually advocate the continuance of the pres ent system of unchecked and wastefuI extravagance. using as an argument | the fact that to check it will of course mean interference with the ease and | comfort of certain people who now get