Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1907-12-03

are rapidly beng exhausted and that
IL 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.
Surely when these facts are so obei-
Gus there should be no delay in taking
preventive measures. Yet we seem as
nation to be willing to proceed In
this matter with happy go lucky indif-
ference even to the immediate future.
1t is this attitude which permits the
self interest of very few persons to
weigh for more than the ultimate in
terest of all our people. There are per-
sons who find it to their immense Pc
cuniary benefit to destroy the forests
by numbering. They are to be blamed
for thus sacrificing the future of the
nation as a whole to their own self in
terest of the moment, but heavier
blame attaches to the people at large
for permitting such action, whether in
the White mountains, in the southern
Alleghanies or in the Rockies and Sier-
ras. A big numbering company. impa-
tient for Immediate returns and not
caring to look far enough ahead. Will
often deliberately destroy all the good
timber in a region, hoping afterward
to move on to some new country. The
shiftless man of small means who does
not care to become an actual home
maker, but would like immediate prof
it, will find it to his advantage to take
up timber land simply to turn it over
20 oh, \ al loo
valuelesS for future settlers. big
mine owner. anxious only to 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 condition of
the country when the forests are ex-
hausted any more than he does to the
condition when the mine is worked
out.
l do not blame these men nearly as
much as l blame the supine public
opinion, the Indifferent public opinion.
which permits their action to go I'M
checked. 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 wasteful
extravaganza, using as an argument
the fact that to check 1t will of course
mean Interference with the ease and
comfort of certain people who now get
lumber at less cost than they ought to
pay at the expense Of the future gen
erations. Some of these persons actu-
ally demand that the present forest
reserves be thrown open to destruc-
ton because, fOrsooth. they think that
thereby the price of lumber could be
put down again for two or three or
more years. Their attitude is precise
| ly like that of an agitator protesting
against the outlay of money by farm
ers on manure and in taking care OF
| their farms generally. Undoubtedly
| If the average farmer were content alb
| solutely to ruin his farm he could fol
| two or three years avoid spending any
| money on it and yet make a good dea
| of money out of it. But only a saw
| age would in his private affairs show
such reckless disregard of the future
| yet it is precisely this reckless disre
| gard of the future which the oppO
nents Of the forestry system are now
endeavoring to get the people of the
United States to show. The only trou
bic with the movement for the preser
walton of our forests is that it ha.
not gone nearly far enough and wa:
not begun soon enough. 1t is mos
fortunate thing, however, that we be
gan it when we did. We should &C
qulre in the Appalachian and Whit,
mountain regions all the forest land!
that it is possible to acquire for tn,
use of the nation. These lands be
cause they form a national asset ar,
as emphatically national as the river;
which they feed and which flow
through so many states before the,
reach the ocean.