The Washington herald., 1907-12-31

President Roosevelt was impressed so
deeply with the necessity of looking 10
the future that ne called a meeting OF
the governors OF all the States 10 con-
slider the question. II Is the first time iIi
I the history of the republic that n Pres
f! ident has called such a conference as
will meet In Washington IN May. Even
during the momentous times preceding
/ the civil war. when the very fate of the
nation itself was in the balance. no such
step was taken.
/ And yet. well might the country pause
In its progress and consider the end
/ The fathers have built a stanch Oh
ship Of state. mighty. and brave. ard
powerful enough 10 ride safely through
the most tempestuous storms IN the IN
/ explored seas OF time, provided we will
I follow the chart and the compass they
gave us. But what were ali that even.
| II we are to transmit 70 our posterity a
\ land without the strength that internal
wealth gives Il?
/ Within thirty-three years az the most.
unless protective steps are taken. Amer
/ lea VIII have found n substitute for wood
or else feel the handicap tnat the lack OF
timber brings upon people. Forests
\ that have been generations in growing.
/ trees that were old when the cradle Of
\ liberty was being rocked, are disappear
\ ing as the dew before the morning sun.
/ n sacrifice 20 the ruthless hand OF indus
\ try that counts not the cost. We are to-
I day making annual inroads upon our
/ forests at the rate Of one hundred billion
/ board feet a year. The annual growth Is
not over forty billion feet, so that the
net annual drain upon the American for
| ests amounts 10 sixty billion board feet.
| The highest estimate OF the timber sup
/ ply Of the country places II at two thou
/ sand billion feet. Thus. counting the
I lowest estimates Of annual consumption,
the highest estimates OF the annual
growth. and the highest estimates Of
/ present stumpage the date OF final ex-
/ haustion Of the timber supply will come
before 1910. Taking the average esti-
mates OF the people most competent 10
/ speak on the subject that unpropitious
event must come before 1882
The exhaustion Of the American forest
does not alone mean that We viii have 20
! look elsewhere for timber supplies OF fnd
substitutes. II means even more. Scien-
\ tifiC research has shown that timber has
an influence over rainfall, and that tim
bered regions are the great conservors OF
our rivers. Denude the hilisides of their
/ forests, and the rainfall, instead Of being
! taken up by the earth and turned out
! again in perennial springs 20 gladden. the
/ heart Of man. rushes madly away 20 the
/ sea. carrying millions OF wealth before il
and leaving an all but empty channel be-
/ hind II. as II 10 proclaim TO man the
wrath OF nature at the breaking Of its
| laws. So the exhaustion OF the forest be-
/ comes a problem vastly more serious
/ than sven the wiping out OF the timber
I supply.
Even moro serious than this is the ex-
/ haustion OF the coal supply. A few gen
erations OF practical forestry would serve
10 right the wrongs Of the denuded for
ests But the work OF making our coal
/ beds has been one of countless centuries.
When they are gone mortal man can
/ never replace them. At the present rate
Of increasing consumption the anthracite
coal Of America would become a thing of
the past in century's time. And even II
\ production. after reaching a climax with
I in ten years. should then fall of as rap
/ idly as il increased in the previous
years. the final exhaustion could not be
! postponed beyond the days OF the grand
children Of men now living
It is estimated that there remains in
the anthracite beds Of Northeastern Penn
sylvania about four thousand. seven hun
dred million tons OF unmined coal OF
which upward Of three thousand million
| tons are on the lines OF the Philadelphia
! and Reading These deposits are being
used up at the rate OF seventy million
/ tons a year The disappearance Of an
thracite from our available coal supply
would be a calamity greater than the
mind OF the layman can understand.
There are thousands OF things that can
be done 50 well by the use OF no other
/ fuel as by the use OF anthracite-things
which those who are looking beyond our
own times say must be provided for. An
thrscite is being used in thousand other
ways where bituminous could as well be
used. but these things are being no more
considered than II our anthracite beds
were as inexhaustible as the widows IA
nous cruise Of oil.
The extent Of the bituminous supply
| in the United States has never been es-
timatAd with more than approximate ac-
curacy. NJ. r. Campbell. in charge of the
economic geology Office of the United
States Geological Survey. estimates tha,
/ there were two trillion. two hundred
billion tons OF bituminOus coal in the Unit
ed States when the people began mining IT
We have taken out 4.675. 600 000 tons, with
at least one-half as much waste. making
1000, ,000, 600 tons in all. He figures that on
this basis 7O0 years will suffice 10 ex-
haust the supply.
Iron and copper likewise are feeling the
| inroads OF industry. A century more
cannot pass before the Lake Superior ore
beds viii have ceased 10 be the greatest
source of our supplies. However. many
centuries viii pass before the ore re-
serves will be well used up. Nations are
not founded for present days alone. The
hope OF man from the earliest dawn OF
civilization has been to transmit to pos
terity the blessings of a stable govern
ment and opportunities for individual
welfare. Indeed, High Heaven itseli
stopped 10 earth 10 promise 10 Abraham
a posteritX as numberless as the sands oi
the sea shore and to equip that posterity
/ with the power Of working out its OWL
happiness.
And SO to-day the United States stands
| on the threshold of a new era. We have
| jealousy guarded the governmental ma
chine that the fathers prepared for us
and each loyal American citizen would
to-day freely defend il with his life tc
insure its perpetuity. And since thS
| leaders of thought in the nation have
called attention TO these things. it is ex.
4 pected Shat men everywhere will join n
| the movement TO promote the material
| well q fho rOIffioa1 Of &hoo.