The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1908-12-11
republic to say anything which can

republic to say anything which car
weaken this respect, save for thu
giaNest reason n in the most care
1uIiN gl,dlded manner Our Judges
should be held in peculiar honor; and
the duty Of respectful and truthful
comment and criticism. which should
BE- binding when we speak of anybody
should be especially binding when We
speak of them. On an average they
stand above any other servant of the
community, and the greatest judges
nave reached the high level held by
thoSe few greatest patriots whom the
whole country delights to honor. But
we must face the fact hat there are
wise ana unWiSe judges. just as there
are wise and unwise executives and leg
islalors. When a president or a gov
eillOr improperly or unWisely,
the remedy is easy, for his term is
snort; the same is true with the leg
islator, although not to the same de-
gree, for he is one Of many who be-
long to some given legislative body.
and 1t is therefore less easy to fix his
personal responsibility and hold him
accountable therefor. With a Judge.
n being human, is also likely to err,
out whose tenure is for life. there is
no similar way Of holding him to re-
spoislplilty. Under ordinary condi-
ions the only forms of pressure to
which he is in any way amenable are,
pubilc opinion, and the action of his
Fellow judges. 1t is the last which is
most Immediately effective. and to
which We should look for the reform of
abuses. Any remedy applied from
without is frausht with risk. 1t is far
pestes, from every standpoint. that the
remedy should come from Within. In
no other nation in the world do the
courts WELD such vast and far-reach-
ing power as in the United States. All
mat is necessary is that the courts as
a whole should exercise this power
with the f~arSighted wisdom already
shown by those Judges who scan the
future while they act in the present.
Let them exercise this great power not
only honestly and braveIy. but with
wise insight into the needs ana fixed
purposes OF the people, so that they
may DO justice, and work equity, so
that they may protect all persons in
the1r rights and yet break down the
Farmers of privilege, which is the foe
of right.
Forests.
II there IS any one dutv which moro
than another we owe it to our children
ana our children's children to perform
at once, 1t Is to save the forests OF
TINS country. for they constitute tho
hrst and most important clement in
me conservation OF the natural re-
VI wv country. j mere are OF
course two kinds Of natural resources,
one Is the kind which can only be used
as part or a process of exhaustion this
Is true or mines. natural oil and gas
wells, and the like. The other, and OF
course ultimately by far the most i'm
includes the which
can be improved in the process OF wiso |
use; the soil, the rivers, and the forests
under this head. Any really civil
lZed nation Will SO use all Of these three
great national assets that the nation
Wlll have their benefit in the future,
1ust as a farmer. after all his ljfu
making his living from his farm, will,
IL he Is an expert farmer, leave il aE
An asset OF increased value to his son
so we should leave our national domain |
o u children, increased in value and
not worn out. There are small SEQ ,
lionS OF IL own country, in the East
Ina IN the West, in the Adirondacks.
Whlte Mountains, n the Appala-
mans, and in the Rocky Mountains,
where we can already see for ourselve1
ne damage in the shape of permanent
injury TO the soil and the river svstema
iilch comes from reckless deforeSta-
ION. 1t matters not whether this de
.orestat1on Is due to the actual reck-
esS cutting OF timber, to the fires that
inevitably follow such reckless cuttin.
tlmber, or the reckless and uncon-
rolled grazing, especially by h great
Migratory bands of sheen. the nm
'hecked wandering Of which over the
'ouhtry means destruction to forests
ma disaster to the small home makers
ne settlers of limited means.
Nothing should be permitted to
tand In the way of the preservation
I the forests, and it is criminal to
erlnlt individuals to purchase a little
am Tor themselves through the de
of forests when this destruc-
ION IS fatal to the %weilbeing of the
mole country in the future.
Inland Waterways.
Action should be begun forthwith,
urlls the present session of the
for the of orr
Inland waterways-action which viii
esult is giving US not only
Ut naVlgated rivers. We have spent
undreds OF millions of dollars upon
lese waterways, yet the traffic on
early all of them is steadily declin- t
1g. RMS condition is the direct re- r.
UT or the absence Of any compre- {
ensiVe n f~ar-seeing plan OF water r
'ay improvement. Obviously we can |
OF continue thus to expend the rev {
nues or the government without re E
I'm. II poor business 70 spend money I
'r inland navigation unless we get r
until the work Of river improvement :
uiuei heli In a mOOern way it can O
nave results that will meet the y
of this modern nation. These :
eeds should be met without further q
l~lly-dailylng Or delay. The plan n
'htch promises the best and quickest l.
suits is that of a permanent com {
authorized to coordinate the E
'ork Of the government departments II
'lat1ng to waterways. and to frame a
nd supervise the execution OF a com- 4
plan. Under such a com l.
'ission the actual work OF construc- D
on might be entrusted to the rec A
nation service; or the military d
lgineers acting with sufficient mum
r or civilians to continue the work n
time OF war; or it might be divided V
tween the reclamation service and ii
'e corps OF engineers. Funds should b
; provided from current revenues ~ II
ls deemed wise-otherwise from the u
lie Of bonds. The essential thing is "
at the work should go forward y
ider the best possible plan. and with o,
e a possible delay. We should ~
I'VE q new type OF work and = new =,
for planning and direct =,
& IT. h time for playing with our "
is past. The country de- rs
ands results. <