The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-12-09

one of the washouts, destroying an ar able mountain side; these washouts be- l ing due to the removal Of all Vegeta- ton; yet in this photograph the fore ] ground shows that reforestation is still a possibility in places.
 What has thus happened in northern China, what has happened in Central Asia, in ralestine, in North Africa, in parts of the Mediterranean countries of 1 Europe, will surely happen in our coun- try if we do not exercise that wise fore thought which should be one of the chief marks of any people calling itself civ | ilized. Nothing should be permitted to ! stand in the way of the preservation of i the forests, and it is criminal to permit 1 individuals to purchase a little gain for themselves through the destruction of for ests when this destruction is fatal to the well-being of the whole country in the future.
 Inland Waterways.
 Action should be begun forthwith during the present session of the Congress, for the improvement of our inland waterways action which will result in giving us not | only navigable but navigated rivers. We have spent hundreds of millions of dol- lars upon these waterways, yet the traffic on nearly all of them is steadily declining. | This condition is the direct result of the absence of any comprehensive and far seeing plan of waterway improvement. Obviously we cannot continue thus to ex- pend the revenues of the government without return It is poor business to spend money for inland navigation unless we get it.
 Inquiry into the condition of the Mssis- | sippi and its principal tributaries reveals very many instances of the utter waste caused by the methods which have hither- to obtained for the so-called improve ment' of navigation. A striking instance is-ara nT1f' Ohio which, begun in 1924. was continued under a single plan for half a century. In 1875 a new plan was adopted and fol- lowed for a quarter of century. In 1902 still a different plan was adopted and has since been pursued at a rate which only promises navigable river In rom 20 to 100 years longer.
 Such shortsighted, vacillating and futile methods are accompanied by decreasing water-borne commerce and increasing traffic congestion land, by increas- ing foods and by the waste of public money. The remedy lies in abandoning the methods which have so signally failed and adopting new ones in Keeping Witn the needs and demands of our people.
 In a report on a measure introduced at tie first session of the present Congress, the Secretary of War said: "The chlet defect in the methods hitherto pursued lies in the absence of executive authority for originating comprehensive plans GOV ering the country or natural divisions therof" In this opinion I heartily con cur. The present methods not only fail to give us inland navigation but they are iriurious to the army as we'll what is yirtunally a permanent detail or the corpI of engineers to civilian duty neces- sarly impairs the efficiency Of our mill tary establishment. The military en- eineers have undoubtedly done efficient
 cfg~I1nf necessarily unsuited by their training and traditions to take the broad view, and to gather and transmit to the Congress the commercial and industrial informa- tion and forecasts, upon which waterway inprovement must always so largeiy rest Furthermore. they have failed to grasp the great underlying fact that every stream is a unit from it's source to it's mouth. and that all its uses are interoe- | nendent Prominent officers of the en- gineer corps have recently even gone so far az to assert in print that waterways are not dependent upon the conservation of the forests about their headwaters. This position is opposed to all the recent work of the scientific bureaus or the soV ernment and to the general experience or mankind A physician who dlspeneVeo in vaccination would not be the rlght ilah to handle an epidemic of smallpox, nor should we leave doctor skeptical about the transmission of yellow fever by the stegomyia mosquito in charge of santa tio,7 at Havana or Panama So with the innrovement of our rivers; 1t is no longer wise or safe to leave this great work in the hands of men who fall to grasp the essential relations between navlgatlon and general development and to assiin- Hate and use the central facts about our streams
 Trntil the work of river improvement Is | ;o uso 1t cannot have results that will meet the needs Of this modern nation. These needs should he met without further d1lly-daliylng UT delay. The plan which promises the pest and quickest results Is that or a per manent commission authorized to CO., ordinate the work of all the government departments relating to waterways, and | to frame and supervise the execution or | a con1nrehensive plan Under such d l commission the actual work of construc- | lion might be intrusted to the reclamation service or to the military engineers act 1 ing with a sufficient number or clVlians l to continue the work in time or war; or N 1 might be divided between the reclamation service and the corps of engineers Funds sbould he provided from current revenues if if ia deemed wise-otherwise from the ! sale of bonds. The essential thlng IS 1 that the work should go forward under the best possible plan, and with the least | nossible delay. We snoulu naVo a ie" | tyne of work and new organization TOT planning and directing it. The time Tor nlaying with our waterways is past. The country demands results.
 National Parks.
 urge that all our national parks adJa- | cent to national forests be placed com- I pletely under the control of the forest ser I vice of the agricultural department Ill., | stead of leaving them as they now are. | under the interior department ana ponced by the army. The Congress should pro ! vide for superintendents with adequate | corps of first-class civilian scouts or rangers and further. place the road con | struction under the superintendent instead | of leaving it with the war department. | Such change in park management l xvould result in economy and avoid the | d;fficulties of administration which now | arises from having the responsibility or l care and protection divided between oli- | ferent departments. The need TOT thls | course is peculiarly great in the Yeilow- l stone park This, like the Yosemite, Is great wonderland and should be kept as 2 national playground In both all wild things should be protected, and the seen cry kept wholly unmarred-
 I am happy to say that have been able to set aside in various parts of the coun- | trv small well-chosen tracts of ground to ! serve as sanctuares and nurseries for I wild creatures.
 Denatured Alcohol.