Daily Kennebec journal., 1908-12-09

~ 49,, y ,ns.t even Wlthin the memory
ions diminution OF the rainfall of north.
eastern China. The level of the Sunear
sensih nlver IN ,no,d northern Manchuria has beer
years. az least partly as the result of the
formipi. ffnrsfmins'e ne cutting Of the forest.
rivers Of northern China have become ln i'm.
controllable, and very dangerous to thu
dWe:lers along their banks as direc
result OF the destruction of the forests
N melancholy fashion how the soil has
| heen washed away from whole valleys
SO that they have been converted into
In northern China this disastrous ,,ro
cess has gone or so long and has pro
ceeded so far that no complete REMEDY
mountains in. China from which the sol sol
Is gone so utterly that only the slow ac.
tion OF the ages. could restore it: although
W Venf course ih sti mHch could p he done to pre-
sion of the Mongolian Desert if the Chin.
ese Government would act at once. The
show the inconceivable desolatior of the
barren mountains in which ces stain OF
these rivers iise-mounta'ns. be it re:
membered which formerly supported
i dense forests of larches and flls, now
| unable to produce any wood. and be.
cause Of their condition a source of dan.
ger to TIE whole country. The photo
| graphs also show the Same rivers afteI
they. have passed through the mountains
| the beds having become broad ard sandy
because of the deforestation of the noun
| tains. One of the photographs shows a
caravan passing through valley. For
merly. when the mountains were forested
it was thickly, peopled by rrosperous pea
SAINTS. Now the floods have carried des-
| truction all oyer the land and the valley
| is q story desert. Another photograph
| shows mountain read covered with the
| stones ard rocks that are brought down
in, the rainy season from the mountains
| which have already been deforested by
! human hands. Another shows pehbly
| river-bed in southern Manchuria where
| was once a great stream has dried ur
owing to the deforestatior in the noun-
! tains, Only some scrub wood is left
which will disappear within p half CEN
| tnry. Yet another shows the effect of one
| of the washouts. DESTROYING an arahla
mountain side. these washonts being due
this tn s'I photosranh ref % the he Foreground Shows
| that reforestation is still possibility in
places.
China. what has happened in Central
| Asia, in Palestine, in North Africa. in
narts of the Mediterranean countries of
Europe will surely in ss e%r
thought which should he one of the chief
marks of any people calling itself civili-
zea him shond nf tns be
the forests, and it is criminal to permit
individuals to purchase a little gain foi.
themselves through the destruction OF OF
to the wellbeing 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 water
| ways-actjon which .will result in giving
us not only navigable but navig.ted r1X-
ers. We have spent hundreds of mil
lions Of dollars upon these waterways.
vet the traffic on nearly all Of them is
steadily declining. This condition is the
ate nf
prehensive and far-seeins plan of water.
way Improvement. Obviously We can not
continue thus to expend the revenues of
the Cove rnment without return It is
poor business to spend money for inland
ma yigntion unless we get it.
inquiry into the cordition of the Miss
very many instances of the utter waste
caused by tie methods which have hith-
eito obtained for the so-caIled Improve
ment'' Of navigation. A striking instance
of the He''',oofh Ohio. which besnn in 1ss4
was continued under a single plan for
half century MT ,o,dd In isn for new plar of
century In 1902 still a different plan was
adopted and has since been pursued at a
rate which only promises navaeanae
river in from twenty to one hundred Eeftfs
longer. T..
tile methods are accompanied bN ?e
creasng water-borne commerce and m
creasing traffic congestion on land ny IN
crea sing floods and bv the waste of pub
i eney The remedy fhe lies es IT 60 eisna,Iv
failed and adopting new ones iE Keeping
with the needs and demands of our reo-
pie.
the first session Of the present Congress.
the Secretary of War said: fhe cnlet ue-
feet in the methods Hitherto rursuac iles I
in the. absence of executive authority for
originating comprehensive plans coverln,g:
the country or natural divisions thereof.
In this opinion heartily cr1cur Ihe -, pres rs
ent methods not only fail to give us m
land navigation. hut they are injurious to
the army as we'll. What is virtually
nern, enent detail of the corps OF enSlneers
to civilian duty necessarily lmpAlrS the
efficiency Of our military establishment
The military engineers have undnuhteniv
done efficient work in actual construction.
hut they arc necessarily ainsnted ny theis
training and traditions to take the proad
view, and to gather and transmit TO tnt
Congress the commercial and induS,ilai
infoIriation ard forecasts upon Whlch
waterway imnrovemcnt must always so
largely rest. Futhelmorc. they nave iali.
ed to grasp the great underVinS fact thitt
every stream. is a unit from It's source ' 10
it's mouth and that all its uses are ln,ef-
dependent Prominent officers OF the I'm
gineer Ccrrs have recently even Soi.e 50
far as to assert ir pHnt that waterways
are not dependent uron the conservation
Of the forests about their headWaters.
This position is opposed to all the re- re,
cent work of the sc,entic rn1 nMLeaxn axnepence
of mankind A physician who disbeli:vedt
it, vaccination would not be tne iIsn'
man to handle ar epidemic OF smallpoX;;
nor should we leave doctor Skeptical
about the transmission Of yellow lever py
the Stegonlyia mosquito in charge or san
itatinn at Havana or Panama so WIFI
the Improvement of our rivers: II Is ~
longer wise or safe to leave TINS E,e.. ~
work in the hands of men who fall 10
grasp the essential relations between ma
vjgation and general development ami TO
assi.nilate and use the central facts ABOUT
our streams. 4 ;
Until the work of river Improvement IS
undertaken in modern way it can not
have results that will meet the needs nl
this modern nation These needs should
he net without further dllv -dailylng or
delav The plan which promises the best
and quickest results is that of e rer-
manent commission authorized TO coordl-
nate nate the wcrk of all the Government de-
nartments relating to waterways. and 10
frame and supervise the execution or
con- rehensfve plan. Under SUCH a coIi-
mission the actual work Of conStruc non
mic ht he entrusted to the reclamatlon
service: or to the military, engineers; hc,ss
ing with a sufficient number OF civii,ans y.
To- continue the work in time of war: or
II might he divided between the reciana-
ttion Service and the corps of enslncers.
Funds should be provided from currGne .;i,a
revenues il it is deemed Wise-otherWis.;,
from the sale of bonds. me esSeran, .,sd