The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-08-26

ComInercial booieS, national, state ana local civic leagues and improvement associations. fraternai societies and the good citizenship of the country as a whole, 1t is thought. will constitute potent forces in favor of the conserva- tio nof resources if they can be arous- ed The mission of the proposed con- servation league is to arouse them.
 Since the White House Conference and the organization of the National Conservation Commission, several States have followed the Federal ad- ministration's lead. State conservation commissions have been named by a number of Governors, State Forestry Bureaus have been revived, tracts of State lands have been set aside as for est reservations, and several Governors have recommended to their Legisla- lures that appropriate legislative &C., ton be taken. It is believed the policy of conservation will spread all over the United States.
 That 1t fs none too early for such a movement to be carried out can not be successfully disputed. American forests are being cut at a much more rapid rate than they are reproducing themselves. One hundred and forty billion feet of lumber were taken out last year. an amount that was at least three times as much as was grown in all our forests. If all the timber cut were turned into merchant able lumber, the situation would not be so bad, but there is wanton waste and destruction throughout the lum- bering industry. In the Southern yell low pine forests alone, 1t is estimated that several billions of feet of timber are annually wasted. There is no necessity or valid excuse for such things, in the opinion of scientific for esters, who would like to Install their own scientific. and yet practical, meth ods throughout the lumb ering regions of the country. Under the old method of prodigal abuse of our resources. vir- 1 gin forests have been cut to the ground over millions of acres and now | little Is left but waste land. A great scarcity of lumber is predicted within a quarter of century, even with | proper conservation, so great has been l the waste.
 American mining methods are also wasteful. To illustrate this, 1t is only necessary to say that of ever 100 tons | of anthracite coal mined, only forty | tons is marketed. Every ton sent to market represents an exhaustion of tn e mines to the extent of two tons. This | alarming state of affairs is due to the fact that q large portion of the coal | is left in the mines as refuse and in the form Of pillars which support the | roof of the mines. while more is vast | ed outside in washing and other pro- cesses. It is no wonder that anthra- cite is becoming a luxury.
 The necessity of conserving our min | eral resources is pointed out by scien- tists. who declare that at best the human race can only mine 6 per cent | of the amount of coal that was origin ally laid down in the formation of the | world. The other 94 per cent is said | Aa &...- . | processes during almost endless geo. logic ages. Therefore. if our present mining methods are to continue, we | can only get the beneft of 2.4 per cent of the original coal supply. IL behooves us to be conservative and careful in using this small gratuity | from nature.
 The estimated extent of coal, fields in this country is 4e6.776 square miles
 much of 1t is very inaccessible and un- ! der heavy cover. The original supply
 of coal in these fields, when mining
 began, was estimated at 3.157,243. 900. : 1 900 short tons. Of this only 2,004, 4,01S.-
 100000 tons were easily accessible while 1.153.225. 100000 tons were acces-
 cessible coal, 1t is estimated that l.
 9ss,s00.oo0,000 tons are still available
 In 1906 the total production of coal | in this country was z14,157,278 tons
 Up to Jan. 1, 1908, the total production
 of each from American mines, includ.
 ing waste. was 10,21S. 100000 tons. The
 coal supply is not expected to last 400
 years, although improved mining l meth ods and now unknown coal fields
 may prolong the supply.
 Fifty million tons of iron ore are
 being mined in the United States an
 nually. but at that rate the estimated
 workable supply of that mineral. ot
 10000. 100000 of tons will last 400
 years. The total value of minerals
 produced In the United States in 1906
 was nearly $2,000, ,000, 900, as compared
 with $364.Ooo.0o in 1880. the first avail
 able relible figures. At this rate oi
 increase it is feared that 1t will moi
 be long before the nation will be bank
 rupt, from a mineral standpoint. Ii
 is not the actul consumption, however
 but the waste, that worries economists
 and practical scientists.
 Many thousands of acres of as good
 farming land as can be found in the
 fertile Nile Valley are washed down
 Into the sea every year by our rivers
 which have become uncomfortable with
 the destruction of forests. During many months of the year the streams
 are nearly dry and much too low for
 navigation, while at other and shorter
 times the valleys are overhowed by de-
 structive floods. River commerce
 is decreasing. Water power by the millions of horse power is going to
 waste. Nearly 15,0o0.0oo acres of arid land have been irrigated artifcaIly. but many millions more remain to be wa ] tered. Small areas of swamp lands
 have been drained. but millions more
 remain to be treated that way. and
 transformed from disease breeding places into fine farming lands which
 will support a large population. The public domain has been ruthlesslv
 wasted, but now 1t is being conserved and developed by home-makers.
 To carry out these worthy objects
 outlined above, will be the work of a | National Conservation League which l would voice popular sentiment on the subject and operate through the na- 1 tional and State conservation commits sions. through Congress, through the Legislatures and through the execu- l tive department of the Government. l There Is reason to believe that a new | and greater organization would be en- | couraged by the administrators con- | servation experts and agents, and re- | ceive loyal cooperation and support | from smaller organizations having | the same object in view. and from the 1 best element of the nations population who are anxious for any cooperative scheme that will conserve our natural | resources.
 1 Copyright, 1908. by Frederic J | Haskin).
 TOmorrow--POstaI Clerks Convention. NEGROES SECURE RELEASE
 RY HABEAS CORPUS WRIT