Bismarck daily tribune., 1908-12-09
FOUR

care exercised In the interest of all OF
them to prevent deforestation. finds It's
profit In the immediate use Of the fuel
which would otherwise be used By
some other family or some other COM
munity. In the total absence of regu-
lation or the matter in the interest Of
the whole people each small group Is
inevitably pushed into q policy Of de-
struction which cannot afford to take
thought for the morrow. This is just
one Of those matters which it is fatal
DO leave to unsupervised individual
control. The forests can only be pro-
tected by the state, by the nation, and
the liberty Of action of individuals
must be conditioned upon what the
state or nation determines to be neces-
sary for the common safety.
The lesson Of deforestaion in China
is a lesson which mankind should have
learned many times already from what
has occurred in other places. Denuda-
ton leaves naked soil, then gullying
cuts down to the bare rock, and mean
Mhile the rock waste buries the bot
tom lands. When the soil is gone men
must go, and the process does not
take long. -
The ruthless destruction of the for
ests in northern China has brought
about or has aided in bringing about
desolation, just as the destruction Of
the forests In central Asia aid in bring
ing ruin to the once rich central Asian
forests in northern Africa helped to-
ward the ruin of region that was a
fertile granary in Roman days. Short
sighted man, whether barbaric, semi
civilized or what he mistakenly regards
as fully civilized, when he has destroy
ed the forests has rendered certain the
ultimate destruction Of the land itself.
In northern China the mountains are
now such as are shown by the accom-
panying photographs, absolutely barren
peaks. Not only have the forests been
destroyed, but because of their destruc-
tion the soil has been washed off the
naked rock. The terrible consequence
is that it is impossible now to undo
the damage that has been done. Many
centuries would have to pass before
soil would again collect or could be
made to collect in sufficient quantity
once more to support the old time for
est growth. In consequence the Mon
gol desert is practically extending east
ward over northern China. The eli
mate has changed and is still chang
ing. 1t has changed even within the
last half century as the work Of tree
destruction has been consummated
The great masses Of arboreal vegetation
on the mountains formerly absorbed
the heat Of the sun and sent up cur
rents Of cool air which brought the
moisture laden clouds lower and forced
them to precipitate In rain part Of
their burden Of water. Now that there
is no vegetation the barren mountains,
scorched by the sun, send up currents
OF heated air which drive away In
stead of attracting the rain clouds and
cause their moisture to be disseminat-
ed. In consequence, instead of the reg
ular and plentiful rains which existed
In these regions Of China when the
forests We're still in evidence, the un-
fortunate inhabitants of the deforested
lands now see their crops wither for
lack of rainfall, while the seasons grow
more and more irregular, and as the
air becomes drier certain crops refuse
longer to grow at all. i
That everything dries out faster than
formerly is shown by the fact that the
level Of the wells all over the land has
sunk perceptibly, many of them hay
ing become totally dry. In addition to
the resulting agricultural distress, the
water courses have changed. Former
~ they were narrow and deep, with an
abundance OF clear water the year
around, for the roots and humus Of
the forests caught the rainwater and
let it escape by slow, regular .seepage.
They have now become broad, shallow
stream beds in which muddy water
triekles in slender currents during the
dry seasons, while when it rains there
are freshets, and roaring muddy tor
rents come tearing down, bringing dis
aster and destruction everywhere.
Moreover, these floods and freshets,
which diversity the general dryness,
wash away from the mountain sides
and either wash away or cover in the
valleys the rich fertile soil which ii
took tens of thousands Of years for
nature to form, and it Is lost forever,
and until the forests grow again IL
cannot be replaced. The sand and
stones from the mountain sides are
washed loose and come rolling down to
cover the arabic lands, and in conse
quence throughout this part Of China
many formerly rich districts are now
sandy wastes, useless for human cul
tivation and even for pasture. The
cities have been, Of course, seriously
affected, for the streams have grad
ually ceased to be navigable. There is
testimony that even within the mem
orr Of men now living there has beer
serious diminution Of the rainfall OF
northeastern China. The level of the
Sungari river, In northern Manchuria
has been sensibIy lowered during the
last fifty years, at least partly as the