The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1908-12-08

republic to say anything which can
weaken this respect save for the gray
est reason and in the most carefully
guarded 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 servants of the com
munity. and the greatest judges have
reached the high level held by those
few greatest patriots whom the whole
country delights to honor. But we
must face the fact that there are wise
and unwise judges, Just as there are
wise and unwise executives and legis-
lators. When d president or governor
behaves improperly or unwisely the
remedy is easy, for his term is short.
The same is true with the legislator,
although not to the same degree, for
he is one of many who belong to some
given legislative body, and it is there
fore less easy to fix his personal re-
sponsibility and hold him accounta BILE
therefor. With judge who, being
human, is also likely to err, but whose
tenure is for life, there is no similar
way of holding him to responsibility
Under ordinary conditions the only
forms of pressure to which he is in
any way amenable are public opinion
and the action of his fellow judges. 1t
is the last which is most Immediately
effective and to which we should look
For tho rafnrf1l of a hIIS "
applied from without is fraught with
risk. 1t is far better from every stand
point that the remedy should come
from within. In no other nation in the
world do the courts WELD such vast
and farreaching power as in the Unit
ed States All that is necessary is that
the courts as a whole should exercise
this power with the farsighted wis
dom 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
bravely, but with wise insight into
the needs and fixed purposes of the
people, so that they may do justice and
work equity, so that they may protect
all persons in their rights and yet
break down the barriers of privilege,
which is the foe Of right.
Forests.
If there is any one duty which more
than another we owe it to our children
and our children's children to perform
at once it is to save the forests of
| this country, for they constitute the
fpS.t nd nla nj in
| the conservation of the natural re-
sources of the country. There are, of
| course, two kinds of natural resources
| One is the kind which can only be
! used as part of process of exhaus-
| ton. This is true of mines, natural
oil and gas wells and the like. The
other, and of course ultimately by far
the most important, includes the re-
| sources which can be improved in the
! process of wise use. The soil, the riv.
ers and the forests come under this
head. Any really civilized nation will
| so use all of these three great national
/ assets that the nation will have theiI
benefit in the future. Just as a farm
| err, after all his life making his living
| IIoIll Ills Will, IL Ht dH cADcIl
| farmer leave it as an asset of increas
ed value to his son, so we should leave
our national domain to our children
| increased i'll value and not worn out
| There are small sections of our owl
country in the east and in the west, il
the AdirOndacks, the White mountains
and the Appalachians. and in the
Rocky mountains, where we can al
ready see for ourselves the damage IL
the shape of permanent injury to the
soil and the river systems which come:
from reckless deforestation. 1t mat
tiers not whether this deforestation i:
due to the actual reckless cutting o.
timber, to the fires that inevitably fol
low such reckless cutting of timber o.
to reckless and uncontrolled grazing
especially by the great migratory
bands of sheep, the unchecked wan
dering of which over the country
means destruction to forests and dis
aster to the small homemakers, tn,
settlers of limited means
Shortsighted persons, or persons
blinded to the future by desire t,
make money in every way out of thu
great damage would be done by tn
reckless destruction of our forests
1t is difficult to have patience with til,
arguments of these persons. Thank
/ to our own recklessness in the use o
our splendid forests, we have alread,
crossed the verge of a timber famine il
this country, and no measures that w,
now take can, at least for many
years, undo the mischief that has al
ready been done. But we can proven
further mischief being done, and
would be in the highest degree repre-
henSible to let any consideration o
temporary convenience or temporar
cost interfere with such action. espe
cially as regards the national forests
which the nation can now at this YER
moment control.
All serious students of the question
are aware of the great damage tina
has been done in the Mediterranean
countries of Europe. Asia and Afric
by deforestation. The similar dam
age that has been done in easter
Asia is less well known. A recent in
vestigation into conditions in mort
China by Mr. Frank n. Meyer of tn
bureau of plant industry of the Unit
ed States department of agricultur
has incidentally furnished in yer,
striking fashion proOf of the ruin tina