Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1908-12-09
CHARACTERISTIC
MESSAGE IS SENT
BY ROOSEVELT
CONGRESS MUCH INTERESTED
IN DOCUMENT
Nations Needs and Status, as Well
as Legislative Problems and Ap-
preparations, comprehen-
siVeIy Explained
Continued from Page TwOl

for the courts. 1t is an offense against the
republic to say anything which can weaken
this respect, save for the gravest reason ana
in tle 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 aver
age they stand above any other servants or
the community, and the greatest judges have
reached the high level held by those few
greatest patriots whom the whole country de-
lights to honor, But we must face the fact
that there wise and unwise Judges, Just
as there are wise and unwise executives and
legislators. When a president or governorsbe-
HAYES improperly unwisely, the remedy
Is easy, for his term is short; the same Is
true with the legislator, although not to the
same degree, for ne Is one of many who be-
long TO given legislative body, and it
is therefore less easy to fix his personal re-
spbnsibuity and hold him accountable 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 re-
sponsibility 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 the reform Of
abuses, ANY remedy applied from without is
fraught with risk. 1t Is far better, from
every standpoint, that the remedy should come
from within. In other nation in the world
do the courts WELD such vast and far-reach-
ing power in the United States. All that
is necessary is that the courts as whole
should exercise this power with the far-5ighted
wisdom 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 bar
riers of privilege which is the foe OF right.
{u d1t xvbi than
another we owe it to our children and our
childrens children to perform at once, 1t Is
to save the forests of this country for they
constitute the first and most important ele-
ment 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 only be used as part OF a
process of exhaustion; this Is true or mines,
natural oil and gas wells. and the like. The
other, and of course ultimately by far the
most important includes the resources which
can be improved in the process Of wise use;
the soil, the rivers, 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 their benefit
in the future. Just as farmer atter al
his life making his living from his farm,
will If he is an expert farmer, leave 1t as an
asset of increased value to his son, SO We
should leave our national domain to our chill
dren, increased in value and not worn out
There are small sections Of our own country
in the east and in the west, in the Adiron-
dacks, the White mountains and the Appa-
lachians. and in the Rocky mountains, where
we can already see for ourselves the damage
in the shape of permanent injury to the soil
and the river systems which comes from reck-
less deforestation; 1t matters not whether
this deforestation is due to the actual reckless
cutting of timber to the fires that inevitably
follow such reckless cutting Of timber, or TO
reckless and uncontrolled grazing especially
by the great migratory bands of sheep the
unchecked wandering of which over the coun-
try means destruction to forests and disaster
TO the small home makers, the settlers OF
limited means.