The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1908-05-21
Duty TO Next Generation.

destruction of such resources or by making
them impossible of development hereafter.
Duty 10 Next Generation.
Any right thinking father earnestly de-
sires and strives to leave his son both an
untarnished name and q reasonable equip
mcnt for the struggle of life So this
ma ton as whole should earnestly desire
and strive to leave to the next generation
the national honor unstained and the ma
tiOnal resources unexhausted. There are
signs that both the nation and the States
are waking to realization of this great
truth.
On March 10. 1908. the Supreme Court
of Maine rendered an exceedingly important
judicial decision.
This opinion was rendered in response
TO questions to the right of the legis
lature to restrict the cutting of trees on
private land for the prevention of dfoughts
and floods, the preservation Of the natural
water supply. and the prevention of the
erosion of such lands. and the consequent
nlling up OF rivers ponds, and lakes
The forests and water power of Maine
constitute the larger part of her wealth
and form the basis of her industrial life,
and the question submitted by the Maine
Senate to the Supreme Court and the an
swer of the Supreme Court alike bear tes-
timOny to the wisdom of the people OF
Maine. and clearly define a policy of con-
servatfon of natural resources. the adop-
ton of which is of vital Importance not
merely to Maine but to the whole coun-
try.
such policy viii preserve soil. for
ests. water power as a heritage for the
children and the children's children of the
men and women of this generation for any
enactment that provides for the wise utilza-
ton OF the forests. whether in public or
private ownership, and for the cOnserva-
tiOn of the water resources of the country,
must necessarily be legislation that will
promote both private and public welfare |;
for flood prevention. water power develop
ment. preservation of the soil, and improve
ment of navigable rivers are all promoted
by such policy of forest conservation.
Community First.
The opinion of the Maine Supreme bench
sets forth unequivocally the principle that
the property rights of the individual are
subordinate to the rights of the commun-
ity. and especially that the waste of wild
timber land derived originally from the
State, involving Ii would the impover-
ishment of the stare and its people and
thereby defeating one great purpose of gov
ernment. may properly be prevented by
State restrictions.
The court says that there are two rea-
sons why the right of the public to control
and limit the use of private property is
peculiarly applicable to property in land
First such property is not the result
OF productive labor. but is derived solely
from the State itself. the original owner :;
second, the amount of land being incapable
of increase. If the owners Of large tracts
can waste them at will without State re-
striction. the State and its people may be
helplessly impoverished and one great pur-
pose of government defeated.
I'VE do not think proposed legislation
would operate to take private property
within the inhibition of the constitution.
while Ii might restrict the owner of
wild and uncultivated lands in his use OF
them. might delay his taking some Of the
product might delay his anticipated profits
|
loss of profit. il would nevertheless leave
him his lands. their product and increase,
untouched, and without diminution of title,
estate. or quantity.
"He would still have large measure of
control and large opportunity to realize
values. He might suffer delay but not
deprivation.
The proposed legislation would be with
in the legislative power and would not
operate as taking of private property
for which compensation must be made"
The Court of Errors and Appeals Of
New Jersey has adopted a similar view,
which has recently been sustained by the
Supreme Court of the United States
stntc Has Rights.
In delivering the opinion OF the court
on April &. zoos, Justice Holmes said:
The State as quasi-sovereign and rep
resentative of the interests of the public
has a standing in court to- protect the at
mosphere. the water, and the forests within
it's territor-, irrespective of the assent or
dissent of the private owners of the land
most Immediately concerned.
1T appears to us that few public In
terests are more obvious. indisputable and
independent of particular theory than the
interest of the public of n State to main
tain the rivers that are wholly within IL
substantially undiminished. except by such
drafts upon them as the guardian of the
public welfare may permit for the purpose
OF turning them 10 more perfect use.
This public interest is omnipresent
wherever there is q State, and grows more
pressing as population grows.
1--WE are of opinion, further. that the
constitutional power OF the State to insist
that its natural advantages shall remain
unimpaired by its citizens is not dependent
upon any nice estimate of the extent OF
present use or speculation as 10 future
needs.
THE legal conception of the necessary
Is apt to be confined to somewhat rudi-
mentary wants. and there are benefits from
great river that might escape lawyers
view.
But the State is not required to submit
ever TO an esthetic analysis
ANY analysis may be inadequate Ii
finds Itself in possession of what all ad-
nit TO be a great public good, and what
1t has IT may keep and give no one reason
for Its Will"
These decisions reach the root of the
idea of conservation of our resources in
the interests of our people.
Finally, ct us remember that the con-
seryation of our natural resources, though
the gravest problem OF to-day, is yet but
part of another and greater problem TO
which this nation is not yet awake, but to
which IL will awake in time. and with
which Ii must hereafter grapplc If K is to
| live-the problem Of national efficiency. the
patriotic duty of insuring the safety and
continuance of the nation.
When the people of the United States
consciously undertake to raise themselves
| as citizens, and the nation and the States
| in their several spheres. to the highest
pitch of excellence In private, State, and
| national life. and to do this because 1t is
| the first of all the duties of true patriotism,
| then and not TIL then the future of this
nation, in quality and in time, will be as
sured