The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-12-09


 frame the legislation in such shape as
 to leave the question open at all. Rea damage has been done by the manifold and conflicting interpretations of l the interstate commerce law. Control over
 the great corporations doing interstate
 business can be effective only if it is
 vested with full power in an administra-
 tive department, branch of the federal l executive, carrying out a federal law; 1t 1 can never be effective if a divided re- l sponsibility Is left in both the states and l the nation; it can never be effective if 1 left in the hands of the courts to be de- i cided by lawsuits
 The courts hold place of peculiar and l deserved sanctity under our form of gov ernment. Respect for the law is essential 1 to the permanenee of our institutions; and l respect for the law is largely conditioned l upon respect for the courts. It is of- fense against the republic to say any ] thing which can weaken this respect, 1 save for the gravest 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 coun- try delights to honor. But we must face the fact that there are wise and unwise executives and legislators. When pres ident or a 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 de- gree, for he Is one of many who belong to some given legislative body, and it is therefore less easy to fix his personal re- sponsibility and hold him accountable therefor. With judge, who, being hu- l man, is also likely to err, but whose tenure is for life, there iss no similar way of holding him to responsibility. Under ordinary conditions the only forms of pressure to which he is in any way amen- able are, public opinion, and the action of his fellow judges. It is the last which is most immediately effective, and to which We should look for the reform of abuses. Any remedy applied from with out is fraught with risk. It is far better, from every standpoint, that the remedy should come from within. In no other nation i'll the world do the courts wield such vast and far-reaching power as in the United States. All that is necessary is that the courts as a whole should ex- ercise 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 pryi- lege, which is the foe of right.
 Forests.
 If there is any one duty which more than another we owe it to our children md Dllf alat fn frrr,a at once, it is to save the forests of this country for they constitute the first and most important element in the conserya- ton of the natural resources of the coun- try. There are of course two kinds of natural resources. One is the kind which can only be used as part of a process of exhaustion; 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 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 na- tion will have their benefit in the future. Just as farmer, after all his life making his living from his farm, will, if he is an expert farmer, leave it as an asset of increased value to his son. so we should leave our national domain to our chil- 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 Adirondacks, the White mountains. and the Appalachians, and in the Rocky mountains, where we can al- ready see for ourselves the damage in the shape of permanent injury to the soil and the river system which comes from reckless deforestatioh. It matters not whether this deforestation is due to the 1.a1 olrIa fixaar ,f ff.,,1.a fIa fires that inevitably follow such reckless cutting of tiber, or to reckless and un- controlled grazing, especially by the great migratory bands of sheep, the unchecked wandering of which over the country means destruction to forests and disaster to the small home makers, the settlers of limited means.
 Shortsighted persons, or persons blinded to the future by desire to make money in every way out of the present, sometimes speak as if no great damage would be done by the reckless destruc- tion of our forests It is difficult to have patience with the arguments of these persons. Thanks to our own reck- lessness in the use of our splendid forests, we have already crossed the verge of timber famine in this coun- try, and no measures that we now take can. at least for many years, undo the mischief that has already been done. But we can prevent further mischief being done; and it would be in the highest degree reprehensible to let any consideration of temporary conven- fence or temporary cost interfere with such action, especially as regards the national forests which the nation can now, at this very moment, control.
 All serious students of the question are aware of the great damage that has been done in the Mediterranean deforestation. The similar damage that has been done in eastern Asia is less well known. A recent investigation into conditions in North China by MT. Frank N Meyer of the bureau of plant industry of the United States depart ment of agriculture, has incidentally furnished in very striking fashion proof of the ruin that comes from reckless deforestation of mountains and of the further fact that the damage once done may prove practically irreparable. So important are these investigations that I herewith attach as an appendix to my message certain photographs showing present conditions in China. They show in vivid fashion the appalling desolation, taking the shape of barren mountains and gravel and sand-covered plains, which immediately follows and depends upon the deforestation of the mountains. Not many centuries ago the country of northern China was one of the most fertile and beautiful spots in the entire world, and was heavily forested. We know this not only from the old Chinese records but from the