Arizona republican., 1908-12-09
Earlier Disasters.

countries of Europe. Asia and Africa by deforestation. The similar dam
 age 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 Unit
 ed States department of agriculture, has incidentally furnished in very striking fashion proof of the ruin that comes from reckless deforesta-
 ton of mountains, and of the fur
 ther fact that the damage once done
 may prove practically irreparable. So important are these investigations that I herewith attach as an appen- dix to my message certain photo graphs 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 i'm
 mediately follows and depends upon the deforestation of the mountains.
 Not many centuries ago the country
 most fertile and beautiful spots in the entire world, and was heavily forested We know this not only lIOill lllt tlu SllihGSt itNOAhor buN from accounts given by the traveller,
 Marco Polo. He, for instance, men,
 tions that in visiting the provinces of Shansi and Shensi he observed
 many plantations of mulberry trees
 Now there is hardly a single null
 berry tree in either of these provinces and the culture of the silkwOrm has moved further south, to regions of atmospheric moisture. As an illustra
 ton of the complete change in the rivers, we may take Polo's statement that a certain river the Hun HO,
 was so large and deep that mer- chants ascended it from the sea with
 heavily laden boats; today this river
 is simply a broad sandy bed, with shallow, rapid currents wandering
 hither and thither across it, abso
 lutely unnavigable. But. we do not
 have to depend upon written records
 The dry wells, and the wells with
 water far below the former water
 mark, bear testimony to the good days of the past and the evil days of the present. Wherever the native
 vegetation has been allowed to re-
 main, as, for instance, here and there around a sacred temple or imperial
 burial ground, there are still huge trees and tangled jungle, fragments of the glorious ancient forests. The thick matted forest growth formerly covered the mountains to their sum-
 mits. All natural factors favored this dense forest growth, and as iong as it was permitted to exist the plains at the foot of the mountains were among the most fertile on the globe, and the whole country was a garden.
 Not the slightest effort was made, however, to prevent the unchecked cutting of trees, or to secure refor
 estation. Doubtless for many centu- ries the tree cutting by the inhabi
 tants worked but slowly in bringing about the changes that have now come to pass; doubtless for genera tons the inroads were scarcely mo- ticeable. But there came a time when the forest had shrunk sufficiently to make each years cutting a serious matter, and from that time on the destruction proceeded with appalling rapidity; for of course each year of destrucdon rendered the forest less able to recuperate, less able to resist next years inroad. Mir. Meyer de-
  destruction even now, when there is so little left to destroy. Every morn- ing men and boys go out armed with mattoX or axe, scale the steepest mountain sides, and cut down and grub out, root and branch, the small trees and shrubs still to be found. The big trees disappeared centuries ago. so that now one of these is never n-N.- temples, where they are artificially protected; and even here it takes all the watch and care of the tree-lOving priests to prevent their destruction. Each family, each community, where there is no common 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 commun- ity In the total absence of regula- tiOn of the matter in the interest of the whole people, each small group is inevitably pushed into a policy of destruction which can not afford to take thought for the morrow. This is just one of those matters which it is fatal to leave to unsupervised individual control. The forests can only be protected by the state, by the nation; and the liberty of action of individuals must be conditioned upon what the state or nation deter | mines to be necessary for the common safety.
 The lesson of deforestation in China | is a lesson which mankind should | have learned many times already | from what occurred in other places | Denudation leaves naked soil; then | gullying cuts down to the bare rock; | sand meanwhile the rock waste buries | the bottom lands. When the soil is | gone, men must go; and the process | does not take long.
 This ruthless destruction of the | forests in Northern China has brought | about, or has aided in bringing about, | desolation, just as the destruction of | the forests in Central Asia aided in | bringing ruin to the once rich Central | Asian cities; just as the destruction | of the forests in Northern Africa | helped towards the ruin of a region | that was a fertile granary in Roman | days. Shortsighted man, whether | barbaric, semi-civilized or what he | mistakenly regards as fully civilized, | when he has destroyed the forests. | hoe