The morning journal-courier., 1908-12-09


 what the state or nation determines to be necessary for the common safety
 The lesson of deforestatIou m China is lesson which mankind should have learned many times already from what has occurred In other places DeHuda- ton leaves naked soil then gullyns cuts down to the bare rock, and mean while the rock-waste bures the bot tomlands When the soil Is gone men must go, and tho process does not take long
 This ruthless destruction of the for ests in northern China has brought about, or has aided In bringing about, desol9tlon, Just as the destruction or the forests In central Asia aid in bring. ing ruin to the once rich central Asian cities, just as the destruction of the forests in northern Africa helped towards the ruin of region that was a fertile granary In Roman days Shortsighted man whether barbarlc, semi civilized, or what he mistakenly regards as fully civilized, when he has destroyed the forests has rendered eer- tain the ultimate destruction of the land Itself. In northern China the mountains are now such as are shown by the accompanying photographs, ab- solutely barren peaks Not only have tho forests been destroyed, but because of their destruction tho soil has been washed off the naked rock. The terri ble consequence Is that it is Impossible now to undo the damage that has been done, Many centuries would have to pass before soil would again collect or could be made to collect, in sufficient quantity once more to support the old time forest growth. Tn consequence the Mongol Desert Is practically extending eastward ovs northern China Tho climate has changed and is still chang Ing It has changed even within the last half century, as the work of tree destruction has been consummated The great masses of arboreal vegeta- tion on the mountains formerly ab- sorbed the heat of the sun and sent up currents of cool air which broucht the moisture-laden clouds lower and forced them 10 precipitatc In rain a part Of their burden of water Now that there is no vegetation, the barren mountains scorehed by the sun, send up currents of heated air which drive away instead of attraction the rain clouds. and cause their moisture to he disseminated In consequence, instead of the regular and plentiful rains witch existed in these regions of China when the forests were still In evidence the unfortunate in hahitants of the deforested lands now see their crops wlther for lack of rain fall. while the seasons grow more and more irregular, and as the air becomes dryer certain crops refuse longer to grow at all. That everything dries out faster than formerly Is shown by the fact that the level of the wells all over the land has sunk perceptibly, many or them having become totally dry Tn addition to the resulting agricultural distress. the watercourses have changed. Formerly they were narrow and deep, with an abundance of clear water the year around; for the roots and humus of the forests caught the rainwater and let 1t escape by slow, ANS SuloA SFNi65N' itN lifihN ll'N iN7 come broad, shallow stream beds in which muddy water trickles in slender currents during the dry asons, while when lt rains there are freshets. and roaring muddy torrents come tearing down, bringing disaster and destrua- ton everywhere. Moreover, these floods and freshets, which diversity the gen hwy fpo, 1,, mountain sides, and either wash away or cover in the valleys, the rich fertile soil which it took tens of thousands or years for nature 10 form: and 1t is lost forever, and until the forests grow again it cannot be replaced. The sand and stones from the mountain sides are washed loose and come rolling down to cover the arable lands, and in conse- quence throughout this part of China. many formerly rich districts are now sandy wastes, useless for human culti- walton and even for pasture The cities have been of course seriously affected for the streams have gradually ceased 10 be navigable. There s testimony that even within the memory of men llpN l4hlilb AllHit lidN ItFI d EtilDhS diminution Of the rainfall of northeast ern China. The level Of the Sungari river In northern Manchurla has been sensibly lowered during the last fifty years at least partly as tho result of the indiscrlminate cutting of the for ests forming fits watershed Almost all the rivers of northern China have be. rTlt ltoI, I do ous to tho dwellers along their banks as direct result of the destruction Of the forests The Journey from Pekin to Jehol shows in melancholy fashion how the soil has been washed away from whole valleys. so that they have been converted into deserts
 In northern China this disastrous process has gone on so long and has proceeded SD far thar no complete remedy could be applied There arc certain mountains in China from which the soil is gone SO utterly that only the slow action of the ages could again re store 1t: although of course much could be done to prevent the still further eastward extension of the Mongoian NebeII II lnG CullltSe RNNbElllUtHl Wuull act al once The accompanying cuts from photographs show the lnconceiv- able desolation of the barren mountalns in which certain of these rivers rise, mountains, he 1t remembered. which formerly supported dense forests of larches and frs, now unable to produce any wood, and because of their condi tion q source of danger to the whole country. The photographs also show the same rivers after they have passed through the mountains, the beds hay ing become broad and sandy because of the deforestation of the mountains One of the photographs shows cara van passing through valley Former