The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-12-09

they were narrow and deep, with an abundance of clear water the year the forests caught the rain water and let 1t escape by slow, regular seepage. They have now become broad. shallow stream beds. in which muddy water trickles in slender currents during the dry seasons. while when 1t rains there are freshets, and roaring muddy tor rents come tearing down, bringing disaster and destruction everywhere which diversity the general dryness, wash away from the mountain sides, and either wash away or cover in the valleys, the rich, fertile soil which 1t took tens of thousands of years for Nature to form, and 1t is lost forever, and until the forests grow again 1t can not be replaced. The sand and stones from the mountain sides are washed loose and come rolling down to cover the arabic lands, and in con sequence, throughout this part of China, many formerly rich districts are now sandy wastes. useless for hu- man cultivation and even for pasture. The cities have been of course serious ly affected, for the streams have grad ually ceased to be aavigable. There Is testimony that even within the memory of men now living there has been serious diminution of the rain fall of Northeastern China. The level of the SunEari River in Northern Man. churin has been sensibly lowered dur Ing the last fifty years. at least partly as the result of the indiscriminate cut ting of the forests forming it's water shed. Almost all the rivers of North ern China have become uncontrollable, and very dangerous to the dwellers along their banks, as direct result Of 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.
 Tn NortherS China this disastrous process has gone on so long and has proceeded so far that no complete remedy could be applied. There are certain mountains in China from which the soil is gone so utterly that only the restore 1t; although of course much could be done to prevent the still fur ther eastward extension of the Mon- golian Desert if the Chinese Govern nent would act at once. The accom- panying suts from photographs show the inconceivable desoiation of the barren mountains ip which certain of these rivers rise-mountains, be 1t re- membered, which formerly supported dense forests of larches and frs. now unable to produce any wood. and be- cause of their condition source of danger to the whole country. The photographs also show the same riv- CTS after they have passed through the mountains the beds having become broad and sandy because of the de- forestation of the mountains. One of ing through q valley. Formerly, when the mountains were forested. 1t was thickly peopled by prosperous peas ants. Now the floods have carried de- valley is a stony desert. Another pho- togaph shows a mountain road eov- cred with the stones and rocks that are brought down in the rainy season from the mountains which have al- ready been deforested by human hands. Another shows a pebbly river-bed in Southern Manchuria where what was once a great stream has dried up ow- ing to the deforestation in the noun tains. Only some scrub woods Is left. which will disappear within half century. Yet another shows the ef- feet of one of the washouts destroy ing an azable mountain, side. these washouts being due to the removal of all vegetation; yet in this photograph the foreground. shows that reforesta~ tion Is still a possibility in places.
 What has thus happened In North ern China. what has happened in Gen. trai Asia. In Palestine. in North Af- riea, in parts of the Mediterranean countries of Europe, will. surely hap pen in our country If we do not ex- ercise that wise forethought which should be one of the chief marks of any people calling itself civilized. Nothing should be permitted to stand in the way of the preservation of the forests. and 1t is criminal to permit individuals to purchase a little gain for themselves through the destruction of forests when this destruction is fatal to the wellbeing of the whole country in the future.
 InInmd Waterways.
 Action should be begun forthwith, during the present session of the Cons gross, for the Improvement of our in- land waterwa ays-action which will re- Sv. rrarr -0xyfer '. .In but navigated rivers. We have spent hundreds of millions of. dollars upon these waterways, yet the traffic on nearly all of them Is steadily declin- ing. This condition Is the direct re- suit of tie absence of any comprehen- sive and far-seeing plan of waterway improvement. Obviously we can not continue thus to expend the revenues of the Government without return. It is poor business to spend money for inland navigation unless we get 1t.
 Inquiry into the condition of the Mis- sissippi and its principal tributares reveals very many instances of the ut ter waste caused by the methods which have hitherto obtained for the so-call- ed Improvement" of navigation. A striking instance is supplied by the Improvement" of the Ohio. which. be- gun in 1924, was continued under single plan for half a century. Tn 1875 a new plan was adopted and fol- lowed for a quarter of a century. Tn iSV5 stiil uiAeHent plan WAS AuopI- ed and has since been pursued at a rate which only promises a navigable river in from twenty to 100 years longer.
 Such shortsfghted, vacilIatinR and futile methods are accompanied by de- creasing water-borne commerce and increasing trafic congestion on land. bv incerasjag floods, and by the waste of public money. The remedy lies in abandoning the methods which have so signRily failed and adopting new onee in Keeping with the needs and demands of our people.
 In a report on a measure introduced at the first session of the present Con- gross, the Secretary of War said: "The