Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1908-12-09

which he is In any way amenabie ere
public opinion and the action CT his
fellow judges. 1t is the last which is
; most Immediately effective and to
which we should lock for the reform
of abuses.
Forests.
IL there is any one duty which more
than another we owe it to our children
and our childrens children to perform
at once it is to save the forests Of
this country, for they constitute the
first and most important element in
the conservation of the natural re-
sources of the country
Shortsighted persons, or persons
i 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 destruction of our forests. II
is difficult to have patience with the
arguments of these persons. Thanks
to our own recklessnesS in the use CT
cur splendid forests, we have already
| crossed the verge of a timber famine
in this country, and no measures tina,
we now take can, at least for manT
years, undo the mischief that has al
| ready been done But we can prevent
further mischief being done, and il
would be in the highest degree repre-.
hensible to let any consideration OF
| temporary convenience or temporar,
cost interfere with such action, espe,
cially as regards the national forests.
which the nation can now at this ver5
| moment control.
1.-THE president here cites in supper
Of his contentious the great destruc
ton wrought in China by the denrda
ton of the forest areas.
What has thus happened in northern
China, what has happened in centTaI
| Asia, in Palestine in north Africa, III
parts of the Mediterranean countries
of Europe, will surely happen in our
country if we Go not exercise that
wise forethought which should be one
of the chief marks OF any people call
ing itself civilized. Nothing should be
permitted to stand in the way of the
preservation Of the forests. and it is
criminal to permit individuals to pur-
chase a little gain for themselves
through the destruction of forests
when this destruction is fatal to the
well being of the whole country in the
future.
Inland Waterways.
Action should be begun forthwith
| during the present session Of congress.
for the Improvement of our inland wa
| terways-action which will result IL
| giving us not only navigable but
navigated rivers. We have spent
hundreds of millions OF dollars upo,:
these waterways, yet the traffic OH
nearly all of them is steadily declin-
ing. This condition is the direct re
suit of the absence of any cOmpre
hensive and farseeing plan of water
way improvement. Obviously we can
not continue thus to eXpend the rev
enues of the government without re-
turn. 1t is poor business to spend
money for inland navigation unless
we get It.
Such shortsighted, vacillating and
futile methods are accompanied by de-
creasing water borne commerce and
increasing traffic congestion on land,
by increasing floods and by the waste
Of public money. The remedy lies in
abandoning the methods which have
SO signally failed and adopting new
ones in keeping with the needs and
demands of our people.
In a report on measure introduced
at the first session of the present con-
gress the secretary of war said, '"The
chief defect in the methods hitherto
pursued lies in the absence of eXecu-
tive authority for originating compre-
hensive plans covering the country or
natural divisions thereof" In this
opinion / heartily concur.
Until the work of river Improvement
is undertaken in modern way it can
not have results that will meet the
needs of this modern nation. These
needs should be met without further
dilly-dallying or delay. The plan which
promises the best and quickest results
is that of permanent commission au-
thorized to coordinate the work of all
the government departments relating
to waterways and to frame and super
wise the execution Of a comprehensive
plan. The time for playing with our
waterways is past. The country de
mands results.
National Parks.
I urge that all our national parks ad-
iacent to national forests be placed
completely under the control CT I'll
forest service Of the agricultural de
partment, instead of leaving them, as
they are now, under the interior de
partment and policed by the army
Pure Food.
The pure food legislation has already
worked a benefit difficult to overesti-
mate.
Secret Service.
Last year an amendment was incor.
pOrated in the measure providing for