The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-12-09

| rIca helped towards the ruin OF q region
| that was fertile Sranary IN Roman days
| Shortsighted man. whether b9rbaric, semi
| civilized, or what he mistakenly regards
as fully civilized when he has destroyed
| the forests. has rendered certain the ulti-
mate destruction of the land itself. In
northern China the mountains are now
| such as are SHOWN by the accompanying
| photographs absolutely rarren peaks.
Not only have the forests been destroyed,
but because of their destruction the soil
has been washed off the NAKED rock The
! terrible consequence Is that X IS impossi-
/ BILE 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-Jime forest
| growth. In consequence the Mongol desert
is practically extending eastward over
| northern China The climate has changed
and is still changing. 1t has changed even
within the last half century, as the work
of tree destruction has been contaminated.
| The great masses of arboreal vegetation
| on the mountains formerly absorbed the
heat of the sun and sent up currents of
cool air which brought the moisture-ladel
clouds lower and forced then, to precipi-
| tate in rain part of their burden of wa
ter. Now that there is no vegetation, the
| barren mountains. scorched by the sun,
/ send up currents of heated air which drive
away instead of attracting the rain
clouds. and cause their moisture to be
disseminated In consequence. instead of
the regular and plentiful rains which eX-
listed in these regions of China when :he
forests were still in evidence, the unfortu-'
nate inhabitants of the Gefo-ested lands
now see their crops wither for lack Of
rainfall, while the seasons grew more and
more irregular; and as the air becomes
dryer certain crops refuse longer to grow
at all. That everything dries out faster
than formrelv is shown by The feet that
the level of the wells all over the land mas
sunk perceptibly, many of them having
become totally dry. In addition 10 the -
su1ting agricultural distress. the water
courses have changed. Fol merly they
we-e narrow and deep, with abUnda,ic,
of Clear water the year round for the
roots and humus of the forests caught the
riInwater and !et It escape by Sow, reg
ular seepage. They have TOW becorsr
njOad. shallow stream beds. il which
muddy water trickles in slender currents
during the dry seasons, While when il
iains there are freShsts, AMI roaring mud
rdy torrents come tearing down, bringing
disaster and destruction everywhere.
Moreover these floods and freShets which
diversity tie general drvness. wash away
from the mountain sides. and either WASH
away or cover in the valleys. he rich fer
tile soil which It took tens of thousands Of
years Tor nature TO form; and il is lost
forever. ana until the forests grow again
1t cannot be replaced. The sand AMI
stones from the mountain sides are
washed loose and come rolling down to
cover the arabic lands. ana in conse-
quence, throughout this part of China
many formerly rich districts are now
sandy wastes. useless for human cultiva-
been, OF course, seriously affected, for the
streams have gradually ceased to be nav
iSable. There IS testimony that even
within the memory of men now living
there has been a serious dlmnution of
the rainfall of northeastern China The
level of the SUngari river in northern
Manchui ia has been sensibly lowered dur
ing the last MY years. at least partly as
the result CT the inGiscrimiHate cutting of
the forests forming its watershed. Al
most all the rivers of northern China
HnTHn 10. Tr,-,T~
dangerous 10 the jewellers along their
banks. a direct result of the destrnc-
ton of the forests. The journey from Pc
kin TO Jehol shows in melancholy fashion
how the soil has been washed away from
whole valleys. - that they have been
converted into deserts.
Cannot BE Remedied.
In northern China this disastrous pro-
cess has gone en- so long and has pro-
ceeded so far that no complete remedy
could be applied There are certain noun
tainS IL China from which the soil is gone
so utterly that only the slow action of
the ages could again restore il; although
of course much could be done TO prevent
the still further eastward extension of the
Mongolian desc I II the Chine Sc govern |
.nent would act at once. The ACCOMPANY
ing cuts from photographs show the in
conceivable desolation of the barren
mountains in which certain of these rivers
TiSe-mOuntalns, be it remember ed, viii III
formerly supported dense forests of larches
and frs. now unable to produce any wood !
and because of their condition a source of
danger to the whole country. The pho
tographs also show the same rivers afte'
they nave passed through the mountains |
the beds having become broad and sandy
because OF the 0cfCreSt2tiOn of the noun
tains. One OF the photographs shows a |
caravan passing through a valley For
merly. when tn mountains were fOresIef |
It was thickly people0 by prosperous peas
ants. Now the floods have carried de- |
struction ali over the land and the valley |
is a stony desert. Another photograph |
shows a mountain road covered with the |
stones and rocks that are brought down in !
the rainy season from the mountains |
which have already been Geforested by |
human hands. Another shows a pebj:v |
river bed in southern ManchuFia whe. = !
what was once great stream has dried |
up owing TO the 1eforesta zion in the mona |
tdins Only some scrub wood is left. |
which will disappear within half cen- |
fury. Yet another shows the effect of one |
of the washouts, destroying an arabic |
mountain side. these washouts being duo
TO the removal IF all vegetation; yet IN |
this photograph the foreground shows that |
reforestation is still possibility in places |
What has thus happened in northern !
China. what has happened in central |
Asia. in Palestine, in north Africa, in |
parts of the Mediterranean countries of 1
Europe, will surely happen in our coun- |
try if we do not exercise that wise fore |
thought which should be one of the chief |
marks of any people calling itself civil |
stand in the way of the preservation of |
the forests, and it IS criminal to permit |
individuals. to purchase a little gain for |
themselves through the destruction of for
-ests when this destruction is fatal to the |
well-being of the whole, country in the flu |
ture.
Inland Waterways. |
Action should be begun forthwith dur |
ing the present session of the congress |
for the Improvement of our inland water |
ways-action which will result In giving |
US not only navigable but navigated riv- |
ers. We have spent hundreds of millions |
of dollars upon these, waterways yet the |
traffic on nearly all of them is steadily |
declining. This condition is the direct re- |
suit of the absence of any comprehensive |
and far-seeing plan of waterway improve |
ment. Obviously we cannot continue thus |
70 expend the revenues of the govern |
ment without return. 1t is poor business |
to spend money for inland navigation I'm |
less We get it.
Inquiry into the condition of the Mis- |
sissippi and its principal tributaries re- |
veals very many instances of the utter
waste caused by the methods which have
hitherto obtained for the so-called '.in- |
prpvement' of navigation. A striking in /
stance is supplied by the Improvement"
of the Ohio. which. begun in 1924 was con-
tinued under a single plan for half CEN