The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-12-09
fContinned from Page Eleven,

ciaiIy binding when we speak of them. On an average they stand aDove any other servants of the community, ana the greatest judges have reached the high level held by those few greatest patriots whom the whole country de- fight to honor. But W must face the fact that there are wise and unwise judges, just as there are wise and an- wise executives and legislators. When a President or a Governor behaves i'm properly or unwisely. the remedy h easy, for his term is short; the same Is true with the legislator. although not fo he same degree, for he is one of many who belong to some given legls- lative body, and 1t is therefore less easy to fix his personal responsibility anu hold him accountable therefor. Witn indue who. being human, is also like ly to err, but whose tenure IS TOT tile there is no similar way of holding nlIn to responsibility. Under ordinary con ditions the only form or pressure . .o which he is in any way amenable are public opinion, the action Of ms tel- low judges. It Is the last which IS most immediately effective, and 10 whlch we should look for the( reform or aouses. fraught with risk. It Is far better. from every standpoint that the remeoy should come from within. In no othe. nation in the world do the courts WIe.1 such vast and far-reaching power as Tn the United States. All that is necessary is that the courts as whole should ex- ercise this power with the farsisntee wisdom already shown by those judges who sean the future while they act m the present. Let them exercise this great power not only honestly and bravely, but with wise insight into tne needs and fixed purposes Of the peo. work equity, so that they may protect all persons in their rights, and yet break down the barriers of privilege, which is the foe of right.
 FOreAtm.
 If there is any one duty which more than another we owe 1t to our children and our children's children to perform at once, it is to save the forests Of this country. for they constitute the first ana most imporant element in the conser- vation of the natural resources or the country. There are of course two kinds of natural resources. One is the kind which can only be used as a part or q process of exhaustion: this is true OF mines. natural oil and gas wells. ana the like. The other, and of course ul- timately by far the most important. in- cludes the resources which can be im- proved in the process or S.a. wise os use; .n sne der this lead. Any really civilized na- ton will so use all of these three great national assets that the nation will have their benefit in the future. Just as farmer, after til his life making his liv- ing from his farm. will, if he is an exs pert farmer, leave it as an asset of inc erased value to his son, so we shoulo leave our national domain to our cnu- dren, increased in value and not wOrp out There are small sections of our own country, in the East and in the West. in the Adirondacks, the White Mountains, and the Appalachians, and in the Rocky Mountains, where we can already see for ourselves the damage in the shape of permanent Injury to the soil and the river systems which comes from reckless deforestation. It matters ksnva 4a 1NNrs to the actual reckless cutting timber, to the fires that inevitably follow such reckless cutting of timber. or to reck- less and uncontrolled grazing, especial ly by the great migratory bands of sheep, the unchecked wandering of which over the country means destruc- tion to forests and disaster to the small home makers. the settlers of limited means.
 Shortsighted persons. or persons blinded to Ahe future by desire to make money in every way out of the present, sometimeg speak as if no great dam aeg would be done by the eckrless do- struction of our forests. It is difficult to have patience with the arguments of thesa persons. Thanks to our own reckIessness in the use of our splendid forestss we have already crossed the verge Of timber famine in this coun- try. and no measures that we now take can. at least for many years. undo the mischief that has already been done. But we can prevent IuTLner mlSca1oI Dt- mig done; and it would be in the high est degree reprahensible to let any con- sideration of temporary conVenience or temporary cost interfere with such act- ion, especially as regards the national forests which the nation can now at this very moment, control.
 All serious students of the question are aware of the great damage that has been done in the Mediterranean 'deforestation. The similar damage that has been done In Eastern Asia is less well known. A recent investigation into conditions in North China by Mr. Frank N Meyer, of the Bureau of Plant Industry of the United Sates Depart ment of Agriculture, has incidentally furnished in very striking fashion proof of the ruin that comes from reck- less deforestatlon of mountains, and of done may prove practically irreparaoIe. So important are these investigations that herewith attach as an appendix to my message certain photographs showing present conditions in Cnfna. They show in vivid fashion the appal- ling desolation, taking the shape of barren mountains and gravel and sand covered plains, which immediately fol- lows and depends upon the deforestA- turies aEo the country of Northern China was one of the most fertile and beautiful spots in the entire world, and was heavily forested. We know this not only from the old Chinese records. but from the accounts given by the traveller. Marco Polo. He. for instance. mentions that in visiting the provinces of Ehansi and Shensi he observed many plantations of mulberry trees Now