Bisbee daily review., 1908-12-09

OH ana gas wells, and the ike. The other. and of course ut t'mately by far the most important, includes the re- sources which can be improved in the process of wise use; the soil, the riv- CTS and the forests, come under this head. Any really civilized nation win
 O nse all of these three great national
 assets that the nation will have then
 benefit in the future Just as a farm
 CT, after all his fife making his liylas
 from his farm. will, if he is an ex-
 pert farmer. leave it as an asset of
 increased value to his son, so should we leave our national domain to var children, increased in value and not
 worn out There are small sections of our country, in,the east and in the west, in the Adirondacks, the White
 mountains, and the Appalac1ians, and in the Rocky mountains, where we cau already see for ourselves the damage in | the shape of permanent in jury in the soils and the river systems which
 comes from reckless deforestatiou.
 It matters not whether this deforesta- | ton is due to the actual reckless cut ting of timber, to the fires that inevi. l tably follow such reckless cutting ol timber, or to the reckless and uncon-
 trolled grazing, especially by the great
 migratory bands of sheep, the uncheck-
 ed wandering of which over the coun.
 try means destruction to forests ant.
 disaster to the small home makers.
 the settlers of limited means.
 Inland Waterways.
 ] Action should be begun forthwith, during the present sesion of congress.
 for the improvement of our inland Wa terways-action which will result in
 giving us not only navigable but nav. igated rivers. We have spent hund- lreds of millions of dollars upon these waterways, yet the traffic on nearly al of them is steadily declining. This condition is the direct result of the
 sbsence of any comprehensive and far.
 seeing plan of waterway improvement | Obviously we can not continue thus to Npend the revenues Of the govern meut without return It is poor busi mes to spend money for inland navi- ! gation unless we get it.
 Inquiry into the condition of the Mississippi and it's principal tributa- tTies reveals very many instances of the utter waste caused by the methoas which have hitherto obtained for rr1e s0cailed improvement of the Ohio which begun in 1924, was continued under 8 single plan for half a cent ury. In 1SI5 new plan was adopt. ed and followed for a quarter of a century, In 1902 still different plan was adopted. and has since been pu1.
 sued at rate which only promises a navigable river in from twenty ro one hundred years longer.
 Until the wCrk of river improyenent
 Is undertaken in a modern way |, can not have results that will meet the needs of this modern nation. 1 These needs should not be met with
 urther dily-dallying or delay. The, plan which promises the best and igutckest results is that of q perng, nent commission, authorize to coordi, nate the work of all the guvernmsu, 1 departments relating to waterways. and to frame and supervise the execu. 1 ton of comprehensive plan. Under
 such a comimssiOn the actual work of the construction might be entrusted 1 to the reclamation service: or. fo tbe milltafy engineers, acting with q suf. ttcient number of civilians, to continue 1 the, work in time of WAT; o- it might be divided between the reclamation i service and the corps of engineers, Funds should be provided from cur- rent revenues if it is deemed wise I otherwise from the sale of bonds
 The essential thing is that the work should go forward under the best nos HiDie plan, and with the least possi- le delay. We should lave a new type of work and new o-ganiza,,.,a [ or planning and directing it. The, lllnc Tor playing with our wsterwayt past. The country demands re- suits
 Nat'onai ParLs
 Hrge that all national parks adia. cent to national forests be pIaced completely under the control of ti,- forest service of the Agricultural de paFtiment, instead of leaving them as they are now, under the Interior de paFtment and Doliced by the army The congress should provide for suDer- lntendentS with adequate corps ,r hfst-ciass civilian scouts, or rangers and further, place the road construc-
 ton under the superintendent instnad 1 ot leaving it with the War departIu.-u, Such change in park management would result in economy, and ayoio
 the difficulties of administration which now arise from having the responsi-
 bility of care and protection divided
 between different departments. Tht,
 need for this course is peculiarly