The San Francisco call., 1908-12-09

cation into the conditions in north I
China by Frank n Never of the bu-
reau of plant Industry of the United
States department of agriculture has /
incidentally furnished in very striking
from reckless deforestation of noun |
tains. and of the further fact that the
damage once done may prove practi- |
cally irreparable.
SO important are these investiga-
tions that 1 herewith attach as an ap-
pendix to my
message certain
aarreh nilil land In photographs show
Sorry Example ditions in China
= They show in
vivid fashion the appalling desolation.
taking the shape of barren mountains
and gravel. and sand covered plains
which Immediately follows and depends
upon the deforestation Of the noun
talns- Not many centuries ago 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
Ia visiting the provinces of Shansi and
Shensi he observed many plantations
OF mulberry trees. Now there is hardly
single mulberry tree in either or
these provinces. and the culture of the
sllkWorm has moved farther south TO
regions OF atmospheric moisture. AS
IN the rivers, we may take POlo's state
ment that a certain river. the Hun Ho,
was so large and deep that merchants
aNcenQed II from the sea with heavily
laden boats; today this river is simply
4 broad sandy bed. with shallow. rapid
currents wandering hither and thlther
across IL, absolutely unnavigable. But
we do not have 10 depend upon written
records. The dry wells. and the wells
with water far below the former water
mark. bear testimony TO the good days
of the past and the evil days of the
present. Wherever the native vegeta-
tion has been allowed TO remain, as.
for instance, here and there around
sacred temple or imperial burylng
ground. there are still huge trees and
tangled jungle. fragments of the glo-
riOus ancient forests. The thick. matted
forest growth formerly covered the
mountains to their SUBMITS All natural
factors favored this dense forest
growth. and as long as il was per-
mitted TO exist the plains at the foot OF
the mountains were among the most
fertile on the globe. and the whole
country was a garden.
Not the slightest effort was made,
however, TO prevent the unchecked
:, j. cutting of the
Reckless Cuttingf p % 81 lion
Finally Becomes Doubt1ess for
serious na,ter many centuries
by the inhabitants of the mountains
worked but slowly in bringing about
the changes that have now come to
pass: doubtless for general tions the in
roads were scarcely noticeable. But
there came a time when the forest had
shrunk sufficiently TO make each years
cutting a serious matter, and from that
time on the destruction proceeded with
appalling rapidity; for of course each
year of destruction rendered the forest
less able TO recuperate, less able to
resist next years inrOad. Mr.. Meyer
describes the ceaseless progress of the
destruction even now. when there is so
little left to destroy. Every morning
men and boys 20 out armed with mat
tOX or AK. scale the steepest mountain
sides and cut down and grub out
root and branch, the small trees and
shrubs still to be found. The big trees
disappeared centuries ago. so that now
neighborhood of temples where they
are artihcialy protected: and even
here Il takes all the watch and care of
the tree loving priests to prevent their
destruction Each family each COM
munity. where there is no common
care exercised in the interest of all of
profit in the immediate use of the fuel
which would otherwise be used by
some other family or some other COM
munitv In the total absence of regu-
lation of the matter in the interest of
the whole people. each small group is
inevitably pushed into q policy of de-
struction which can not afford 10 take
thought for the morrow. This is Just
one Of those matters which il is fatal
10 leave 10 unsupervised individual
control. The forests can only be pro-
tected by the state. by the nation; and
the liberty Of action Of individuals
must be conditioned upon what the
state or nation determines to be necess
sarv for the common safety.
The lesson Of deforestation of China
is a lesson which mankind should have
learned many times already from what
has occurred ia other places. Denuda-
tiOn leaves naked soil; then outlying
cuts down to the bare rock: and mean
while the rock waste buries the bot
tomlands. When the soil is gone. men
must go; and the process does not
take long
This ruthless destruction Of the for
ests in northern China has brought
about or has aided
=, 80, in bringing about
SoIl is W asneo desolation, just as
o rotn ,hotn ~ ,, IL the destruction of
Nooped ot the forests in CEN
:. : tral Asia aids in
e~4a f~Drr rsr