The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-12-09
PRESIDENT ROOSEVELTS
 MESSAGE TO CONGRESS

there Is hardly a single mulberry trea in either of these provinces, and the culture of the stikworm has moved far ther south, to regions of atmospheric moisture. As an illustration of the complete change in the rivers. we may take Polo's statement that certain river, the Hun Ho, was so large and deep that merchants ascended ft from the sea with heavily laden boats; to- day this river Is simply broad sandy bed, with shallow. rapid currents wan dering hither and thither across 1t, ab- soiutely unnavigable. But we-do not have to depend upon written records The dry wells. and the wells with water far below the former watermark. bear testimony to the good days of the past and the evil days of the present. Where ever the native vegetation has been al- lowd to remain. as, for instance. here and there around a sacred temple or imperial burying ground. there are still huge trees and tangled jungle fragments of the glorious ancient for ests. The thick, matted forest growth formerly covered the mountains to their
 summts. All natural factors raoNred this dense forest growth, and as long as 1t was permitted to exist the plains a' the foot of the mountains were among
 the most fertile on the globe. and the whole country was a garden. Not ths slightest effort was made, however. to prevent the unchecked cutting of shs trees, or to secure reforestation. Doubt. less for many centuries the tree-cutting
 by the inhabitants Of the mountalHs worked but slowly in bringing about the changes that have now come to pass; doubtless for generations the tn- foaus were scarcely notlcapies But tnefe cams a time when the forest had shrunk a serious matter, and from that ti.-.~ on the destruction. proceeded with appalling rapdity for of course each year of destruction wondered the for est less able to recuperate. less able to resist next years inread. MT. Meyer describes the ceaseless progress of the destruction even now. when there Is so little left to destroy. Ev-
 cry morning men and boys go out armed with mattox or axe. scale the and grup out. root and branch, all the small trees and shrubs to be found. The big trees disappeared centuries ago, So that now one of these is never seen save in the neighborhood of tenn pies. where they are artificially pro- and grub out, root and branch. all the watch and care of the tree-loving priests to prevent their destruction. Each family. each community. where there Is no common care exercised in the interest of all of them to prevent deforestation. finds its profit in the immediate nse of the fuel which would fly or some other community. In the total absence Of regulation of the mat ter in the interest of the whole people. each small group is inevitably pushed into a policy of destruction which can afford to take thought for the morrow. This is just one of those matters which it is fatal to leave to unsuper- vised individual control The forests can only be protected by the State. by the Nation; and the liberty of ac- ton of individuals must be conditioned upon what the State or Nation deter mines to be necessary for the common safety.
 The lesson of deforestation in Chi na Is a lesson which mankind should have learned many times already from what has occurred in other places. De- mutation leaves naked soil; then. gull lying cuts down to the bare rock: and meanwhile the rock-waste -buries the bottomlands. When the soil is gone, take long.
 This ruthless destruction of the for ests in Northern, China has brought about, or has aided In bringing about, desolation, just as the destruction of the forests in Central Asia aid in bringing ruin to the once rich central of the forests in Northern Africa help ed towards the ruin of region that
 was fertile granary in Roman days. Short-sighted man. whether bar barrie regards as fully civilized, when he has destroyed the forests. has rendered cer-
 tain the ultimate destruction of the land itself. In Northern China the by the accompanying photographs. ab- solutely barren peaks, Not only have the forests heen destroyed, but be- cause of their destruction the soil has been washed off the naked rock The terrible consequence is that 1t is im- possible now to undo the damage that has been done. Many centuries would have to. pass before the soil would again coilect. or could be made to col lect in sufficient quantity once more to support the .old-time forest growth. In consequeneef the Mongol Desert is practically extending eastward over Northern China. The climate has changed and is still changing. It has tury, as the work of tree destruction has been consummated. The great masses of arboreal vegetation on the mountains formerly absorbed the heat air which brought the moisture laden clouds lower and forced them to pre- cipftate in rain part of their burden
 of water. Now that there is no veg citation, the barren mountains, scorched by the sun. send up currents of heat ed air which drive away instead of attracting the rain clouds and cause their moisture to be disseminated Tn consequences, instead of the regular and plentiful rains which existed in these regions of China when the for. ests were still in evidence, the unfor- >unate inhabitants of the deforeste(f lands now see their crops wither for lack of rainfall while the seasons grow more and more irregular; and as the air becomes dryer certain crops refuse longer to grow at all. That everything dries out faster than form
 erly is shown by the fact that the
 level of the wells all over the land has sunk perceptibly, many of them hav- ing become totaly dry. In addition to