Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1908-12-16

| that men and women are, by the con-
stitution, guaranteed their liberty
| to contract to enter a dangerous occu-
patton, or to work an undesirable or
improper number of hours. or to work
in unhealthy surroundings; and there
| fore can not recover damages when
MANNED in that occupation, and can
| not be forbidden to work what the
| legislature decides is an excessive
rumber of hours, or to carry on the
work under conditions which the legis-
| lature decides 10 be unhealthy. The
| most dangerous occupations are often
the poorest paid and those where the
hours of work are longest; and in
many cases those who go into them
are driven by necessity so great that
they have practically no alternative.
Decisions such as those alluded to
above nullify the legislative effort to
protect the wage-workers who most
need protection from those employers
who take advantage of their grinding
need.
Provision should be made, says
the president, that no Injunction or
temporary restraining order issue
otherwise than on notice, except where
irreparable injury would otherwise
result; and in such case a
hearing on the merits of the order
should be had within short fixe d
period and, if not then continued
after hearing, it should forthwith
lapse. Decisions should be rendered
Immediately, and the chance of delay
| minimized in every way.
Forests.
The forests can only be protected by
the state, by the nation; and the lib
erty of action of individuals must be
conditioned upon what the state or
nation determines to be necessary for
the common safety. The lesson of de-
forestation in China is a lesson which
mankind should have learned many
times already from what has occurred
/ in other places Denudation leaves
naked soil; then outlying cuts down to
the bare rock; and meanwhile the
| roek-waste buries the bottom lands.
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 in bringing about,
desolation, just as the destruction OF
the forests in central Asia aid in
bringing ruin to the once rich central
Asian cities; just as the destruction
of the forests in northern Africa helped
| towards the ruin of region that was
fertile granary in Roman days.
| Shortsighted man, whether barbaric,
semi-civilized, or what he mistakenly
regards as fully civilized, when he has
destroyed the forests, has rendered
certain the ultimate destruction of the
land itself In northern China the
by the accompanying photographs, alb
solutely barren peaks. Not only have
the forests been destroyed, but be-
cause of their destruction the soil has
| been washed off the naked rocks. The
| terrible consequence is that 1T is i'm
possible now to undo the damage that
has been done Many centuries would
have to pass before the soil would
again collect, or could be made to col
| lect, in sufficient quantity once more
| III
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 cen
tury, as the work of tree destruction
has been consummated. 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
existed in these regions of China when
! the forests were still in evidence, the
unfortunate inhabitants of the defor
ested lands now see their crops witheI
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. In addi
ton to the resulting agricultural dis
tress, the watercourses have changed
Formerly they were narrow and deep
with an abundance of clear water the
year around; for the roots and humus
of the forests caught the rain water
and let it escape by slow, regular seep
age. They have now become broad
water trickles in slender currents dur
] ing the dry seasons, while when il