The sun., 1908-05-12
ONE SENATOR'S OUTLOOK.

WASHINGTON, May Ii.-Addressing the
Senate on May s, Senator Hepburn made
the statement that 'the supply Of timber
upon the worlds surface to-day Ia a. great
as II ever was at any time In the history ot
the world" In reply TO a question asked
by Senator Smoot he claimed that the
supply Of timber In the United States is
a. great as II was a hundred years ago.
He established the truth Of these assertions
beyond any possible refutation by declar-
ing that he could look out Of his window
at home and see "an entire mountain
covered with a growth Of merChantable
timber natural reforestation which had
required only twenty-four years. Conyic-
tion that the United States extends only
as far as they can see from the windows
Of their own houses Is failing to which
some OF our national legislators are unduly
inclined. hundred square miles Of twenty
-year-old forest would hardly supply
the country with toothpicks.
Later in his speech Mr.. Hepburn said:
"We have traded forests for cities, for rail-
roads. for homes, barns and fences. Which
would you rather havel' Fortunately We
are not compelled to choose between forests
and the needs Of civilization. This is one
Of the cases in which by the exercise Of a
little foresight and common sense we can
both eat our cake and keep It. He asks
"Where would the civilization OF this coun-
try be to-day had the forestry laws that ara
now sought to be imposed upon US existed
when the Pilgrims were in Massachusettsand
the English at Jamestown That sounds
very we'll in a speech, but the question j,
neither pertinent nor opposite. The early SET
tiers and the generations which followed
them did not have q, 600 sawmills cutting ths
timber Of the country at pace beyond that
OF natures power Of reproduction. II ~
pertinent to say that II such policy had
been adopted and efficiently employed dur
ing the last fifty years by individual owners.
by States and by the nation the country
would have been richer to-day by hundreds
Of millions Of dollars without imposing tha
slightest obstruction TO the building Of
cities, railroads, homes, barns or fences,
One indisputable evidence Of the disap-
pearanoe OF our timber supply is the cost
Of lumber and of the innumerable articles
made wholly or in part Of wood The argl-
ment that nature restores the forests holds
only up to the point where nature encoun-
ters a sufficient number Of axes and saws
TO overcome her Efforts. Civilized COM
munities require lumber as they require
wheat and corn and cotton, and there is no
more wisdoHPin leaving to nature the con-
tinuance Of a timber supply than there
would be in refusing TO plant cotton and
cereals on the ground Of natures power to
reproduce them from year to year, lhs
prioe of cereals and Of cotton huctuates,
but the average prices OF those cOmmodi'
ties are to-day no higher, and are probably
somewhat lower than they were genera
ton ago. That is not at all the case with
lumber. Prices have increased enormously.
and are still increasing, because demand
Outruns supply.
Because Of the many varieties and grades
Of lumber it il difficult to institute a COM
parison Of prices. The increase in values
is fairly indicated in general terms by
the statistics Of our export trade, which
consists mainly Of shipments Of an average
assortment Of kinds and qualities. The
average price Of 9i2, ,042, 600 feet of boards
deals. planks, joists and soantlings, ex-
ported in 1897 was Nl7s a thousand
feet. The average price Of l,C1S.SiS,Og
feet exported in 1907 was s24.ts thou
sand feet. We export only a small per
centage Of our total cut and the advance
in cost in the quantity retained for domes-
tic Use runs up to an enormous total.
The day is rapidly drawing near when tho
country will need every foot Of lumber
that can he grown on national and State
reserves under careful and systematic
management, and all Of the timber that
Mr.. Hepburn can see from the windows
Of his house will be an insignificant item
in our requirements.