The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1908-12-08


stltutions. md respect FOR the law Is
largely conditioned upon respect for
the courts But We must face the fact
/ that th9rc are wise and unwise judge.
/ Just as there are wise and unwise ex.
tcutlyeB and legislators when a
+ president or governor behaves improp
sTly or unwisely The remedy Il easy.
for hls term Is short The same is
true with the legislator. although not
/ 10 the same degree. With a Judge
who. being human. IS also likely 70
err. but whose tenure f. FOR lhe. there
Is no similar way Of holding him to
responsibility Under ordinary condl.
rong he only forms ~ pressure to
uhteh be 81 III any way amenable are
public opinion ard the action % bis
fellow judges Il Is the last which Is
most Immediately effective and to
which We should look for the reform
Of abuses.
Forests.
II there Il any one duty which more
than another We owe Il 70 our children
and our ehildren's children 10 perform
al once Il Is 20 save the forests Of
this country for they constitute the
first and most important element in
the conservation Of the natural re.
sources Of The country
sho-tsighted persons. or persons
blinded 10 the future by desire 10
make money In every way out Of the
present sometimes speak as II DO
great damage would be done By the
reckless destruction Of our forests II
Is difficult 70 have patience with the
arguments Of these persons Thanks
70 our own rcckleEEn~ss IN the use of
our splendid forests. We have already
crossed the verge Of a timber famine
IN this country. and no measures that
~ now take can. at least for many
years. undo the mischief that has al
ready been denc But We can prevent
further mischief being done. and il
would be m the highest degree repro
hensible to let any confederation Of
temporary convenience or temporary
cost Interfere with such action. espe
cislly as regards the national forests
which the nation can now at this very
nsnsat control
THE president here cites IN support
Of his cortsations the great destruc.
ton wrought n China by the denuda-
ton 81 the fcrsEt areas
what has thus happened IN northern
China. what has happened in central
Asia. N Palestine. IA north Africa, In
parts OF the Mediterranean countries
Of Europe VIII surely hsprsn IN orr
country n we do not exercise that
visr forcthouzht which should be ono
Of The chief marks Of any people call.
Ing Itself civilized Nothing should be
permitted 20 stand n the way Of the
preservation of the forests, and It is
criminal to permit Individuals 10 pur-
ehare Hide rsin for themselves
through thc destruction or forests
when this destruction Is fatal to the
well being Of the whole country in the
future.
inland Waterways.
Action should BE- begun forthwith.
during tire present session Of congress,
fer the Improvement Of our inland wa
terways seton which WIN result IN
giving us not only nayirahlc but
nevirrtcd rivers. We have spent
hurdrc5s or millions OF dollars upon
these waterways yet the traffic on
nearly all Of them Is steadily dec!in-
ing. This condition Is the direct re-
suit Of the absence of any compre-
honsIye and fnseeing plan Of water
way Improvement. Obviously we can.
not continue thus to ezpcnd the rev
enues 81 the government without re-
turn. 1t is poor business to spend
money for inland navigation unless
we get It.
such shortsighted, vncillating and
futile methods are accompanied by de
creasirg water horne commerce ana
Increasing traffic congestion on land
By Increasing foods and by the waste
Of public money. The remedy lies in
abandoning the methods which have
go signally failed and adopting new
ones in keeping with the needs and
demands Of our people.
In a report on a measure introduced
at the first session Of the present con
gress the secretary or war said, The
chief defect In the methods hitherto
pursued lies IN the absence Of execu.
tive authority for originating compre-
heasiye plans covering the country or
natural divisions thereof" In this
opinion ! heartily concur
Until the work Of river improvement I
is undertaken IN modern way It can.
not have results that will meet the
needs Of this modern nation These
needs should be met without further /
or delay. The plan which /
promises the best and quickest results /
is that OF permanent commission au-
thorl7ed TO coordinate the work OF all /
the government departments relating
to waterways and to frame and super.
wise the execution Of a comprehensive I
plan The time for playing with our
waterways is past The country de- {
m8nds results.
National Parks.
/ urge that all our national parks ad
jacent to national forests be placed
completely under the control Of the +
forest service ef the agricultural de
instead Of leaving them. as
they are now, under the interior de.
nartment ana nnliced hr the nrnv