Bryan morning eagle. [volume] (Bryan, Tex.) 1898-1909, 1909-01-23

ventory would have been impossible.
The five secretaries sign the report
/ with him.
The report OF the commission is de-
voted mainly to an inventory Of the
country's resources I'm minerals. lands,
forests and waters closing with sec
ton on national efficiency"
The mineral production of the Unit
ed States for 1907 exceeded S2,O00,000,-
900 and contributed 65 per cent of the
total freight traffic of the country.
The waste In the extraction and treat
ment of mineral products during the
same year YVES equivalent to more
than S300,O00000 The available and
easily accessible supplies of coal In the
United States aggregate approximately
1.4O0.000.O00,O00 tons AT the present
increasing rate OF production this sup
ply will be so depleted as to approach
exhaustion before the middle Of the
next century The high grade iron
ores the only iron ores available for
use under existing condltions) cannot
be expected to last beyond the middle
of the present century. The same Is
true of the petroleum supply. The sup
ply of stone, clay, cement. lime. sand
and salt Is ample, while the stock OF
the precious metals and of copper.
lead, zinc, sulphur, asphalt, graphite.
| quicksilver. mica and the rare metals
cannot well be estimated but is clear
| ly exhaustible within one to three cen
turtles unless unexpected deposits are
| found.
The consumption Of nearly all our
mineral products Is increasing far
more rapidly than our population. A
gloomy mineral situation Is seen In
the fact that while the production of
coal is increasing enormously the
waste and loss In mining are diminish
Ing There Is urgent need of greater
safety to the miner. The loss Of life
through mine accidents Is appalling
Stress is laid on the assertion that
four-fifths Of the country's fire losses,
or an average OF Sl,000O00 day, could
be prevented II the precautions taken
In Europe were adopted here.
Speaking of the nations cultivable
area. the report declares that there has
been slight increase In the average
yield OF our great staple farm prod
ucts but neither the increase In acre
age nor the yield per acre has kept
nona u-itb aur fnrraaaa In pnpuiaf fnn
Within century we shall probably
have TO feed three times as many
people as now. and the main bulk of
our food supply must be grown on our
own soil. We have now nearly 6,000.-
600 farms, averaging 146 acres each,
but only little more than two-flfths
of the area Of continental United States
is under cultivation. The United
States can grow the farm products
needed by a population more than three
times as great as our country now con-
tains. but we must greatly Increase
the yield per acre.
The greatest unnecessary waste Of
our soil Is preventable erosion. Second
only 10 this Is the waste, nonuse and
misuse Of fertilizer derived from ami
mails and men. other great causes Of
loss are due to injurious mammals.
plant diseases and insects. Most of
these farm losses are preventable.
The present public land laws as
whole do not subserve the best inter
ests Of the people Title to the surface
OF the remaining nonmineral public
lands should be granted only to actual
Next to our need of food and water
comes our need of timber declares the
report The preservation by use under
the methods of practical forestry OF
all public forest lands either In state
or federal ownership is essential to
the permanent public welfare. Effec-
tive and immediate cooperation by pri-
vate enterprise. state ownership and
federal ownership is needed If the pub
lie interest Is to be subserved. BY rea
sonable thrift we can produce con-
slant timber supply beyond our present
need and with It conserve the useful
ness Of our streams for irrigation, wa
ter supply, navigation and power.
OF the 70,000.OO0.OO0,0 cubic feet
Of water annually flowing into the sea
less than 1 per cent is restrained and
utilized for municipality and commu
nifty supply; less than ? per cent (or
some 10 per cent of that in the arid
md semlarid regions) Is used for irri-
cation; perhaps per cent is used for
navigation and less than per cent for
power
The freshets are attended by de-
itructlve soil erosion. The soil matter
annually carried into lower rivers and
larbOrs or into the sea Is computed at
80, 100000 tons Soil wash reduces by
70 to 20 per cent the productivity of
Upland farms and Increases channel
utting and bar building In the rivers.
The annual loss to the farms alone IL
800, 100000 and large losses follow
he fouling of the waters and the di-
navigation OF the streams
Broad plans should be adopted pro-
iding for system Of waterway i'm
royement extending to all uses Of the
'aters and benefits to be derived from
heir control.
Under the heading National Eff
Iency" the report says:
'Since the greatest Of our national
ssets is the health and vigor of the
merican people, our efficiency must