Devils Lake inter-ocean and Devils Lake free press. (Devils Lake, Ramsey County, N.D.) 1905-1909, 1909-01-29


III i Oh would ave been tnapoasinle.
Ehe i've secretar Hes 4 sign the report
wit him
lie report sof the conn mission III de-
voted mainly TO An tnve nt0gy the
5so1il try IL reso ins mine Iii, Ian as,
forests and wat rs, Ill sing With see
stion on n s.nat ional efic iency 3,
The mineral produo tion of the Init.
ed IS tates for Oh xceeded ss2,0
200 and acontri buted a35 per scentsof the
total freight traffic country
The waste In thee Hon and
$ment Of mineral prod ucts during the
\ ga me year was eaui Yaient more
than $500, O0O, 900 sihe Sava ilable md
seastl ccessible ssupp lies coal in the
United States aggregate approximately
;1,400, 600, 900 100 At the present
increasing rate of prodnet ion this sup
ply viii be SO depIet ted as1 to approach
exhaustion before the mid die sof the
next century The shigh grade iron
ores the only iron ores avail Bile FOR
use under existing condi Il ionsA cannot
be expected to last beyond the mid dle
.of the present century The same a (
true Of the petrole supp The snps
ply OF stone, clay. cement, lime sand
and salt Is ample, while the stock DC
the precious metals and copper.
lead, zinc, sulphur, asphalt graphite,
quicksilver, mica and the rare metals
cannot wen be estimate hut ~ clear
~ exhaustible within one 10 three cel1ss
turtles unless nexpected deposits are
found.
The consllmpt lion Of nearly all orr
mineral product is Increasing far
more rapidly than our populat lion.
stray CLEAN Eof light q: the otherwise
gloomy mineral situation Is seen IN
the fact that while the sproduc elton Of
coal Els increasing II enormously the
waste and loss III mining are diminish
ing. There is urgent need of greater
safety to the miner he loss of life
through mine accid dents IS palling.
Stress Is laid on the Insertion; that
four-fi tbs Of the country's fire losses
Of m average or 81 ,000, 900 a day could2
be prevented If the precautions AIKEN
iii Europe were adopted here.
Speaking OF the nc Ions cultiva bleis
area Z the report declares that there has
been a. slight Increase ~ the average
yield Of our great staple farm prod
ucts, but neither the Increase II acre
age nor the yield per acre has kept
pace. with our sincrease An populat ion.5
Within 8 century we shall probably
have to feed Three times as many
people as now, and the main bulk Sof |
our food supply must be grown On 5orirs
ownssoiL. We have now nearly g, 000,r
900 farms, averaging 146 acres each,
|gbut only a little more than tWo-f ffthsa
Sof the area Of continental United States
is under :cultivat lion. The United
States can grow the farm products
needed bya populat ion more than three
times as great as our country now con-
tains, bur we must greatly increase
the yield per acre.
3 The greatest unnecessary waste Of
our soil IS preyentable erosion. Second
only to this iss the waste. nonuse and
misuse Of fertf lizer derived from AMI.
mails and smen. Other great causes Oh
loss are due to njurio uB mammals,
plant diseases and insect Most Of
these farm Losses are preventable
The present public land laws rs q !
whole do not snbserve the best inter-
ests Of the people. Title to the surface
of the remaining nonmineral public
lands should be granted only to actual
shomemakers. a "a s5ss sssstS
Next to our need Of food and water
comes our need Of timber, declares the
report The preservation 81 use under
the methods Of practical forestry of
all public forest lands either III state
or federal ownership 81 essential to$
the permanent public welfare. Nffec-
tive and immedi late cooperation BY prt
yYate enterprise, state ownership and
| federal ownership is needed IL the pub
lie interest Is to be subserved BY rea-
sonable thrift we can produce a con-
slant timber supply hey nd our present
need and with 1t conserve the useful
ness OF our streams for irrigati on, wa
ter supply, navigation and power.
OF the 7O, 600 900 0OO, 900 cubic feet
Of water annually flowing into the sea
less than I per cent Is restrained and
utilized for municipality and comm1l-
nifty supply; less than 3 per cent Tor;
some 10 per cent of that 81 the arid
and semiarid regions Is used for irri.
cation; perhaps 5 per cent - used Tor
navigation and less than . per cent for
power. 5 Z, b
r The freshets are attended ny de-
structive soil erosion. The SOIL matter
annually carried into lower rivers and
harbors or into the sea ID computed III
| '7eo, 000, 900 tons. Soil wash reduces BY
I 9ll0 to 90 per cent the productivity on
upland farms and Increases channel