Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1916-05-09
IT WORKS BOTH WAYS

I.A
quoted as saying that "civlization
changes climates" II that be true
we need a little more civilization, for
we know OF several climates that
need reformation Right mere IN
Oklahoma, where we are IN the hapl'
of boasting about our climate, there
is plenty OF room for improvements
Anyono who has had to face the
piercing winds that come to us over
the pralries and knobs Of Kansas
and Nebraska, or has had to struggle
to retain possession Of his apparel
when the spring "brcc2es' set IN
from Texas, can bear testimony thht
if civilization can do anything to re
Iievo such uncomfortable ana OK
.osperating conditions. It is time for
IL to get busy. If we can clvlllle
those Dakota blz2ards ana those
gulf scmi-tornadoes, then we VIII
take off our hat to the power OF
civilization and acknowledge that
sciencc has got strangle hold ON
nature But we all know that no
'such consummation has yet been en-
tered on the program and we feel
hike swattng our far western solon
for raising any such false hopes.
Yet there is no doubt the senator
had some basis of truth for his as
scrtion. wherever English or Ameri-
can adventures have gone with their
ideas of harnessing the powers OF
nature and making them behave
there has been something done to
amclioratc the hardships that here
toforc existed We have invaded the
frigid wastes of the far north ana
made them productive. not only or
the treasures hidden beneath the soil,
but of the things that grow on It's
surface for the maintenance of life
and the prosecution of trade. Dowh
in the torrd lands we have worked
a reformation in hygienic methods
and have shorn the tropical terrors
of most of their potency for evil
In the sense that man can control
the course or speed of the winds or
} tcmper the discomforts of extreme
heat and cold, it cannot be said that
civilization has any effect upon eli
matte conditions but IL ii comes to
making the best of conditions that
already exist and rendering all por-
d tons of the carth's surface more
$ habitable than they used to be. then,
perhaps Mr. Piles was right. In Just
one sense, perhaps, this progress OF
what we call civilization has made
a change in climatic conditions for
the cutting down of forests has un-
doubtedly induced the greater fre-
! Iuuency of floods and drouths, ana
u the planting of trees has often been
effective in restoring the arrange
ments OF nature to their normal bal
sidcrcd as n direct result of civilized
methods. but an incident that was
. uncalculatod and which il has taken
I mankind years TO learn-rather an
) accident than an intention. So on
the strength of this one feature we
= are not justified in saying that civil
II ization has been effective in chang
5 ing climatic conditions, or that hui
$ man agencies can control the ele-
i mcnts.
q If Mr.. Piles had taken the diverse
Z OF this picture, his position would
q bc easily proven by an uncndinp
II chain of evidence. That climates
II change civilizations there cannot bC
y the least doubt, for the history OF
a the human race from the time that
men began to scatter over the face
c of the earth ana make their homes
d in different climcs has shown Us
- abundantly that the climate of his
& adopted home in the course of gen
$ cratious has left an indelible inn
e thought. so much SO that after cen
Y turics of evolution differing climates
+ have evolved widely differing de-
g grces of civilization and refinement
c on the one hand, or have encouraged
$ the permanencc of barbarism on the
! other. Thus we nave the sons OF
c Noah, all OF one stock separating to
o. the ends of the known earth and
e fathering such diverse peoples as the
= European, the jew, the Hottcntot
j the Chiuaman. the Papuan and the
I American Indian These diversitics
I are all to a large extent the result
= OF environment, of which climate
i may be considered the chief influ-
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