The Monroe journal., 1921-05-27
CONSERVING TlNBER RESCUE, IS

lssey member OF the American EX-
peltiouary Force Was steg,s ly tae
absence OF timber ia France Tie
scar ity OF wood houses. ana how zsa--
casly the pupulace careG tQ- The ttv
isnaiuiug treee. and since g,,Grh.ls
home. the overseas maa has been "a-
pa.4,d NJ the wautou des,rIction OF
our own timber resources tie se.s
Union county farmers h,rliHs im
uense piles OF bursh, tw.ss and dead
limbs while overseas Frenchman
carrying brush heap on his back Tor
miles TO his home for fuel was z
common sight and il takes no stretch
Of the Imagination for him TO Nis-
ualize the time when We, too, Will en-
counter a scarcity OF timber, and have
TO revert to the use OF mud and stone
l0r houses and coal for fuel.
Already the waste has reached
alarming proportions, and according
to Hon. Martin l.. Davey, Of Ohio. il
a speech delivered recently in Cong
ress. not conservatism, but reforesta-
ton is necessary to insure this coun-
Try an adequate timber supply in the
years to come. America must wake
up and reforest,' he warns, "or
America will rue the day of her
spendthrift debauch. The early set
tiers sent back word that they had
discovered a land of ineXhaustible
fertility. Americans of succeeding
generations have proceeded on the
theory that all the God-civen assets
Of the Nation We're ineNhaustihle. We
have destroyed with prodigal waste
more and more of the native wood
lands-the timber supply. We have
done exceedingly little replauting.
We are consuming the principal oil
our inheritance just as fast as reck-
less unconeern Will permit.
Where will the future lumber
supply come from? Where will We
get the wood pulp for print paper?
We are sweeping away the God-eiyen
forests and building great cities with
breathless haste. We say We are
creating wealth. We are merely
transforming il on the one hand and
destroying il on the other
Take daylight ride across the
AIeghenies and look at the denuded
mountains, Contemplate the deyas-
tation that man. selfish and thought
less man.. has wrought And then
when you realize what all this prodi-
gal destruction means to the future
of America let your soul shuddel
at the thought of the future con
demnation that awaits us from gen
erations yet unborn. We who reve
In our false wealth and objectionable
prohigacy must answer TO the God o.
nations and the children whom W,
bring forth to struggle in an i'm
poverished land.
Men and women Of America. w
cut down the great forests that bless
ed this country. We allow the rem
nants to be burned over and vegeta
ton destroyed. The rains pour down
and, instead of being held in checI
by the loose and porous soil in tn
network of roots, il rushes down owe
the hillsides and carries with it th
fertile soil. leaving in its wake bar
ren hills and deep ravines.
THUS we have alternating flood
and droughts. The fertile soil is gone
the product of hundreds Of year
Of natures providence. The littl
springs that come from water hel
in check and feed the lakes an
Stems must gradually deminish
and. greatly fear, cease to exist !
large part.
This question of reforestation
Of monumental importance. Amel
iea can not continue TO exist as
yirile. forward-moying nation unle'
we protect what we have and stal
TO build ND that which we have s
ruthIessly destroyed. We can not a
ford to be a nation of vandals niue
longer. America must reforest.
America must drink the bitter dref
of. national decline and impoteney.