The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1922-06-07
STRUGGLE FOR CONSERVATION
OF TIMBER Is LIVELY AS
EVER IN CONGRESS.
MEANWHILE TREES VANISH
United statee 10 Consumina Them
Nearly Four and a Half Tlmss 40
Fast as They Arc GROWING, SAW
Secretary Wallace.
BY EDWARD D. CLARK

meeting generation, that Theodore
ROOSEVELT called the governors of the
states together In the east room of
the White House to consider WAYS and
means to conserve the natural re-
sources OF the country. Some good
came out of the conference. The con-
serVation fight, however, Is on Just as
strong today In congress as ever II
was.
You can hear anything you want
to In Washington on this subject Men
VIII tell you that the conservationists
are persons who want to save every
thing there is, simply for the purpose
or looking at 1t and giving the people
ehance to admire It's beauty. Other
persons will tell you that the preda-
tory interests are bent on getting rich
quick by using up everything that ma.
ture has provided for man, and allow
| ing posterity to go hang. There is
middle ground somewhere, but the
thing Is to find It,
once on time, not so very long
ago, two men, one Of whom reached
the eminence Of second officer OF gov.
ernment and the other the eminence
or third officer Of government, de-
clared In public speech that there was
no necessity Of trying to save any
thing-that posterity could pull down
out Of the air everything that was
needed for It's comfort, its safety and
Its progress. That these two men
made this statement Is literal truth.
one or them did not hear the last OF
1t until he died, and the other at an
advanced age Is still hearing about It.
Trying TO Save the Forests.
Just now there Is movement In
washington to secure the transfer of
the bureau Of forestry from the Depart
ment of Agriculture to the Department
of the Interior. The proponents of
the plan say that If the change Is
made the forests will be saved, and
the opponents say that if the change
Is made the forests will disappear.
Take your choice.
country without a tree Is pretty
poor country. The hope Of people who
can see not only utility but beauty in
the branches of dropping elm, Is that
whether the forestry bureau is left
where 1t is or moved elsewhere, elms
will continue to grow, and with them
oaks, pine, Eastwood, ash, and all the
other forest growths.
Some statements have been made re-
Gently by Secretary Wallace of the
Department Of Agriculture, and they
are somewhat startling. They prob
ably Will be met by counter state.
ments. Then the counter statements
must be read, dlgested and compared
with the original statements for the
purpose of arriving at something like
the truth. In an article by G. Goul0
Lincoln Of Washington, Secretary Wal
lace Is quoted as saying this:
"The United States Is now consunl-
Ing wood nearly four and half times
as fast as 1t is being grown. We are
steadily eating up what Is left Of our
forest capital. AS result the coun-
try now faces the definite prospect
Of growing scarcity and increasing
cost Of everything made from wood It
is problem which in the long run af-
fects every class Of American citizen.
It affects the manufactures, the home
builder, and the farmer to an almost
equal degree"
Timber Is Going Fast.
The country Is told that the remain
Ing forests of the United States are
being cut at the rate OF about 5,OOO,-
600 acres annually, and from 100000
to 100000 acres are being burned
each year by forest fires.
1t is said that 81 per cent Of the tim
ber left is west Of the Rocky noun
tains. The secretary Of agriculture
points out that four-ffths of the pop.
ulation, four-iifths of American ngri-
culture, and ,nine-tepths OF American
manufacturers are east Of the Rock
les. In the meantime the assertion Is
made that the rates for bringing lum.
Der to the markets have increased
steadily, that two-thirds of the lumber
users Of the country today pay more
per thousand feet In lumber freight
alone than they paid for the delivered
commodity 80 years ago.
A tree has q good deal to answer
for AS matter OF fact, 1t baslcally
was responsible for the notorious, IL
that is the word, Ballinger-Pinchot
controversy Of he days of the Taft
administration. Hard wood has been
the cause Of hard numes and soft
wood seems In no wise to have
amellOrated the condition OF antagon-
| ISM. iS
Men in Washington today say that
| Secretary Fall Of the Department OF
the Interior Is no cOnservatlonist.
| Others say that he is the most sensl-
bic kind OF n conservationist, The