The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1933-10-13
HUMAN DIVIDENDS OF THE
c. C. C.

back some 4 ,0O0,OU0 men INTO the
ranks of civil life the vast majority
were physically better off than they
had been when they were issued uni
forms. Outdoor life, simple food,
exercise, and regular living had
made them hard OF muscle and fit of
body Whatever the debit items
may have been in the mental and
spiritual columns, this physical divi-
dend was one of the few profits to a
nation at war.
Today we have in active operation
program that is constructive in
sharp contrast to the destructive ele
ments of war, writes Charles Lathrop
Pack, president of American Tree
Association, in Review of Reviews
and Worlds Work" This program
is an activity that will pay 100 per
cent dividends in physical improve
ment. 1t will be definitely on the
profit side of the ledger in terms of
mental and moral betterment. re-
fer to the creation of the Civilian
Conservation Corps and Its work in
the forest camps.
We do not know at present how
great a contribution to conservation
this work may be. Certainly fire
protection will be enhanced, the
| fight against forest disease ind de-
structive insects furthered, denuded
areas planted, necessary roads built,
and other tangible things of great
value to the forests ACCOMPLISHED.
All these are important to the future
of the nation. But of greater i'm
portance is the restoration of conf
dence, the reinsurance of health, and
the provision OF the opportunity to
work to 100000 young men.
When the depression hit us, thou
sands of young men were finishing
school or were forced to quit college.
| There were no jobs for them.
There weren't even bitches to dig or
! trucks to drive. They had t.; live on
their families or stand in the bread
| line. Thousands of them we've hun
cry Many wandered aimlessly over
the face of the land, living by their
wits. In the first productive years
of their lives they found themselves
to be young citizens of country
that could not give them chance to
earn a living. Here was no incen-
tive to citizenship Rather was it an
invitation to keep alive by any means
possible, within the law or without
The physical, mental and moral re-
suits of such condition are insidi-
Gus, unseen and unrealized by most
of us, and therefore more dangerous
Into this breach stepped the Roos-
evelt administration. Withcut delay
the Civilian Conservatio.. Corps
came into being. From large cities
and small towns the men we're en-
listed-young men between the ages
of eighteen and twenty-five. Exam
ined given a conditioning period,
and divided into groups, they went
into life in the open with three
squares day" assured. They had
paying job with something to send
to the folks back home. They had
the fortnight fellowship of their fell
low men. This work is nov in full
swing.
Undoubtedly the statician delights
in the announcement that by August
the aggregate weight gained by the
men in the Corps was 100000
pounds. That is, of course. just a
figure, but it is one full OF Gaming.
1t means that young men who had
lived in doubt about the next meal
no longer wonder. 1t means that
muscles, soft from lack of demand
upon them, are now hard II means
that 100000 young Americans have
been given the sharpest weapon for
the battle of life-health.
Many of these forest workers, in
contact with trees for perhaps the
first time, are irked by then inability
to tell an oak from an elm. This
has resulted in a demand for man
uals to aid in tree Identification and
has stimulated an active interest in
outdoor things. With this The men
are learning self-reliance in the open
and the technique of life.
AS forester and a conseryationist
sincerely feel that a notable contri-
button to forestry conservation will
come out of this program, because it
will pay human dividends as we'll as
forest dividends. Surely thele could
be no greater justification of the
plan than the fact that it is restoring
to 100000 young men their conf
dence in America and themselves, is
endowing them with health and Wig
or, and is broadening their knowl-