Milford chronicle., 1962-12-14


fidence. The result? Answering that ques-
ton is easy roadblock would be put in
the way of progress and the public health
would be endangered.
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CONSERVING OUR RESOURCES
We in the United States are blessed
with an abundance of natural resources and
they have helped make our country the
richest in the world and provide the Amer
ican people with the highest living standard
of any people in the world.
The time is fast approaching, however,
when we must better conserve our reSour-
ces or see our standard of living reduced as
a result. In some of the older countries in
Europe, where land is scarce and appreciat-
ed for every potential, one is not allowed to
cut tree without planting two in its place.
In this way there is always more timber
coming along than there was earlier.
In the United States, unfortunately, we
have had so much land, and our resources
have been so great, that we have sometimes
maintained poor conservation discipline.
Erosion washes good earth away, fires burn
millions of dollars worth of timer a n d
other land lies unproductive year after year.
1t will take years to restore the beauty
along our highways and to reclaim much
of the natural scenery that once all could
enjoy-in many parts of our country. But
all of us should join in the effort and, even
tually, we might be able to say that t h e
United States is conservation consci-
Gus, that our streams and forests and soil
are cared for with appreciation and that we
have stopped the waste which so long has
been prevalent in many parts of our coun-
try.
NO SANCTUARY FROM CONTROLS
You would think-at the very least
that the air we breathe would be completely
free from the threat of federal government
control
But it isn't.
Some definite moves toward control are
under way The administration has made it
plain that it wants the u. S. Public Health
Service to be allowed to intervene in t h e
affairs of communities where air pollution
exists.
This is bid for power in an area in
which even the boldest of the adninistra-
tion's control-grabbing team has, up to now,
feared to tread.
1t is just as unnecessary as it is dictator
ial. The plain and solid fact is that since
air pollution is strictly a local problem the
most effective way to deal with it is through
cooperative community action.
This has been proved beyond all doubt
in three cities that we're beset by extremely
serious air pollutant-Pi Pittsburgh, st.
Louis and Cincinnati. 1t is being demon
strated over and over again in countless
other communities.
With by far the worst situation, Pitts
burgh licked it by enlisting the voluntary
cooperation of all segments of its popula-
tion-industry, labor, business and tn e
general public. Together they drafted
local ordinance that imposed severe smoke
control regulations.
Despite the toughness of the law, t h e
residents and industrial and business con-
Germs obeyed it without complaint mainly
because they had part in writing it. The
results are well known. Within few years
the city emerged from its midday darkness
into the bright light to lose forever its un-
wanted title of Smoky City,
Any Pittsburgher who participated j n
the smoke cleanup campaign will tell you
that no law at any other level-national or
state-could have possibly evoked tn e
enthusiastic response and compliance that
the hometown ordinance won.
The st. Louis and Cincinnati m ok e
abatement drives were conducted on tn e
same cooperative basis and had the same
measure of success. Los Angeles which has
very unusual pollution problem aggravat-
ed by adverse meteorological and to p
ographic conditions, nevertheless is making
strides toward easement through coopera-
tive action.
There is absolutely no need to give the
Public Health Service more power in al ir
pollution affairs than it now has. 1t is not
barred from giving advice and counsel to
community specifically asks for help.
That is as it should be. The bureaucrats
have to be held at arms length. If they get
the foot in the door they're seeking, they'll
soon be swarming into every community
sweeping the air we breathe into the orbit