The daily Gate City. [volume], December 08, 1908, Image 5

About The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916

Image provided by: State Historical Society of Iowa

                
ht'ESDAY, DEC. 8, 1908f:'
"(Contiuued from Page 2.)
1^. tba workiugmen,
If! ,aboring men of the country, by
Jf
wav
In which they repudiated the
I if rt to Bet
them t0 cast the,r votes
If "response to on appeal to class
I'? have emphasized their sound
itlsm and Americanism. The
I Sole country has cause to feel pride
IP
this attitude of sturdy independ
J"ce in this uncompromising Insist
I fee upon acting simply as good clti
|T
as
oan
good Americans, without re-
llrd to ftncled and Improper class in
IjLsts. Such an attitude Is an object
IJpsson in K°°d citizenship to the en
I (Jre nation.
I' But the extreme reactionaries, the
Ipersons who blind themselves to the
prongs now and then committed by
courts on laboring men, should
ilso think seriously as to what such a
aovemcnt "s
thIs
portends. The
l^s who have shown themselves
ible and willing effectively to check
tj,e dishonest activity of the very rich
who works iniquity by the mis
nanageinent of corporations, who
jave shown themselves alert to do
justice to the wageworker and sym
pathetic with the needs of the mass
of our people so that the dweller in!
tie tenement, houses, the man who
practices a dangerous traile. the man!
sbo Is crushed by excessive hours of
libor, feci that their needs are under
Itood l».v the courts—these judges arc
tie real bulwark of the courts these
jnd es. the Judges of the stamp of
(jie president elect, who have been
fearless in opposing labor when It has
jone wrong, but fearless also In hold
Iti: to strict account corporations that
cork Iniquity, and fnrsighted In see
jot: that the workingman gets his
rights, nre the men of all others to
thorn we owe It tlint the appeal for
ncli violent and mistaken legislation
has fallen on deaf ears, that the agl-1
tation fur its passage proved to bej
Without substantial basis. The courts'
jre jeoparded primarily by the action!
{Ithese federal and state judges whol
jhow inability or unwillingness to put!
a stop to the wrongdoing of very richj
Ben under modern Industrial condl-j
tlons nnd inability or unwillingness to"
give relief to men of small means or I
wageworkers who ore crushed down!
by these modem industrial conditions,
who, In other words, fail to under-]
itand and apply the needed remedies!
for the new wrong3 produced by the I
new and highly complex social and
Industrial (ivillzation which has*
pown up In the last half century.
The rapid changes in our social and
Industrial life which have attended!
this rapid growth have made it neces
wry that in applying to concrete cases
the great rule of right laid down in I
our constitution there should be a full
understanding and appreciation of the
new conditions to which the rules are
iobe applied. What would have been'
to Infringement upon liberty half a'
(Kitflry ago may be the necessary safe-1
lusrd of liberty today. What would
Save been an injury to property then
may be necessary to the enjoyment of
property now. Every judicial decision
Involves two terms—one an interpreta- I
tion of the law, tie other the under
standing of the facts to which it Is to
he applied. The great mass of our Ju
diclal officers are, I believe alive to
these changes of conditions which so!
Materially affect the performance of
their judicial duties. Our judicial sys
tem is sound and effective core, and
remains and must ever be main
fained as the safeguard of those prin
ciples of liberty nnd Justice which,
stand at the foundation of American
Institutions, for, ns Durke finely said,
*beu liberty and justice nre separated
neither Is safe. There nre. however, I
ftme members of the judicial body
who have lagged behind In their un
Gerstauding of these groat and vital
Changes in the body politic, whose
in a to
W
a at on in
nade necessary by the new conditions.
is a as in a
hy their decisions, because they con
'ince poor men in need of protection
ha an a
I an
Pathy with their needs and profoundly
indifferent or hostile to any proposed I
re it a
to a a id
"gainst tbem on the ground that it do-!
re to re be in a re
it in
a any renl and constructive sense. It
desirable that the legislative body
•hould possess and. wherever neces
fserclse the power to determine
*bether In a given case employers
id employees are not on an equal
ooU^g, so that the necessities of the
tter compel them to submit to such
pactions as to hours nnd conditions
labor ns unduly to tax their
ength, and only mischief can result
en such determination Is upset on
ground that there must be no "in
crcuco with the liberty to con-
-often
a merely academic "Ilb-
the exercise of which Is the ne
gation of real liberty.
There are certain decisions by vn
ln°U|S
cour*s
which have been exceed-
°K'y detrimental to the rights of
wageworkers. This Is true of all the
8,01,8
i*/00!'
«iip.°
health
that decide that men nnd
are
t'le
tl,e
constitution "guar-
ent "bor,J"' to contract to
wot- 'nnKerous occupation, or to
n"
""desirable or improper num-
rs-
or
work In unhealthy
'oundtngs, nnd therefore cannot re
or damages when maimed In that
'pation and cannot be forbidden
-rk ^hat the legislature decides Is
„. ''x"'R,lvi number of hours, or to
whi 1 °U
tlle Tror'{
""der conditions
'efir,s'ntl,,'e decides to be un-
tlnn "lost dangerous occupa
are oiten the poorest paid and
•onp tbe hoijrs of work are
*o iM*'"
a"fl ,Tln".v
cases those who
,0 ",er «re driven by necessity
b*?
4
*®!at
tIlc-v
fcavc practically no
ative. Decisions such as those
^UV('
uuliif-v
the legislative
most Protect the wngeworkers who
nlover!
proto''1io"
ffrlnri^
''roni those em-
10
'ako advantage of their
grinding need. They halt or hamper
mnJ"0™1,10"'
f0r
SPPuri"K
better and
nmre equitable conditions of labor.
The talk about preserving to the mis
ery hunted beings who make contracts
ror such service their "liberty" to
make them is either to speak In a
spirit of heartless Irony or else to
show an utter lack of knowledge ot
the conditions of life among the great
masses of our fellow countrymen, a
lack which unfits a judge to do good
service just as it would unfit any ex
ecutive or legislative officer.
There is also, 1 think, ground for the
belief that substantial injustice is
often suffered by employees in conse
quence of tbe custom of courts issu
ing temporary injunctions without no
tice to them and punishing them for
contempt of court In Instances where,
as a matter of fact, they have no
knowledge of any proceedings. Out
side of organized labor there Is a wide
spread feeling that this system often
works great injustice to wageworkera
when their efforts to better their work
ing condition result in industrial dis
putes. A temporary injunction pro
cured ex parte may. ns a matter of
fact, have all the effect of a perma
nent injunction In causing disaster to
the wageworkers* ::idc In such a dis
pute. Organized labor is chafing un
der the unjust restraint which comes
from repeated resort to this plan of
procedure. Its discontent has been un
wisely expressed and often improper
ly expressed, but there is a sound
basis for it. and the orderly and law
abiding people of a community would
be in a far stronger position for up
holding the courts if the undoubtedly
existing abuses could be provided
against.
GLASS LEGISLATION.
Views Hold by Extreme Labor Lead
ers Arc Unconstitutional.
Such proposals as those mentioned
above as advocated by tbe extreme
labor leaders contain tbe vital error
of being class legislation of the most!
offensive kind, nnd oven if enacted
into law I believe that the law would
rightly be held unconstitutional. More
over, the labor people are themselves
now beginning to Invoke the use of
the power of injunction. During the
last ten years, nnd within my own
knowledge, at least fifty injunctions
have been obtained by labor unions in
New York city alone, most of them
being to protect the union label (a
"property ri^ht"), but some being ob
tained for other reasons against em
ployers. The power of injunction Is
a great equitable remedy which should
on no account bo destroyed. But safe
guards should be erected against its
abuse. I believe that some such pro
visions as those I advocated a year
ago for checking the abuse of the
lssunnce of temporary Injunctions
should be adopted. In substance, pro
vision should be made that no injunc
tion or temporary restraining order
Issue otherwise than on notice, except
where irreparable injury would other
wise result, nnd in such case a hear
ing on the merits of the order should
be had within a short fixed period,
and if not then continued after hear
lng it should forthwith lapse. Deci
sions should be rendered immediately
nnd the chance of delay minimized in
every way. Moreover. I believe that
the procedure should be sharply de
fined nnd the judge required minutely
to state the particulars both of his
action and of his reasons therefor, so
that the congress can, If it desires, ex
amine and investigate the same.
The chief lawmakers of our country
may be and often arc the judges, be
cause they are tbe final seat of au
thority. livcrv time they interpret con
tract, properly, vested rights, du«
process of law. liberty, they necessarily
enact into law parts of a system of
social philosophy, and. as such inter
pretatiou is fundamental, they give
direction to all lawmaking. The de
cisions of the courts on economic and
social questions depend upon their
economic and social philosophy, and
for the peaceful progress of our peo
ple during the twentieth century we
•hall owe most to those Judges who
hold to a twentieth century economic
and so lal philosophy and not to a
long outgrown philosophy which was
ltscif the product of primitive econom
ic conditions. Of course a judge's
views ou progressive social philosophy
are entirely second in importance to
his possession of a high and fine char
acter, whici* means the possession of
such elementary virtues as honesty,
courage and fiir irinuedness. The
judge who owes his election to pander
ing to demagogic sentiments or class
hatreds and prejudices nnd the judge
who owes either lib election or his
appointment to the money or the favor
of a great corporation are alike un
worthy to si: on th bench, are alike
traitors to the people, nnd r.o pro
fundlly of legal learning or correctness
of abstract conviction on questions of
public policy can serve as an offset to
such shortcomings. Hut it is also true
that Judges, like executives and legis
lators, should hold sottud views on the
questions of public policy which are of
vital interest t* the people.
The legislators and executives are
chosen to represent the people in en
icting and administering the laws.
The judges are not chosen to represent
the people in this sense. Their func
tion is to Interpret the laws. The legis
lators nre responsible for the laws, the
Judges for flic spirit in which they in
terpret and enforce the laws. We
stand aloof from the reckless agitators
who would make the judges mere pli
ant
tools of popular prejudice and pas
on. and we stand aloof from thosf
equally unwise particau^ of ^ictloi
and privilege, v. bo deny the proposi
tion that, inasmuch as judges are chosen
to serve the interests of the whole peo
ple, they should strive to find out what
those interests are and. so far as they
conscientiously can, should strive to
give effect to popular conviction when
deliberately nnd duly expressed by the
lawmaking body. The courts are to be
highly commended nnd stnnchly up
held when they set their faces against
wrongdoing or tyranny by a majority,
but they are to be blamed when they
fail to recognize under a government
like ours the deliberate judgment of
the majority as to a matter of legiti
mate policy when duly expressed by
the legislature. Such lawfully ex
pressed and deliberate Judgment should
be given effect by the courts save In
the extreme and exceptional cases
where there has been a clear violation
of a constitutional provision. Any
thing like frivolity or wantonness in
upsetting such clearly taken govern
mental action is grave offense against
the republic. To protest against tyran
ny, to protect minorities from oppres
sion, to nullify an act committed- in a
spasm of popular fury, is to render a
service to tbe republic. But for the
courts to arrogate to themselves func
tions which properly belong to the leg
islative bodies is all wrong anil In the
end works mischief. The people should
not be permitted to pardon evil and
slipshod legislation on the theory that
the court will set it right. They should
be taught that the right way to get rid
of a bad law is to have the legislature
repeal it and not to have tbe courts by
Ingenious hair splitting nullify it. A
law may be unwise and Improper, but
it should not for these reasons be de
clared unconstitutional by a strained
interpretation, for the result of such
action is to take away from the people
at large their sense of responsibility
and ultimately to destroy their eapac-|
lty for orderly self restraint and sclfl
government. Under such a popular!
government as ours, founded on the
theory that In the long run the will of
the people Is supreme, the ultimate
safety of the nation can only rest in
training and guiding the people so that
what they will shall be right and not
in devising means to defeat their will
by the technicalities of strained con-"
struetion.
For many of the shortcomings of
justice iu our country our people as a
whole are themselves to blame, and
the judges and juries merely bear
their share together with the public as
a whole. It is discreditable to us as a
people that there should be difficulty
in convicting murderers or in bring
ing to justice men who ns public serv
ants have been guilty of corruption or
who have profited by the corruption of
public servants. The result is equally
unfortunate whether due to hair split
ting technicalities In the interpreta
tion of law by judges, to sentimental
ity and class consciousness on the part
of juries or to hysteria and sensation
alism iu the daily press. For much
of this failure of justice no responsl
bility whatever lies on rich men as
such. We wbo make up the mass of
the people cannot shift the responsi
bility from our own shoulders. But
there is an important part of the fail
ure which has specially to do with
inability to hold to proper account men
of wealth who behave badly.
The chief breakdown is In dealing
with the new relations that arise from
the mutualism, the Interdependence, of
our time. Every new social relation
begets a new typo of wrongdoing—of
sin, to use an old fashioned word—and
many years always elapse before so
ciety is able to turn this sin into crimi
which can be effectively punished at
law. During the lifetime of the older
men now alive the social relations
have changed far more rapidly than In
the preceding two centuries. Tbe im
mense growth of corporations, of busi
ness done by associations and the ex
treme strain and pressure of modern
life have produced conditions which
render the public confused as to who
its really dangerous foes are, and
among the public servants who have I
not only shared this confusion, but by I
so a a in re as it
a re a in a In
cy has been shown in dealing with cor
porations and in resettling tlie proper
attitude to be taken by the public not
only toward corporations, but toward
labor and toward the social questions
arising out of the factory system and
the enormous growth of our great
cities.
OVERGROWN FORTUNES.
Mada Possible by Improper Use of
Modern Corporations.
The huge wealth that has been ac
cumuiatcdMiy a few Individuals of re
cent years, in what has amounted to a
social and industrial revolution, has
been as regards some of these indi
viduals made possible only by the Im
proper use of the modern corporation.
A certain type of modern corporation,
with Its officers and agents, its many
issues of securities and itn constant
consolidation with allied undertak
ings. finally becomes an instrument so
complex as to contain a greater num
ber of elements that under various
judicial decisions lend themselves to
fraud and oppression than any device
yet evolved in the human brain. Cor
porations are necessary instruments
of modern business. They have been
permitted to become a menace largely
because the governmental representa
tives of the people have worked slowly
in providing for adequate control over
them.
The chief offender in any given case
may be an executive, a legislature or a
Judge. Every executive head who ad
vises violent instead of gradual action
or who advocates ill considered and
sweeping measures of reform, es
pecially if they arc tainted with vin
The Daily Gats City
dlctiveness and disregard for the
rights of the minority, is particularly
blameworthy. The several legislatures
are responsible for the fact that our
laws are often prepared with slovenlj
haste and lack of consideration.
Moreover, they are often prepared and
still more frequently amended dur
ing passage at the suggestion of the
very parties against whom they are
afterward enforced. Our great clus
ters of corporations, huge trusts and
fabulously wealthy multiraillionaries
employ the very* best lawyers they can
obtain to pick flaws in these statutes
after their passage, but they also em
ploy class of secret agents who seek
under the advice of experts to render
hostile legislation innocuous by making
it unconstitutional, often through the
insertion of what appear on their face
to be drastic nnd sweeping provisions
against the interests of the parties in
spiring them, while the demagogues,
the corrupt creatures who introduce
blackmailing schemes to "strike" cor
porations and nil who demand ex
treme and undesirably radical meas
ures show themselves to be the worst
enemies of the very public whose loud
mouthed champions they profess to be.
A very striking illustration of the
consequences of carelessness in the
preparation of a statute was the em
ployers' liability law of 1000. In the
cases arising under that law four out
of six courts of first Instance held it
unconstitutional, six out of nine Jus
tices of the supreme court held that
its subject matter was within the
province of congressional action, and
four of the nine Justices held it valid.
It was, however, adjudged unconstitu
tional by a bare majority of the court
—five to four. It was surely a very
slovenly piece of work to frame the
legislation in such shape as to leave
the question open at all.
Reai damage has been done by the
manifold nnd conflicting interpreta
tions of the interstate commerce law.
Control over the great corporations do
ing interstate business can be effective
only If it is vested with full power in
an administrative department, a branch
of the federal executive, carrying out
a federal law. It can never be ef
fective if a divided responsibility is
left in both the states and the nation.
It can never be effective if left in the
hands of the courts to be decided by
lawsuits.
The courts hold a place of peculiar
and deserved sanctity under our form
of government. Ilcspect for the law is
essential to the permanence of our in
stitutions. and respect for the law is
largely conditioned upon respect for
the courts. It is an offense against the
republic to say anything which can
weaken this respect cave for the grav
est reason and iu the most carefully
guarded manner. Our judges should
be held iu peculiar honor, nnd the duty
of respectful nnd truthful comment
and criticism, which should be binding
when we speak of anybody, should be
especially binding when we speak of
them. Ou an average they stand
above nny other servants of the com
munity. and the greatest judges have
reached the high level held by those
few greatest patriots whom the whole
country delights to honor. But we
must face tlie fact that there nre wise
and unwise judges. Just as there are
wise and unwise executives and legis
lators. When a president or governor
behaves improperly or unwisely the
remedy is easy, for bis term is short.
The same is true with the legislator,
although uot to the same degree, for
he is one of many who belong to some
given legislative body, and it is there
fore less easy to tlx his personal re
sponsibility and hold him accountable
therefor. With a Judge who, being
human, is also likely to err, but whose
tenure is for life, there is no similar
way of holding him to responsibility.
Under ordinary conditions the only
forms of pressure to which lie Is in
any way amenable arc public opinion
and the action of bis fellow judges, it
is the last which is mo^t immediately
effective nnd to which we should look
for the reform of abuses. Any remedy
applied from without Is fraught with
risk. It is far better from every stand
point that the remedy should come
from within. In no other nation in the
world do the courts wield such vast
nnd farreaching power ns In tbe Unit
ed States. All that Is necessary Is that
the courts ns whole should exercise
this power with the farslghted wis
dom already shown by those judges
who scan the future while they aet in
the present. I.et them exercise this
great power not only honestly and
bravely, but with wise insight into
the needs and. fixed purposes of the
people, so that they may do justice and
work equity, so that they may protect
all persons In their rights nnd yet
break down the barriers of privilege,
which is the foe of rigiit.
PROTECT THE FORESTS.
Their Peril Belittled by Shortsight
ed, Greedy Public Foes.
If there is any one duty which more
than another we owe it to our children
and our children's children to perform
at once it Is to save the forests of
this country, for they constitute the
first and most important element in
the conservation of the natural re
sources of the country. There nre, of I
course, two kinds of natural resources.
One Is the kind which can only be
used as part of a process of exhaus
tion. This is true of mines, natural I
oil nnd gns wells nnd the like. The
other, nnd of course ultimately by far I
the inost Important. Includes the re- I
sources which can be Improved In the
process of wise use. The soil, the riv
ers and tiie forests come under this
head. Any really civilized nntion will
so use nil of these three great national
assets that the nation will have their
benefit In the future. Just as a farm­
im.
er. after all his life making his living
from his farm, will, if he is an expert
farmer, leave it as an asset of increas
ed value to his son, so we should lenve
Shortsighted persons, or persons
blinded to the future by desire to
make money in every way out of the
present, sometimes speak as if no
grent damage would be done by the
reckless destruction of our forests.
It is difficult to have patience with the
arguments of these persons. Thanks
to our own recklessness in the use of
our splendid forests, we have nlready
crossed the verge of a timber famine in
this country, and no measures that we
now take can, at least for many
years, undo the mischief that has al
ready been done. But we can prevent
further mischief being done, and it
would be in the highest degree repre
hensible to let any consideration of
temporary convenience or temporary
cost interfere with such action, espe
cially as regards the national forests,
which the nation can now at this very
moment control.
All serious students of the question
arc aware of the great damage that
has been done In the Mediterranean
countries of Europe, Asia and Africa
by deforestation. The similar dam
age that has been done in eastern
Asia Is less well known. A recent in
vestigation into conditions in north
China by Mr. Frank N. Meyer of the
bureau of plant industry of the Unit
ed States department of agriculture
has Incidentally furnished in very
striking fashion proof of the ruin that
comes from reckless deforestation of
mountains and of the further fact that
the damage once done may prove prac
tically irreparable. So important are
these investigations that I herewith
attach as an appendix to my message
certain photographs showing present
conditions In China. They show in
vivid fashion the appalling desolation,
taking the shape of barren mountains
and gravel and sand covered plains,
which Immediately follows nnd de
pends upon the deforestation of the
mountains. Not many cenurles ago
the country of northern China was
one of the most fertile and beautiful
spots in the entire world and was
heavily forested. We know this not
only from the old Chinese rccords, but
from the accounts given by the trav
eler Marco Polo. lie, for instance,
mentions that in visiting the provinces
of Shansi nnd Shensi ho observed
many plantations of mulberry' trees.
Now there is hardly single mulberry
tree In either of these provinces, nnd
the culture of the silkworm lias moved
farther south, to regions of atmos
pheric moisture.
the past and the evil days of the pres
ent. Wherever the native vegetation
has been allowed to remain—as. for in
stance, here and there around a sacred
temple or imperial burying ground
there are still huge trees and tangled
jungle, fragments of the glorious an
cient forests. The thick, matted for
est growth formerly covered the moun
tains to their summits. All natural
factors favored this dense forest
..
of the mountains
most fertile
There are small sections of our own latlon of tbe matter in the Interest of
country In the east and in the west, in
the Adirondacks, the White mountains
and the Appnlachinns nnd in the
Rocky mountains, where we can al
ready see for ourselves the damage in
the shape of permanent injury to the
soil nnd the river systems which comes
from reckless deforestation. It mat
ters not whether this deforestation is
due to the actual reckless cutting of
timber, to the fires that Inevitably fol
low such reckless cutting of timber or
to reckless and uncontrolled grazing,
especially by tbe great migratory
bands of sheep, the unchecked wan
dering of which over the country
means destruction to forests and dis
aster to the smnll homemakers, the
settlers of limited menns.
Change Brought by Deforestation.
As an illustration of the complete
change In the rivers we may take
Polo's statement that a certain river,
the ITun IIo. was so large and deep
that merchants ascended It from the!
sea with heavily laden boats. Today 'ore8ts
this river is simply a broad sandv bed, '6,
mountains worked but slowly in bring-1
ing about the changes that have now
come to pass. Doubtless for genera
tions the inmads were scarcely no
ticeable, but there came a time when
the forest had shrunk sufficiently fo
make
each
year's cutting a serious
matter, and from that time on the de
struction proceeded with appalling ra
pidity, for of course each year of de
struction rendered tbe forest less able
to recuperate, less able to resist next
year's inroad.
Mr. Meyer describes tbe ceaseless
progress of the destruction even
now. when there is so little left
to destroy. Every morning men and
boys go out armed with mattock
or ax. scale the steepest mountain
sides and cut down and grub out, root
and branch, the small trees and shrubs
still to be four,* The big trees dis
appeared centuries ago, so that now
one of those is never seen save in the
neighborhood of temples, where they
are artificially protected, and even
here it t:".'.:es nil the watch and care of
the tree loving priests to prevent their
destruction. Each family, each com
munity, where there Is no common
our national domain to our children some other family or some other com- and firs, now unable to produce anv
increased in value nnd not worn out. niunlty the total absence of regu- wood and because of their condition
hl-,TnMe
1W°!,le,
irr,"",1::'«u
thought for the morrow. This Is just
one of those matters which it is fatal
to leave to unsupervised individual
control. The forests can only be pro
tected by the slate, by the nntion, and
the liberty of action of individuals
must be conditioned upon what the
state or nation determines to be neces
sary for the common safety.
The lesson of deforestation in China
is a lesson which mankind should have
learned many times'already from what
has occurred In other places. Denuda
tion leaves naked soil, then gullying
cuts down to the bare rock, and mean
while the rock waste buries the bot
tom lands. When the soli Is gone men
must go, and the process does not
take long.
The ruthless destruction of the for
ests in northern China has brought
about or has aided In bringing about
desolation, Just as the destruction of
the forests in central Asia aid in bring
ing ruin to the once rich central Asian
cities, just as the destruction of the
forests In northern Africa helped to
ward the ruin of a region that was a
fertile granary in Roman days. Short
sighted man, whether barbaric, semi
civilized or what he mistakenly regards
as fully civilized, when he has destroy
ed the forests has rendered certain the
ultimate destruction of the land itself.
In northern China the mountains are
now such as nre shown by the accom
panying photographs, absolutely barren
peaks. Not only have the forests been
destroyed, but because of their destruc
tion the soil has been washed off the
naked rock. The terrible consequence
is that it is impossible now to undo
the damage that has been done. Many
centuries would have to pass before
soil would again collect or could be
made to collect in sufficient quantity
once more to support the old time for
est growth. In consequence the Mon
gol desert Is practically extending east
ward over northern China. The cli
mate has changed and is still chang
ing. It has changed even within the
last half century as the work of tree
destruction has been consummated.
The great masses of arboreal vegetation
on the mountains formerly absorbed
the heat of the sun and sent up cur
rents of cool air which brought the
moisture laden clouds lower and forced
them to precipitate in rain a part of
their burden of water. Now that there
Is no vegetation the barren mountains,
scorched by the sun, send up currents
of heated air which drive away in
stead of attracting the rain clouds and
cause their moisture to be disseminat
ed. In consequence, instead of the reg
ula- and plentiful rains which existed
in these regions of China when the
forests were still in evidence, the un
fortunate inhabitants of the deforested
lands now see their crops wither for
lack of rainfall, while the seasons grow
more and more irregular, and as the
air becomes drier certain crops refuse
longer to grow at all.
That everything dries out faster than
formerly is shown by the fact that the
level of the wells all over the land has
suuk perceptibly, many of them hav
ing become totally dry. In addition to
the resultiug agricultural distress, the
water courses have changed. Former
ly they were narrow and deep, with an
abundance of clear water the year
around, for the roots and humus of
CfUg",t
'J' ""li trickles in slender currents during the
But we do not ,.,
dry seasons, while when it rains there
are freshets, and roaring muddy tor
rents come tearing down, bringing dis
aster and destruction everywhere.
A1
nn 10
a" e|tlvation
whole country was a garden. Not the
slightest effort was made, however,
to prevent the unchecked cutting of
the trees or to secure reforestation.
Doubtless for many centuries the tree
cutting by the Inhabitants of the
Moreover, these floods and freshets,
which diversify the general dryness,
wash away from the mountain sides
and either wash away or cover in the
valleys the rich fertile soil which It
took tens of thousauds of years for
nature to form, and it is lost forever,
and until the forests grow again it
cannot be replaced. The sand and
stones from the mountain sides are
washed loose and come rolling down to
.. cover the arable lands, and in conse-
growth. and as long as It wns per- .. ...
mtffori I quence throughout this part of China
mltted to exist tbe plains at the foot)
were among tbe
many formerly rich districts are now
sandy wastes, useless for human eul-
away
4 AJ
4 5'
enre exercised In the Interest of all of
them to prevent deforestation, finds its
profit iu the immediate use of tbe fuel
which would otherwise be used bv
°n?h
81,la1,1 Kr°UP
i9 1
the ra,
Jt
£SCape
n^atcr
by
,slow'
-rrtfi, iThey have now become broad, shallow
with shallow, rapid currents wander
ing hither and thither across It, ab
solutely unnnvigable.
have to depend upon written records.
The dry wells and the wells with wa
ter far below the former water mark
bear testimony to the good days of
re,gul" se„eP®ge-
stream beds in which muddy water
and even for pasture. The
cK,e9 hare Qf cJrS(, geriougly
affected, for the streams have grad
ually ceased to be navigable. There Is
testimony that even within the mem
ory of men now living there has been
I a serious diminution of the rainfall of
r,Mtlo T,)e level of the
northeastern China.
Sungari river, in northern Manchuria,
has been sensibly lowered during the
last fifty years, at lenst partly as the
result of the indiscriminate cutting of
the forests forming its watershed. Al
most all the rivers of northern China
have become uncontrollable and very
dangerous to the dwellers along their
banks as a direct result, of the destruc
tion of the forests. The journey from
Pekln to Jehol shows in melancholy
fashion how the soil has been washed
from whole valleys, so that they
have been converted into deserts.
In northern China this disastrous
process has gone on so long nnd hns
proceeded so far thnt no complete
remedy could be npplled. There nre
certain mountains in China from
only the slow action of tbe ages could
again restore it, although of course
much could be done to prevent the
still farther eastward extension of the
Mongolian desert if the Chinese gov
ernment would act nt once. The ac
companying cuts from photographs
show tbe inconceivable desolation of
PAGE FTVTC,,
the barren mountains 1l whlcii cer
tain of these rivers rie»— mountains,
be it remembered, which formerly
supported dense forests of larches
condition
a source of danger to the whole coun-
tr?'
The
ineMtably pushed into policy of de-I same rivers after thev have passed
Photographs also show the
lng become broad and sandy because
of the deforestation of the mountains.
One of the photographs shows a cara
van passing through a valley. For
merly, when the mountains were for
ested, it wns thickly peopled by pros
perous peasants. Now the floods have
carried destruction all over tho land
and the valley is a stony desert. An
other photograph shows a mountain
rood covered with the stones and
rocks that nre brought down in the
rainy season from the mountains
which have nlready been deforested
by human hands. Another shows a
pebbly river bed in southern Man
churia where what was once a great
stream has dried up owing to the de
forestation in the mountains. Only
some scrub wood is left, which will
disappear within a half century. Yet
another shows the effect of one of the
washouts, destroying an arable moun
tain side, these washouts being due to
the removal of all vegetation, yet in
this photograph the foreground show?
that reforestation is still a possibility
in places.
What has thus happened In northern1
China, what has happened in central
Asia, In Palestine, in north Africa,
In parts of the Mediterranean coun
tries of Europe, will surely happen In
our country if we do not exercise that
wise forethought which should be one
of the chief marks of nny people call
ing itself civilized. Nothing should ba
permitted to stand in the way of the
preservation of the forests, and It la
criminal to permit Individuals to pur
chase a little gain for themselves
through the destruction of forests
when this destruction is fatal to the
well being of the whole country lnrtha
future. .... ,,
INLAND WATERWAYS.
Action to Improve Our tfavigablo
Hirers Urgently Needed.
Action should be begun forthwith,
during the present session of congress,
for the improvement of our inland wa
terways—action which will result la
giving us not only navigable but
navigated rivers. We have Bpenh
hundreds of millions of dollars upon
these waterways, yet the traffic on
nearly all of them Is steadily declin
ing. This condition is the direct re
sult of the absence of any compre
hensive and farseeing plan of water
way improvement. Obviously we can
not continue thus to expend the rev
enues of the government without re
turn. It is poor business to spend
money for Inland navigation unless wa
get It.
Inquiry into the condition of the
Mississippi and its principal tributa
ries reveals very many instances of the
utter waste caused by the methods
which have hitherto obtained for tha
so called "improvement" of naviga
tion. A striking instance is supplied
by the "improvement" of the Ohio,
which, begun In 1824, was continued,
under a single plan for half a century*
In 1876 a new plan was adopted and
followed for a quarter of a century.
In 1902 still a different plan was adopt"
ed and has since been pursued at
rate which only promises a navigable)
river in from twenty to a hundred
years longer.
Such shortsighted, vacillating and)
futile methods are accompanied by de*
creasing water borne commerce and1
increasing traffic congestion on land*
by increasing floods and by tho waste
of public money. The remedy lfces lt»
abandoning the methods which have*
so signally failed and adopting newr
ones in keeping with the ueeds andi
demands of our people.
In a report on a measure introduced!
at the first session of tbe present COIH
gross the secretary of war said, "The!
chief defect in the methods hitherto*
pursued lies in tbe absence of execu-,
tive authority for originating compre
hensive plans covering the country ot
natural divisions thereof." In thl*
opinion I heartily concur. The pree~
ent methods not only fall to give us.
inland navigation, but they are injur
rlous to the army as well. What 19
virtually a permanent detail of tha
corps of engineers to civilian duty nec
essarily impairs the efficiency of our
military' establishment. The military,
engineers have undoubtedly done effi
cient work in actual construction, butt
they are necessarily unsulted by their
training and traditions to take the
broad view and to gather and trans
mit to the congress the commercial
and industrial information and fore
casts upon which waterway improve
ment must always so largely rest,
Furthermore, they have failed to grasp
the great underlying fact that every
stream is a unit from its source to its
mouth and that all Its uses are inter
dependent. Prominent officers of the
engineer corps have recently even gono
so far as to assert In print that wa
terways are nor dependent upon the
conservation of the forests about their
headwaters. This position Is opposed
to all the recent work of the scientific
bureaus of the government and to the
general experience of mankind. A
physician who disbelieved in vaccina
tion would not be the right man to
handle an epidemic of smallpox, nor
which tiie soil is gone so utterly that should we leave a doctor skeptical
about the transmission of yellow fever
by the stegomyia mosquito l:i charge
of sanitation nt Havana or Panama.
So with tbe improvement of our riv
ers. It is no longer wise or safe to
leave this grent work In tbe hnnds of
men who fail to grasp the essential
relations between navigation and gen-
it
irtiif tin iirf luillllrtli Jill Ml 'iltrin'Tf' firm 'Tn^n
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