82 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



February 



phase of the National Forest question, 

 with which Western debaters of this 

 question are often unfamiHar. Mr. 

 Smythe says : 



"In the Carolinas and Georgia, 

 there is invested in cotton mills, run 

 by water power alone, over $40,000,- 

 000. The horse-power utilized is al- 

 most 106,000. The spindles turned 

 number approximately 2,800,000. 

 They consume annually nearly 900,- 

 000 bales of cotton, worth when man- 

 ufactured over $70,000,000. The 

 hands employed number 60,000. 

 Counting families, 240,000 people are 

 dependent upon these mills. This vast 

 industry faces destruction. The cut- 

 ting of the Appalachian forest means 

 its end. A National Forest Reserve 

 in the Appalachian is the only salva- 

 tion." 



From Mrs. Sarah S. Piatt Decker, 

 president of the General Federation 

 of Women's Clubs, with its thousands 

 of active working women members, in 

 every State in the Union, comes this 

 cheering message : 



"1 hope the Appalachian and White 

 Mountain Reserve Bill will be men- 

 tioned at every forestry meeting all 

 over the country, in every woman's 

 club and at every State Federation, 

 and that interest will be aroused to 

 such an extent that its passage will be 

 assured. From my observation, the 

 preservation of the forests, the streams 

 and the agricultural interests can be 

 successfully accomplished, only by the 

 purchase and creation of National 

 Forests." 



Senator Beveridge, who made an 

 eloquent and impassioned defense of 

 the National Forest Service, during 

 the Senate debate, says : 



"Unless the forests in those moun- 

 tains are conserved irrigation is im- 

 possible. Because if the forests are 

 felled, the rain which falls in equal 

 abundance sweeps down in torrential 

 floods and either takes away the res- 

 ervoirs or fills them up with silt. So 

 the basis of the whole irrigation sys- 



tem, which means so much to the 

 Western country, and therefore, to 

 the whole country, rests upon the 

 foundation of the National Forest sys- 

 tem." 



Mr. F. H. Newell, Director of the 

 Reclamation Service, has repeatedly 

 emphasized the very great importance 

 of National Forests in connection with 

 the Government's irrigation work. 

 He says : 



"The future of these reclamation 

 projects is dependent largely upon 

 the keeping of the forest areas in good 

 condition. All of these rivers whose 

 waters are to be utilized issue from 

 forests. We are vitally interested in 

 the preservation and proper control of 

 the National Forests." 



Governor E. W. Hoch, of Kansas, 

 sends this pleasing message : 



"I am in hearty sympathy, as every 

 one must be who gives the subject 

 thought, with the awakening interest 

 in the forestry question. The rapid- 

 ity with which our timber lands are 

 being denuded purely for speculative 

 purposes threatens to become a Na- 

 tional calamity, if it is not already one. 

 In older countries, the value of trees 

 is recognized in laws for their protec- 

 tion, but with that prodigality which 

 ever characterizes those richly en- 

 dowed, we have seemingly had no care 

 concerning the future of our forests. 

 It is an omen of great good, however, 

 that we are awakening to a realization 

 of the great importance of this sub- 

 ject, that people are wisely discussing 

 it, and that the National Government 

 is taking a hand in the solution of the* 

 problem." 



Governor E. C. Stokes, of New Jer- 

 sey, gives his opinion as follows : 



"The advantage of forest reserves, 

 both State and National, needs no de- 

 fense. The distribution of rainfall, 

 the necessity for additional timber, 

 and the need of grounds for recreation 

 purposes, all demand careful and 

 scientific development of our forests. 



