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TOPICS OF THE TIME 





Forest The theory upon which leg- 

 Preserves. j 8 i a tion has been enacted for 

 the preservation of forests in many por- 

 tions of the West has been that by their 

 destruction, either for commercial purposes 

 or by fires, the absorption of the rainfall 

 into the earth is retarded, and the snows 

 melt more rapidly for lack of tree shelter. 

 In a communication to the Fresno Repub- 

 lican, Mr. H. F. Dunnington cites the ex- 

 perience of mountaineers to controvert that 

 theory, and asks attention to the following 

 facts: That the snow lasts longer and is 

 much heavier above the forest belts than 

 under the shelter of the trees; that around 

 and beneath the trees the snow melts and 

 runs away sooner than where there is no 

 shelter from the sun's warmth; that the 

 glaciers and great deposits of snow and ice, 

 which are the chief source of the river 

 supply, are nowhere found within the 

 wooded belts, and there is no eternal snow 

 except where there are no trees. He in- 

 stances that the valleys of Switzerland 

 are neither burned up by droughts nor 

 swept by floods, although surrounded by 

 vast barren mountains. He maintains that 

 the practice which prevailed during all the 

 past among the Indians of an annual 

 burning of the undergrowth and grass was 

 not detrimental to the strong and healthy 

 growing timber, and that the great injury 

 has chiefly come since short-sighted enthu- 

 siasts have interfered to prevent the burn- 

 ing until the undergrowth has become so 

 rank that an accidental fire causes the 

 greater damage. He makes the sensible 

 suggestion that legislation might better 

 compel and direct the planting of new 

 trees for each one utilized commercially. 

 His article offers food for thought and sug- 

 gests that there are two sides to this as to 

 most questions. 



An It is a matter of more than 



Unfair passing concern that the 

 Advantage, beet sugar industry should 

 be brought prominently to the public at- 

 tention throughout the entire country. 

 With Cuba's production reduced to almost 

 nothing, and our legislation favoring the 



German producers, we are sacrificing one 

 of the greatest opportunities ever presented 

 to our Western people. The irrigated sec- 

 tions are especially interested in this mat- 

 ter. Mr. T. R. Cutler, manager of the 

 Lehi, Utah, sugar factory, was before the 

 ways and means committee at Washington 

 a few days ago representing the sugar beet 

 producers. He made the point that the 

 Germans were gaining an unfair advantage 

 by reason of bounty. It was neither "free 

 nor fair trade," and in his opinion the in- 

 dustry and capital of our country were en- 

 titled to protection against it as much as 

 they were against the guns of a foreign 

 nation. Germany was taking advantage 

 of the Cuban war to crush our sugar in- 

 dustry, and he appealed to the committee 

 to recommend an additional duty on 

 German sugar. 



Chances The Idaho Statesman would 

 for not discourage the poor man 



Poor Men. from settling in that State. 

 If he thinks he can see the opportunity to 

 utilize his energy to good effect, he is wel- 

 come to come and try. It pertinently 

 suggests that many of the leading men of 

 the future will probably be from those who 

 entered the State short of this world' s goods, 

 and who grasp the opportunities which are 

 now presented, as they will not be when 

 the development is further advanced. 

 Look where you will, most of the wealthy 

 men in all Western communities are those 

 whose foresight led them to acquire prop- 

 erty at its lowest value, and have seen it 

 grow according to the wisdom of their 

 selection. 



Tired of The Cheyenne Sun -Leader, 

 the commenting on Secretary 



Treatment. Hoke Smith's nullification 

 of an act of Congress, which provides for 

 opening of the Uintah and Uncompahgre 

 reservations in Utah, says: 



" The West is getting very tired of this 

 kind of treatment, and unless it is changed 

 there will come a time when the men of 

 the West will not have it any longer. It 

 has reached that point now when they are 



