72 



THE IRRIGATION AGL. 



terested now in seeing that this question 

 of national irrigation is pushed forward 

 and pushed forward strongly within the 

 next two months. 



The motto stretched above 

 The Forestry the platform of the National 

 Question. Irrigation Congress while in 

 session at Central Music Hall read: "Save 

 the forests and store the floods," The 

 storing of flood waters in vast reservoirs, 

 with the two-fold purpose of obviating de- 

 structive torrents and of feeding out the 

 reserved waters later for irrigation pur- 

 poses, was the subject which naturally en- 

 gaged the attention of the congress almost 

 exclusively in its earlier years. But more 

 recently and particularly at this annnal 

 convention, the subject of perpetuating 

 forests where they now exist, and of affor- 

 esting denuded areas, has come to be 

 looked on as an important item in the gen- 

 eral subject of irrigation. 



This importance is due chiefly to two 

 facts, the first of which is that timber, or 

 even a scrub growth, protects the snow 

 fall from the sun and so from disappearing 

 in a destructive flood. The second fact is 

 that forests protect mountain sides from 

 erosion and reservoirs from being filled up 

 with the detritus. These two points were 

 emphasized at the meeting of the con- 

 gress held at the Auditorium, both 

 in the extended letter from Governor 

 Roosevelt and in that from General Miles. 



A considerable and growing number of 

 persons are curious to know what the 

 United States is doing and to know what 

 more ought to be done to protect and in- 

 crease cur forest areas. It is not to be 

 questioned that people in general are be- 



coming more and more concerned about 

 forests, not alone in respect to the lumber 

 supply, but with respect to water supply 

 and national scenery. They should be 

 given more information at the next con- 

 vention than they received this year. 



At the annual International 

 Criming. Shoe and Leather Fair, re- 

 cently held in London, the 

 American exhibits were so good and num- 

 erous that the English called it "a huge 

 Yankee Show." 



John T. Day, editor of the London Shoe 

 and Leather Record, is quoted as saying 

 in a published interview: 



"Our dependence on American ideas and 

 raw material may be gauged by the fact 

 that 90 per cent, of the machinery in Brit- 

 ish factories comes from the United States. 

 Seventy-five per cent, of the leather we 

 consume is imported from American tan- 

 neries. Even thus equipped we seem 

 powerless to repel the invasion of Ameri- 

 can made shoes. 



In 1898 $370,000 worth of American shoes- 

 were sold in the United Kingdom. In 

 1899 the amount increased to $715,000. 

 This year I suppose our purchases will ap- 

 proximate $2,000,000. Superior workman- 

 ship, combined with prices home manu- 

 factures cannot meet, have given American 

 competitors a winning advantage. They 

 have already captured the Australian 

 trade. They are beginning to take our 

 European customers away from us. 



Even in our new African dominions they 

 have begun to press us. It is the same 

 old story American enterprise and Brit- 

 ish lethargy. This fair ought to prove a 

 eye-opener for British manufacturers." 



