1905 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



419 



to the general government than the 

 Southern States. Their commerce, 

 their agriculture, their manufactures 

 demand a constant and uniform flow 

 of water. This cannot be expected so 

 long as the present state of things con- 

 tinues. On the contrary, unless some 

 steps are immediately taken to con- 

 serve our reservoirs in the Appala- 

 chian region our rivers will not only 

 become more torrential in the spring, 

 but diminish in summer. 



Even if the states were able to buy 

 the rare region in question, which is 



trial life of the South by the construc- 

 tion of the Panama Canal, the neces- 

 sity, indeed the duty of protecting the 

 Appalachian forests is thrust upon us 

 in the most forcible manner. It is 

 something more than a present eco- 

 nomic necessity, involving the welfare 

 of the South, it is one of those great 

 secular interests affecting future gen- 

 erations of Americans. 



There can be little doubt that the 

 failure thus far to establish a South- 

 ern Appalachian Forest Reserve is 

 clue, in large measure, to the apathy 



r 



Water Power on Saluda River at Pelzer, S. C. 



exceedingly doubtful, they would be 

 unable to manage it with their lack of 

 experience. Moreover, there would be 

 seven or eight State Boards of Con- 

 trol with every opportunity for dis- 

 pute and irritation. Of course the 

 great object lesson it would afford us 

 for still further protecting other re- 

 gions unaffected by the rivers whose 

 sources are in the Appalachian dis- 

 trict can be readily understood. 



When we consider the tremendous 

 impetus that will be given the indus- 



of the people who are most immediate- 

 ly concerned. Two Presidents have 

 recommended it as of great public util- 

 ity. The Secretary of Agriculture 

 stands as he has stood from the be- 

 ginning, upholding the project yet it 

 has advanced but little in the four or 

 five years that the measure has been 

 before the people. If this reserve is 

 ever to be an accomplished fact it will 

 be due to the people of the Southern 

 States ; not those who own land with- 

 in the area that may be bought up, not 



